Tadipatri Raghavacharlu, popularly known as Bellary Raghava was a renowned actor. He was born on 2 August  1880. He received his early education at Bellary and Tater graduated in law from the Madras University. His uncle Dharmavaram Ramakrishnamachari, who was a pioneering dramatist in Telugu, initiated him on the stage. He was also associated with another great dramatist, Kolachalam Srinivasa Rao.

An accomplished actor of extra-ordinary calibre he is known for supreme mastery of expression.  Expressive eyes set in a mobile face, he could modulate his visage and resonant voice to suit the emotion appropriate to any role, from that of a vidushaka to a maharaja.

He was equally at home in plays in English, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi; his three main centres of activity were Bellary, Bangalore and Madras. At Bangalore  he  founded  the  Amateur Dramatic Association of   Bangalore in 1909. He advocated and developed the naturalistic style in acting. He  was  very  particular that women should always play the female roles  on  the  stage. In  1927 he  went  to England  and took  part in English dramas with Laurance Olivier and Charles Laughton. On his return to India he encouraged  playwrights  to  set  aside  the  classical style and to take  to naturalistic plays. Instead of protracted   declamations and conversations, he advocated  short  dialogues  coupled with appropriate gestures. His presentation of Tappevaridi by Rajamanner in 1930 in Madras was hailed by many as a momentous event heralding a new era. Among his admirers were Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and  Bernard  Shaw.

The arrival of the movies was a blow to the promise of a modern theatre that Raghava envisaged. He tried his hand at acting in films but this satisfied  neither him nor his audience.

Besides being a versatile actor, he was also a busy lawyer and an ardent social worker. All his earnings were spent in development of the art that was his passion and for the uplift of  the  down-trodden. As a man he was endearing and as an actor he was incomparable. After doing yeoman service to the cause of the Indian theatre he passed away  on  17  April 1946.

The P & T Department is privileged to issue a commemorative stamp in his honour.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India