Padmalaya Studios

Padmalaya Studios is an Indian film production company and studio facility established by actor Krishna and his brothers.^[2] Based in Hyderabad, it primarily focuses on the production and distribution of Telugu and Hindi films. The studio's operations are now managed through its successors, including Indira Productions, G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment, and Krishna Productions.^[3]

Padmalaya Studios

Company type	Private
Industry	Entertainment
Founded	1970 (Padmalaya Movies) 1984 (Padmalaya Studios)
Founder	Ghattamaneni Krishna
Successors	Indira Productions G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment Krishna Productions
Headquarters	Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad , India
Key people	G. Krishna G. Adiseshagiri Rao G. Hanumantha Rao
Products	Films
Services	Film production Film distribution
Subsidiaries	Sri Padmalaya Movies Padmalaya Pictures Padmalaya Combines Padmalaya Films Ratna Movies Padmalaya Creatives Padmalaya Telefilms Ltd[1] Padmalaya Arts

The production company, initially known as Padmalaya Movies, was founded in 1970 with its first film Agni Pariksha. In 1982, the Andhra Pradesh state government allocated 9.5 acres of land to Krishna to promote the development of the film industry in Hyderabad. This led to the establishment of the Padmalaya Studios, a film studio facility, which officially opened in November 1984. The first film shot at the studio was Simhasanam (1986).^[4]

History

Padmalaya Movies

Padmalaya Movies, a film production company, was established in 1970 by Telugu actor Krishna and his brothers. The company made its debut with the film Agni Pariksha (1970).^[3][5] Padmalaya Movies gained prominence in 1971 with the production of Mosagallaku Mosagadu, the first Indian Western film, which received acclaim and commercial success for its innovative genre.^[6]

Padmalaya Studios

In 1982, the state government of Andhra Pradesh allocated 9.5 acres of land in Shaikpet Mandal to Krishna at a concessional price of ₹8,500 per acre.^[2] This allocation was part of an initiative to encourage the Telugu film industry to shift its base from Madras (now Chennai) to Hyderabad. The studio facility, named Padmalaya Studios, was inaugurated in November 1984.^[7] The first film shot at the studio was Simhasanam (1986).^[4] Currently, the studio operates on approximately 4 acres of land.^[2]

Controversy

The allocation of 9.5 acres of land to Padmalaya Studios became controversial due to the substantial difference between the government-fixed price of ₹8,500 per acre and the prevailing market rate, which was estimated to be around ₹5 lakh per acre at the time.^[2] The land was granted under the Andhra Pradesh (Telangana Area) Alienation of State Lands and Land Revenue Rules of 1975, with the stipulation that it be used exclusively for film-related purposes. However, 5.3 acres of the allocated land were later sold to third parties, leaving the studio with only about 4 acres of its original allotment.^[2]

Filmography

Telugu

Year	Title	Cast	Director	Notes	Ref.
1970	Agni Pariksha	Krishna, Vijaya Nirmala	K. Varaprasada Rao		[8]
1971	Mosagallaku Mosagadu	Krishna, Vijaya Nirmala, Jayalalithaa, Nagabhushanam	K. S. R. Das	First Indian western film	[9]
1973	Devudu Chesina Manushulu	N. T. Rama Rao, Krishna, Jayalalithaa, Vijaya Nirmala	V. Ramachandra Rao		[10]
1973	Mayadari Malligadu	Krishna, Manjula, Jayanthi, Nagabhushanam	Adurthi Subba Rao	Presenter	[11]
1974	Alluri Seetarama Raju	Krishna, Vijaya Nirmala, Jaggayya	V. Ramachandra Rao		[12]
1977	Kurukshetram	Krishna, Vijaya Nirmala, Sobhan Babu, Krishnam Raju, Jaya Prada, Jamuna, Anjali Devi	Kamalakara Kameswara Rao		[13]
1982	Eenadu	Krishna, Radhika	P. Sambasiva Rao		[14]
1986	Simhasanam	Krishna, Jaya Prada, Radha, Mandakini, Amjad Khan	Krishna		[15]
1987	Marana Sasanam	Krishnam Raju, Jayasudha	S.S. Ravichandra		[16]
1988	Mugguru Kodukulu	Krishna, Radha, Ramesh Babu, Mahesh Babu, Sonam	Krishna		[17]
1989	Rajakeeya Chadarangam	Krishna, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Sujatha	P. Chandrasekhara Reddy
1989	Koduku Diddina Kapuram	Krishna, Mahesh Babu, Vijayashanti	Krishna		[18]
1990	Balachandrudu	Mahesh Babu, Geetha	Krishna		[19]
1993	Anna Chellelu	Ramesh Babu, Aamani, Soundarya	P. Chandrasekhara Reddy		[20]
1994	Pacha Thoranam	Ramesh Babu, Rambha	Adurti Saibhaskar		[21]
1994	Police Alludu	Krishna, Malashri, Brahmanandam, Kota Srinivasa Rao	Mannava Balayya		[22]
2000	Vamsi	Mahesh Babu, Namrata Shirodkar, Krishna	B. Gopal		[23]
2001	Pandanti Samsaram	Krishna, Babloo Prithiveeraj	Krishna		[24]

