By 1936, the mass appeal of film allowed directors to move away from religious and mythological themes. That year, under the direction of Krithiventi Nageswara Rao, "Prema Vijayam", a film focusing on social issues, was released. Its success prompted the production of dozens of other immensely successful 'social films', notably 1939's "Vandemataram", touching on societal problems like the practice of giving dowry, Telugu films increasingly focused on contemporary living: 29 of the 96 films released between 1937 and 1947 had social themes. In 1938, Gudavalli Ramabrahmam, has co-produced and directed the social problem film, "Mala Pilla" starring, Kanchanamala, the film dealt with the crusade against untouchability, prevailing in pre-independent India. In 1939, he directed "Raithu Bidda", starring thespian Bellary Raghava. The film was banned by the British administration in the region, for depicting the uprise of the peasantry among the Zamindar's during the British raj.  1940 film, "Viswa Mohini", is the first Indian film, depicting the Indian movie world. The film was directed by Y. V. Rao and scripted by Balijepalli Lakshmikanta Kavi, starring super-star V. Nagaiah. Rao subsequently made the sequel films "Savithri" and "Sathyabhama" (1941–42) casting thespian Sthanam Narasimha Rao. The outbreak of World War II and the subsequent resource scarcity caused the British Raj to impose a limit on the use of filmstrip in 1943 to 11,000 feet, a sharp reduction from the 20,000 feet that had been common till then. As a result, the number of films produced during the war was substantially lower than in previous years. Nonetheless, before the ban, an important shift occurred in the industry: Independent studios formed, actors and actresses were signed to contracts limiting whom they could work for, and films moved from social themes to folklore legends. Ghantasala Balaramayya, has directed the mythological "Seetarama Jananam" under his home production, Prathiba Picture, marking veteran Akkineni Nageswara Rao's Telugu screen debut in 1944. Malliswari is the first Telugu film which had a public release with thirteen prints along with Chinese subtitles at Beijing on 14, March 1953, and a 16 mm film print was also screened in the United States.