Pingali Nagendra Rao (29 December 1901 – 6 May 1971), known mononymously by his surname Pingali, was an Indian screenwriter, lyricist, and playwright who worked in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. Famous for his witty and romantic lyrics, he also wrote dialogues for many films. Pathala Bhairavi (1951), Missamma (1955), and Mayabazar (1957) are some of his best known works for story, script and song lyrics. Pingali is famous for his coining of new and funny words and phrases in Telugu such as Dhimbaka, Dingari, Gimbali.