If you're trying to practice Telugu to learn the language or connect back with your roots, some of the best practice you'll ever get involves a couch, a bowl of popcorn and the remote. Telugu film industry, also called Tollywood, is one of the biggest film industries in India. And between the movies, the TV shows and the songs that end up playing at every family function, there's no shortage of Telugu to listen to if you want to immerse yourself in the language and culture.
Here's a beginner-friendly guide to what to watch and listen to, plus a few tips to make sure you're actually picking up Telugu while you're at it.
Why Telugu Movies and Shows Help You Learn Faster
- You hear real, everyday Telugu. Movies and shows use the Telugu people actually speak, not the stiff version in textbooks.
- Your ear gets used to the rhythm. Telugu words often blend into each other in fast speech. The more you listen, the easier it gets to hear where one word ends and the next begins.
- Context does half the work. When you can see what's happening on screen, it's much easier to guess what a word or phrase means.
- You pick up the culture too. Festivals, family dynamics, food and humour - it's all in there.
- It doesn't feel like studying. Which means you'll actually keep doing it.
Blockbuster Telugu Movies Everyone Should See
These are the big ones - the movies every Telugu family has watched (probably more than once), several of which took Telugu cinema around the world. They're fantastic to watch, and they'll give you plenty to talk about with Telugu friends and family. Some of them, especially the epic and action films, use dramatic, larger-than-life dialogue, so watch those for the fun rather than for everyday phrases.
- RRR (2022) - The film that put Telugu cinema on the global map. Its song "Naatu Naatu" won the Oscar for Best Original Song.
- Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017) - A two-part epic of kings, battles and family betrayal. If you only know one Telugu film franchise, it's probably this one.
- Pushpa: The Rise (2021) and Pushpa 2: The Rule (2024) - A rough-and-tumble story of a man's rise in the red sandalwood smuggling world. Its mannerisms and lines became a pop culture craze.
- Kalki 2898 AD (2024) - A sci-fi epic set in the future, with roots in Indian mythology.
- Eega (2012) - A man is reborn as a housefly and takes revenge on his killer. Yes, really. As crazy as the plot sounds, it's brilliant. It's like a more serious, action version of Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie.
- Magadheera (2009) - The favourite trope of Indian cinema is the reincarnation love story. This is the best example of that in Telugu, with a multi-birth romance that jumps between centuries.
- Mahanati (2018) - A biopic of the legendary actress Savitri, and a lovely window into Telugu cinema's golden era.
- Geetha Govindam (2018) - A sweet romantic comedy about a young lecturer who gets off on completely the wrong foot with the woman he falls for. Its songs were everywhere.
- Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020) - A fun family entertainer with some of the catchiest Telugu songs of recent years.
- Hi Nanna (2023) - A warm, emotional story of a father and his young daughter. Keep the tissues handy.
Classic Telugu Movies Generations Grew Up On
These are the films Telugu families never get tired of rewatching. If you come from a Telugu family, watch them with your parents and you'll get a running commentary on the best scenes, plus a few stories from their childhood thrown in. Some of the older ones use slightly more formal Telugu than you'd hear today, but they're a lovely way into the culture.
- Mayabazar (1957) - A magical retelling of a story from the Mahabharata, starring NTR as Krishna, along with ANR and Savitri. It's often called one of the greatest Indian films ever made, and there's a colourized version too.
- Maro Charitra (1978) - A bittersweet black-and-white love story between a Telugu girl and a Tamil boy who barely speak each other's language, set in Visakhapatnam and starring Kamal Haasan.
- Sankarabharanam (1980) - K. Viswanath's classic about a Carnatic music maestro, with music that's still loved today.
- Sagara Sangamam (1983) - Another K. Viswanath classic, starring Kamal Haasan as a gifted classical dancer.
- Pushpaka Vimanam (1987) - A clever comedy starring Kamal Haasan, with a twist: it has no dialogue at all. Not much help with your Telugu, but a great family movie night.
- Aha Naa Pellanta (1987) - A much-loved comedy from Jandhyala, the king of clean family comedy. Expect your parents to quote it at you.
- Annamayya (1997) - A devotional film about the poet-saint Annamacharya, starring Nagarjuna and packed with beautiful songs.
- Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005) - A rich city boy falls for a village girl and has to prove himself to her family. Loved for its songs, and a hit with every generation.
Telugu TV Shows and Web Series With Everyday Conversation
- Kumari Srimathi (2023) - A seven-episode comedy-drama streaming on Amazon Prime Video, set in a village in East Godavari. Nithya Menen plays Srimathi, a 30-year-old single woman opens a bar in the village, taking on her family, her village and a fight over the family home. Fun fact for learners: her name is part of the joke, because Srimathi is the Telugu title for a married woman (like Mrs.), while Kumari means Miss.
