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There is definitely an ancient language, a Proto-Sanskrit, from which both North-Indian Prakrits and Dravidian languages arose. Telugu, as the northern-most Dravidian language, is closely connected to Northern Prakrits, some of which were later refined into the Sanskrit language.
Here is an interesting article by @bennedose on this language, which he calls as the "Mātāmahi" (grandmother) language. I think this language arose in the time of Vaivasvata Manu, before the last glacial-maximum, where sea-levels were much lower than now.
There are peculiar coincidences between words in Dravidian languages and in the European languages, especially for words related to agriculture. This could be related to the spread of an agricultural civilization, perhaps in the south-east of India, based on rice cultivation.
At some point in long-lost history, this civilization was destroyed due to climactic change and sea-level rise. The populations separated into the ancestral genetic pools of India (ANI and ASI), and lived separately for many thousands of years before mixing again later.
The spread of ancestral peoples into Europe, carrying the Indo-European languages, happened along with a know-how in agriculture and water-harvesting practices. This occurred from the population centres of north Indian plains (Indus-Saraswati), hence the similarity to Sanskrit.
However, there are peculiar (and to me, startling) similarities in European languages with words related to agriculture in Dravidian languages like Telugu. These words also have Sanskrit roots, but they are now largely forgotten in usage in North India.
Consider the word for an agricultural field in Telugu: "polamu" పొలము. This is extremely close to the same word in Polish: "Pole", which is even at the root of the name of the country "Poland". This is connected to the Sanskrit word "polati" पोलति to grow.
Another startling resemblance is the word for soil mixed with water. In German, the adjective is "matschig" (pronounced macchig). In English, the word is "muddy". In Telugu, we have "maḍi" మడి and "maḍugu" మడుగు. It refers to a rice-field filled with water.
In Sanskrit, the closest root (that I could find) is "Mṛtsā" मृत्सा (fragrant clay, soil). A synonymous word is "Mṛttika" मृत्तिका, which is also the root of the modern Hindi word "miṭṭī" मिट्टी and Telugu "maṭṭi" మట్టి both deriving from the same Prakrit word "maṭṭī".
The interesting thing is that the Hindi word "miṭṭī" मिट्टी or Telugu "maṭṭi" మట్టి have stopped showing the connection to wet soil, filled with water. The other words "maḍi" మడి or "maḍugu" మడుగు still show this connection, and are thus closer to the German/English words.
My opinion is that the words "maḍi" మడి, "maḍugu" మడుగు or "polam" పొలం are from an ancient civilization, which has just discovered the practices of agriculture: either intentionally filling soil with water, or waiting for the opportune moment in the monsoons when this happens.
Over time, populations split & languages evolved separately. As the Northernmost Dravidian language, Telugu preserved a bridge to this ancient language. So I agree with the opinion of traditional grammarians and scholars of Telugu. It derives from Prakrit, but a very ancient one.
There is a resemblance in the accusative case (Dvitīya Vibhakti) of nouns between Telugu and German: the ending with a "n" sound. e.g, "Den Tisch" for the masculine "Der Tisch". In Telugu, the words also have a "n" ending: "ni" ని or "nu" ను. This might be a weird coincidence.
In any case, the field of historical linguistics has been extremely biased by a colonialist perspective. This needs to be junked and the languages need to be investigated afresh.
Dravidian nonsensical linguistics, which is divorced from Sanskrit, needs to be questioned severely.
Dravidian nonsensical linguistics, which is divorced from Sanskrit, needs to be questioned severely.
