Tanikella Bharani

Tanikella Bharani (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, poet and playwright who works mainly in Telugu cinema. He has acted in more than 750 films, including a few in Tamil, Kannada and Hindi, and has written for 52 films. He has won three Nandi Awards: as Best Villain for Samudram, as Best Character Actor for Nuvvu Nenu, and as Best Dialogue Writer for Mithunam, which he also directed.

Literary roots

Bharani comes from a family with strong ties to Telugu literature. The scholars Diwakarla Venkatavadhani and Viswanatha Satyanarayana were his grand-uncles, and Divakarla Tirupati Sastry, one half of the poet duo Tirupati Venkata Kavulu, was his great-grand-uncle.

Theatre and move to films

He acted in stage plays in the mid-1970s, where he met the Telugu film actor Rallapalli. With Rallapalli’s help he began writing short dialogues and scenes, took a diploma in theatre arts, and on his advice moved to Chennai.

Dialogue writer

His screen career began as a dialogue writer on Kanchu Kavachum (1984). He went on to write dialogue for films including Ladies Tailor (1985), Sri Kanaka Mahalakshmi Recording Dance Troupe (1987), Varasudochhadu (1988), Chettu Kinda Pleader (1989), Swara Kalpana (1989), Siva (1989) and Seenu Vasanthi Lakshmi (2004). He also wrote and sang the song “Bhale Bhaleti Mandu” for Gundamma Gaari Manavadu.

Actor

His acting career began with Ladies Tailor (1985), and he played Dora Babu in Sri Kanaka Mahalakshmi Recording Dance Troupe (1987). Wide recognition came with his role as Nanaji in Ram Gopal Varma‘s hit Siva (1989), starring Nagarjuna. He had a supporting part in the comedy Bombay Priyudu (1996), and his villain in Samudram won him the Nandi Award for Best Villain.

From 2000 onward he moved into more mature roles, in films such as Manmadhudu (2002), Okariki Okaru (2003), Samba (2004), Malliswari, Godavari (2006) and Happy (2006).

Director

Bharani directed the drama Mithunam (2012), starring S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and Lakshmi, which won him a CineMAA Special Jury Award for Best Direction as well as the Nandi Award for Best Dialogue Writer. He has also directed short films, including Sira – The Ink, which won awards at festivals in Idaho and Hyderabad.

Writing and music

Outside films, he has published books such as Parikini, Nakshatra Darsanam and Endaro Mahanubavulu, written plays including Kokkorokko, Gograhanam and Jambu Dweepam, and composed devotional song collections on Shiva, including Naalona Sivudu Galadu, for which he wrote seven songs. His literary honours include the Sri Pada Subhramanya Sastry Literary Award and the Allu Ramalingaiah National Award.

He married Durga Bhavani in 1988, and they have two children, Teja and Soundarya Lahari. Teja made his acting debut in Mr Lavangam (2012).

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.