- #90's - A Middle Class Biopic (2024) - A nostalgic web series streaming on ETV Win, about a middle-class family in the 1990s, with a strict teacher dad, a hardworking mum and their kids. Clean, funny and very relatable, especially if you grew up with Telugu parents.
- Jabardasth - A long-running comedy show full of quick, silly sketches. The humour is very local, so it's a fun challenge once you know a bit.
- YouTube - Short comedy sketches, food vlogs and family vlogs in Telugu are perfect for ten-minute practice sessions.
Telugu Songs to Get Stuck in Your Head
Songs are a great way to tune your ear and pick up words, and you'll hear many of these at weddings and family functions. Just keep in mind that song lyrics can be more poetic than everyday speech.
- "Mounamelanoyi" - from Sagara Sangamam (1983)
- Songs from Sankarabharanam (1980) - a landmark film built around Carnatic music
- "Naatu Naatu" - from RRR (2022)
- "Samajavaragamana" and "Butta Bomma" - from Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020)
- "Inkem Inkem Inkem Kaavaale" - from Geetha Govindam (2018)
- "Saranga Dariya" - from Love Story (2021), based on a Telangana folk song
- "Srivalli" and "Oo Antava" - from Pushpa: The Rise (2021)
- "Kalaavathi" - from Sarkaru Vaari Paata (2022)
- "Kurchi Madathapetti" - from Guntur Kaaram (2024)
Slower, melodic songs are the easiest to follow. The fast, high-energy dance numbers are great fun, but good luck catching every word the first time.
Get More Telugu Out of Every Movie Night
- Telugu audio, English subtitles. Start here. You'll follow the story while your ear soaks up the language. Later on, you can choose to switch off the subtitles and see if you understand the dialogues through context.
- Rewatch your favourite scenes. The second time, you'll catch words and phrases you missed the first time.
- Keep a phrase list. Whenever you hear a line you understand, or one that keeps coming up, write it down and try using it.
- Watch with family (if you are a diaspora learner and your parents are Telugu). Pause and ask what something means. Your parents will probably love explaining it, and the inside jokes too.
- Mix blockbusters with everyday films. Watch the big movies for fun, and the slice-of-life ones for learning.
Watch Your Favourite Hollywood Movies in Telugu
Here's a handy trick: many popular Hollywood movies and shows are dubbed in Telugu. Pick one you've already seen in English and switch the audio to Telugu. Since you already know the story, you can focus completely on the words, and it's surprisingly fun to hear your favourite characters speaking Telugu. The Telugu dubbing on the big production house blockbusters is surprisingly natural - like Harry Potter, Avatar series, the mutiple superhero comic based movies, Disney Pixar animated movies, etc.
Know Your Tollywood Superstars and Their Fan Nicknames
In Telugu homes, film stars are often called by their fan nicknames more than their real names. Knowing a few will make you sound like a true insider:
- NTR (N. T. Rama Rao) - The legendary star of the golden era, famous for playing gods like Krishna and Rama
- ANR (Akkineni Nageswara Rao) - Another golden-era legend, and the head of the Akkineni film family
- Chiranjeevi - "Megastar"
- Nagarjuna - "King"
- Venkatesh - "Victory Venkatesh"
- Balakrishna - Lovingly known as "Balayya"
- Mahesh Babu - "Superstar"
- Pawan Kalyan - "Power Star"
- Jr NTR - "Young Tiger", or "Tarak" to his fans
- Prabhas - "Rebel Star", or simply "Darling"
- Allu Arjun - "Icon Star", and "Bunny" to his fans
- Ram Charan - "Mega Power Star", now also called "Global Star"
- Nani - "Natural Star"
- Vijay Deverakonda - "Rowdy Star"
Drop a "Megastar" or "Darling" into a conversation with your Telugu friends and watch them light up.
Turn Movie Nights Into Real Telugu Conversations
Watching Telugu movies and shows is one of the most fun ways to train your ear. But to go from understanding a few lines to actually holding a conversation, you need to know how sentences are put together.
If you want to progress from phrases and words to having real conversations in Telugu, a bit of structure makes a big difference. Start with Bhashafy's Complete Telugu Course for Beginners and see how far a little consistency can take you.
Bhashafy has over 20,000 satisfied learners across 100+ countries and millions of minutes of lessons taught. Bhashafy's courses are some of the most widely used, highly rated and bestselling courses for Indian languages across the world.
Thank you, or as we say in Telugu - Dhanyavādālu!
