Now the day is over and night is drawing nigh shadows of evening steal across the sky.Now the darkness gathers and stars begin to peep, Birds, beasts and flowers will soon be asleep…

But not for the twinkling stars of cinema… how they are always adored twinkle by twinkle until a time comes when they wrinkle …and we look back upon them with nostalgia and reflect upon them now as Living Legends.

She is just one such star known for her twinkling toes. Yes! It’s none other than the Diamond Jubilee star – Vyjayanthimala – actress, Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer, a reluctant Carnatic singer, Golfer, Table Tennis player, ex-Parliamentarian. etc.

Last spotted at Esha Deol’s wedding – 70+, ramrod straight and elegant as always, her kohl-lined eyes, elaborate bindi and slender hands speaking a language of their own; reminding us about the fact that when she was acting in films, she was not married & when she got married, she stopped acting in films. She started off as ‘paapukutty’ (fondly called) or the ‘idly-face’(as she was mercilessly teased) in the Tamil film “Vazhkai”, which opened up a new vazhkai (life) for her.

There was no looking back after this film. Coming from a conservative Vaishnavite family with a strict routine right from her childhood, she may have missed her celebrity mother Vasundhara Devi (a popular actress herself who went away to a path of destruction later on in life) who left them when she was in her early teens, but with a fond silent father and a disciplined granny (Yadhugiri Devi) she reached the pinnacle of success like none other. She was so fond of her grandmother that even though she liked one plait, she wore two plaits for her, chiffons & mysore georgettes instead of the South Indian checked sarees, small teeka instead of a big bindi as long as she was alive… Even her 1st coffee/tea at the age of 30 years & so on…

Is it not destiny that everything simply worked out in her favor and she became a national dancing star overnight with a creative blend of ‘bhava’ (mood) & ‘abhinaya (expression of the emotion)? Acting came naturally to her because she put three more aspects of abhinaya in histrionic art – Nritta (pure dance), Nritya (interpretative dance), and Natya (dramatic representation connoting either Nritta or Nritya or both). Of all the dancers who have pursued a screen career along with their art, Vyjayanthimala paid the most attention to austerity of technique and command over rhythmic footwork. With her beauty, vivacity and suppleness how she has lit up the silver screen and left an indelible image for generations of genuine filmy lovers!

There are countless number of actors . Among them very few would leave a mark on the characters they play. But there are even very few who would make themselves the character they play. The way they walk, talk and pronounce their lines has become certain folklores in ages to come. Even though their lives are short lived, they attain popularity, which is synonymous to the roles they played. One among such actors is Chilakapudi Seetha Ramanjaneyulu aka CSR.

CSR was born at Narasaraopeta village in Andhra Pradesh on 11 July 1907. Perhaps his father, who was a good astrologer knew the destiny of his son and predicted that he would become an artiste of repute and likewise encouraged him to pursue an acting career.

CSR was a reputed actor on stage. There were times when he was seen in the garb of Lord Krishna on stage, much before NTR made his mark as Lord Krishna on screen. Such popular was his act in the play ‘Krishna Thulabharam,’ that people came to see him from far off places and revel in the bliss of his acting. As with time, films have eclipsed theatre and CSR quit his Co-operative Sub-Registrar job and joined the Telugu film field.

CSR made his film debut with the role of ‘Sri Rama’ in the film ‘Rama Dasu’ in 1933. The film got him neither any recognition nor more roles. He got a break in 1936 with ‘Draupadi Vasthrapaharanam’ produced on ‘Saraswathi Talkies’ banner. CSR acted as ‘Lord Krishna’ in this film along with reputed actors of theatre like Yadavalli, Dommeti, Kannamba, Rama Tilakam and direction of HV Babu. CSR received Rs 5000, a huge amount in those days, as his first remuneration.

CSR continued to excel in the mythological roles as “Sri Rama” in Sri Rama Paduka Pattabhishekam’ and “Lord Venkateswara” in ‘Sri Venkateswara Mahathyam’. These films remain as milestones in the career of CSR. His glory raised with ‘Bhishma’ produced on ‘Shobhanachala’ banner. CSR enthralled the audience also as singer in this movie.

CSR proved that he is equally adept at social dramas when he acted in ‘Gruha Pravesham’. The role he essayed had shades of the famous character ‘Girisam’ from the play ‘Kanya Shulkam’ by Gurazada Apparao. More roles followed and CSR went on to essay them in socials  and mythologicals as well simultaneously. He was awarded the Best Actor for the film “Bhakta Kuchela” in which he was the ‘Kuchela.’ When this movie was produced in  Malayalam, the producer requested him to act in “Bhakta Kuchela”, which was criticlaly acclaimed as well.