Hindi

Year	Title	Cast	Director	Notes	Ref.
1980	Takkar	Sanjeev Kumar, Jeetendra, Zeenat Aman, Jaya Prada, Ashok Kumar, Vinod Mehra, Bindiya Goswami	K. Bapayya		[25]
1981	Meri Aawaz Suno	Jeetendra, Hema Malini, Parveen Babi	Rajendra Singh Babu
1983	Himmatwala	Jeetendra, Sridevi	K. Raghavendra Rao		[26]
1983	Justice Chaudhury	Jeetendra, Sridevi, Hema Malini, Moushumi Chatterjee	K. Raghavendra Rao		[27]
1983	Mawaali	Jeetendra, Sridevi, Jaya Prada	K. Bapayya		[28]
1984	Qaidi	Jeetendra, Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Madhavi	S. S. Ravichandra		[29]
1984	Kaamyab	Jeetendra, Shabana Azmi, Radha	K. Raghavendra Rao		[30]
1985	Hoshiyar	Jeetendra, Shatrughan Sinha, Jaya Prada, Meenakshi Sheshadri	K. Raghavendra Rao		[31]
1985	Pataal Bhairavi	Jeetendra, Jaya Prada	K. Bapayya		[32]
1986	Singhasan	Jeetendra, Jaya Prada, Mandakini	Krishna		[33]
1988	Mulzim	Jeetendra, Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Amrita Singh	K. S. R. Das		[34]
1988	Kanwarlal	Jeetendra, Sujata Mehta, Raj Babbar	S. S. Ravichandra		[35]
1999	Sooryavansham	Amitabh Bachchan, Soundarya, Jayasudha, Kader Khan, Anupam Kher, Bindu, Mukesh Rishi	E. V. V. Satyanarayana		[36]
2001	Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya	Govinda, Juhi Chawla, Tabu	K. Raghavendra Rao		[37]
2002	Kyaa Dil Ne Kahaa	Tusshar Kapoor, Esha Deol, Raj Babbar, Neena Kulkarni, Rajesh Khanna, Smita Jaykar, Ashok Saraf	Sanjay Chhel		[38]
2004	Ishq Hai Tumse	Dino Morea, Bipasha Basu	Ghattamaneni Krishna		[39]

Tamil

Year	Title	Cast	Director	Notes	Ref.
1980	Vishwaroopam	Shivaji Ganesan, Sujatha, Sridevi, Major Sundarrajan	A. C. Tirulokchandar		[40]
1982	Thyagi	Sivaji Ganesan, Sujatha, Major Sundarrajan, V. S. Raghavan	C. V. Rajendran		[41]
1986	Maaveeran	Rajinikanth, Ambika, Jaishankar, Sujatha	Rajasekhar

Kannada

Year	Title	Cast	Director	Notes	Ref.
1985	Amara Jyothi	Ambareesh, Madhavi	B Subba Rao		[42]