50 free Telugu Cinema trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Telugu cinema sold 233 million tickets in 2022, more than any other film industry in India, and it owns the country's biggest records: the first ₹1,000 crore film (Baahubali 2), the first Indian feature to win an Oscar (RRR) and the most expensive Indian film ever made (Kalki 2898 AD). It also holds the Guinness record for the largest film studio complex on Earth. These 50 questions run from the 1921 silent Bhishma Pratigna and the 1957 classic Mayabazar to NTR's Telugu Desam Party, Chiranjeevi's 150th film, Rajamouli's housefly, Kattappa's betrayal, Pushpa's red sandalwood, Allu Arjun's National Award, Naatu Naatu's Kyiv shoot, Salaar's Khansaar and the Deputy Chief Minister who used to be called Power Star. Every answer is cited to a page we checked. Play in sets of ten or print the list.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01By what nickname is the Telugu film industry commonly known?
Tollywood
Kollywood is Tamil cinema, Sandalwood is Kannada and Mollywood is Malayalam; the T comes from Telugu.
Q 02In which city's Film Nagar district is the Telugu film industry based today?
Hyderabad
The industry started in Madras and only finished its move to the new base in the 1990s.
Q 03Who is regarded as the 'Father of Telugu cinema'?
Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu
A Madras photographer, he built South India's first permanent cinema hall, the Gaiety Theatre, around 1912.
Q 04Which 1921 silent film is generally considered the first Telugu feature?
Bhishma Pratigna
Director R. S. Prakash also played the title role of Bhishma; his father produced it.
Q 0515 September is marked as Telugu Film Day because which talkie was completed that day in 1931?
Bhakta Prahlada
It was shot in about three weeks at Imperial Studios in Bombay by Ardeshir Irani, who had just made India's first sound film, Alam Ara.
Q 06What do the three letters of the 2022 film title RRR stand for in English?
Rise, Roar and Revolt
It began as a working title standing for Rajamouli, Ram Charan and Rama Rao, and the Telugu version expands to Raudram Ranam Rudhiram.
Q 07RRR's two heroes are fictionalised versions of which real revolutionaries?
Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem
The real men fought the British Raj and the Nizam of Hyderabad respectively and never met; the film imagines them in 1920s Delhi.
Q 08In which Academy Award category did 'Naatu Naatu' win at the 2023 Oscars?
Best Original Song
It was the first song from an Asian film to win the category, and it had already taken the Golden Globe.
Q 09The 'Naatu Naatu' dance sequence was filmed outside a presidential palace in which country?
Ukraine
The Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv hosted the shoot in August 2021, a few months before the Russian invasion.
Q 10Who composed 'Naatu Naatu' and the scores for both Baahubali films?
M. M. Keeravani
He is the director's cousin and has scored films since 1991; the Oscar came with a Golden Globe and a Padma Shri the same year.
Q 11Who directed Baahubali, its sequel and RRR?
S. S. Rajamouli
Each of those three films was the most expensive Indian production at the time of its release; Time put him on its 100 most influential list in 2023.
Q 12In the 2012 film Eega, the murdered hero is reincarnated as what?
A housefly
The idea started as a joke by screenwriter V. Vijayendra Prasad; the film won nine awards at the Toronto After Dark festival.
Q 13In the first Baahubali film's final scene, who confesses to killing Amarendra Baahubali?
Kattappa
The cliffhanger left India asking one question for two years, and the slave-commander's reasons are the whole of the sequel's plot.
Q 21What does Pushpa Raj smuggle in the Pushpa films?
Red sandalwood
The rare wood grows only in the Seshachalam Hills of Andhra Pradesh, where the first film is set in the late 1990s.
Q 22Allu Arjun's Pushpa: The Rise win made him the first from Telugu cinema to receive which honour?
National Film Award for Best Actor
Composer Devi Sri Prasad won Best Music Direction at the same 69th National Film Awards.
Q 23Who directed both Pushpa films?
Sukumar
He first narrated the script to Mahesh Babu, who walked away in 2019 citing creative differences.
Q 14What is the name of the kingdom at the centre of the Baahubali films?
Mahishmati
Kuntala is Devasena's home kingdom; Amarendra's dying words are 'Jai Mahishmati'.
Q 15Which actor plays the dual role of Amarendra and Mahendra Baahubali?
Prabhas
He bulked up to 105 kilograms for the part and spent four years on the two films.
Q 16Who plays the tyrant Bhallaladeva in the Baahubali films?
Rana Daggubati
Sathyaraj plays the slave-commander and Nassar the scheming Bijjaladeva.
Q 17Which 2017 film was the first Indian film to gross over ₹1,000 crore?
Baahubali 2: The Conclusion
It reached ₹792 crore in six days and, as of 2025, still holds the record as the highest-grossing film inside India.
Q 18Which actress plays the regent Sivagami in the Baahubali films?
Ramya Krishnan
The screenwriter said the character has shades of both Kunti and Kaikeyi from the epics.
Q 19Which 2024 film, budgeted at ₹600 crore, is the most expensive Indian film ever made?
Kalki 2898 AD
Nag Ashwin's sci-fi epic mixes the Mahabharata with a dystopian future Kashi ruled from a floating inverted pyramid.
Q 20In Nag Ashwin's 2024 sci-fi epic, Amitabh Bachchan plays which cursed immortal warrior?
Ashwatthama
Krishna curses him with painful immortality after he fires the Brahmastra at Uttara's unborn child; Deepika Padukone plays the mother of the avatar.
Q 24Pushpa 2: The Rule opens with a smuggled consignment arriving at a port in which country?
Japan
The sequel grossed over ₹1,600 crore worldwide, briefly the second-highest total ever for a film in India.
Q 25Which actor is known as 'Megastar' and founded the Praja Rajyam Party in 2008?
Chiranjeevi
The title first appeared on the title cards of Marana Mrudangam in 1988; he later served as India's Minister of State for Tourism.
Q 26Which 2017 comeback film was the Megastar's 150th as an actor?
Khaidi No. 150
It was a remake, and the number in the title is the milestone itself.
Q 27Which actor, the Megastar's younger brother, became his state's Deputy Chief Minister in June 2024?
Pawan Kalyan
Once billed as 'Power Star', he founded the Jana Sena Party and won the Pitapuram seat by more than 70,000 votes.
Q 28Which RRR star made his acting debut in the 2007 action film Chirutha?
Ram Charan
He is the Megastar's son, and his second film was the record-breaking reincarnation hit of 2009.
Q 29Which 2009 film follows a street-bike racer linked by reincarnation to a 17th-century warrior?
Magadheera
It became the highest-grossing Telugu film ever at the time, and its Japanese dub was a hit nine years later.
Q 30Which organisation did actor N. T. Rama Rao found in 1982?
Telugu Desam Party
It was Andhra Pradesh's first regional party, and he went on to serve as Chief Minister over three terms.