Not Nagaiah, ANR, The 1st Superstar

Who was the first superstar of Telugu cinema? Based on this question, some interesting discussions are being done in social media. While some netizens felt Padma Sri Chittooru V Nagaiah was the first superstar, many other opined that Padma Vibhushan Akkineni Nageswara Rao became the first superstar of Tollywood.

Nagaiah made his film debut with Gruhalakshmi in 1938. He scored industry hits Bhaktha Pothana in 1942 and Tyagayya in 1946. However, both the films fell under devotional films category and Nagaiah attained star status with those films. 

But then real super stardom was enjoyed by Anr with his industry hits Balaraju (1948) and Keelugurram (1949) which were made as complete folklore entertainers. Anr's heroism was elevated with those films. As a result, Anr emerged as the first superstar of Tollywood.