Telangana poet, Kaloji's biopic in the works

Hyderabad: A feature film on Telangana's legendary poet and writer, Kaloji Narayana Rao is on the table. Novelist Prabhakar Jaini has announced the movie's title 'Kaalanna' on the latter's birth anniversary. Kaloji, an iconic figure in Telangana's statehood agitation, is revered by the people of the region for his foresight and ideology of having a separate State. The Telangana government honoured Kaloji's birthday as Telangana Language Day.

Novelist and philanthropist Prabhakar will be directing the movie, while his wife, Vijayalakshi will be producing it under their home banner, Jaini Creations. Prabhakar had earlier directed three movies Amma Neeku Vandanam, Pranaya Veedhullo Porade Prince, Campus Ampasayya. "The movie is still in the pre-production stage. Several research material has been gathered from freedom fighters and literary pandits across Telangana to know about him in a detailed manner. The biopic depicts Kaloji's early life, freedom struggle and literary works."

Born in 1914 in Warangal district, the writer was awarded a Padma Vibhushan in 1992. He died on November 13, 2002. Kaloji wrote poetry in several other languages such as Urdu, Hindi, and Marathi, besides his mother tongue Telugu. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Kakatiya University.