But his acting career received  crown in the form of “Sakuni mama” act in the legendary and evergreen  film “Maya Bazaar” in the year 1957. CSR had relaid the benchmark for the character of Sakuni. His portrayal of the hideous character was so authentic that people started believing that the real Sakuni during the Mahabharata period might have behaved in the same way as CSR did. Even to this day he is remembered as the Sakuni. His lines are much remembered even to this day since his dialogue modulation and unmatched expression are  of extraordinary nature that can be expected only from a genius.

Later on, he played a role in “Rao Bahadur Ramadasu” , which was witty and satiristic. “Appu Chesi Pappu Kudu” had further cemented his place in the pantheon of actors in the history of Telugu Cinema. The entire film was based on his pyrotechnics and the film had achieved cult status in the genre of Social satires. Though the film had many stalwarts like, NTR, SVR, Savitri, Relangi and others, it was CSR who had left a mark with his act.

He was inspirational to the later day actors like Chittoor. V Nagaiah who believed that CSR was his mentor. KV Reddy appreciated him as an actor who would create sensitive humour through his diction and action.

CSR tried his hand at direction in“Shiva Ganga” and “Rikshawala”. Unfortunately, both the films were not completed.

In 1945, he was elected as Chairman of ‘Madras Cine Workers Union’. He was active in social welfare activities and silently donated money to many persons ,who were in troubles. He was a simple man and was against any publicity. He was fond of badminton and was a good player at the game. He used to spend his evenings at this game. He had four daughters and one son. 

CSR in Griha Pravesham(1946) 

CSR Anjaneyulu in Bhakta Kuchela 1961 ( Malayalam)

There would be heroes in cinema. There would be stars in cinema. There would be character artistes in  cinema. There would be villains in  cinema. But there are very few , who can play all of the above roles with aplomb. He was none other than Kongara Jaggaiah.

Kongara Jaggaiah, was one man who created trends in Telugu cinema and was truly an allrounder. He played as a hero, villain, character artiste, comedian and many such roles. At a time when dabbling in roles was a risky affair, he was one who understood the true meaning of acting and remained an actor throughout his career. Stardom was within his reach but he chose the way of an actor and remained a professional at it.

Born on 31st December 1928 in Morampudi Village near Tenali in Krishna district, Jaggaih became a noted figure in whatever he did. Before he became an actor, he dabbled in journalism with the weekly Andhra Republic and later to news reading over radio. He was the News reader for All India Radio and a generation used to be awakened by this famous greeting, “Namaskaram, Vaarthalu cahduvuthunnadi, Kongara Jaggaiah.”  Soon his passion for the theater which he shared with NTR ,who was his college mate at the Andhra-Christian college, Guntur dragged him out of AIR and pushed him towards Madras.

He got a chance as a lead actor in Tripuraneni Gopi Chand’s film “Priyuralu”. Sadly this film and Jaggaiah’s other films in the early part of his career were not successful and went unnoticed. But he came into lime light with successful movies “Ardhangi, and Bangaru Papa”.  Soon many other films followed. He was a second lead in Vijaya’s “Appu Chesi Pappu Koodu” and was a villain in “Atma Balam.” He played a comic villain in “Todi Kodallu” and “Kalasi Unte Kaladu Sukham”. He played the good samaritan in “Aaradhana” and “Velugu Needalu” and was a jealous husband in “Dr. Chakravarthy.” Numerous roles followed and Jaggaiah made all the roles memorable with his unique dialogue delivery and expressions. He achieved eternal glory with his portrayal of Rutherford from the timeless classic, “Alluri Seetha Rama Raju”.

Though he was successful as a hero Jaggaiah took up character roles in various films and was considered as a versatile artist who can play any kind of role with ease. He essayed several roles such as hero, second lead, comedian and villain. He was very active for two decades in Telugu films in different character roles from 1950 to 1970. Later on, he became very choosy in picking up roles and acted very minimally till his death. “Detective Narada” directed by Vamsi is said to be his last movie.

He lent his voice to many actors in films dubbed from other languages. He dubbed for Tamil hero Sivaji Ganeshan and to the date Telugu people remember Sivaji Ganeshan with Jaggaiah’s voice. He also dubbed for Richard Attenborough in the dubbed Telugu version of the English film Jurassic Park.

He was a trend setter for film industry as he was the first actor, anywhere from India, to join electoral politics, much before MGR and to have won the Parliament elections. He was elected to the 4th Lok Sabha from the Ongole Constituency as a Member of Parliament.

He had also produced a film “Padandi Munduku” which had won Rs. 50,000/- cash award from the government of Andhra Pradesh.

Other than acting and producing, Jaggaiah had a passion for literature and had translated many English literarary works into Telugu. He translated the Noble prize winning book “Geetanjali” by Ravindranath Tagore into Telugu as “Ravindra Geetha”. He also translated Tagore’s famous play “Sacrifice” into Telugu as “Balidaanam”. Also, Jaggaiah had formal training in painting under the tutelage of the renowned painter, Adavi Bapiraju.

His talent and contributions towards the cause of arts did not go unnoticed. He was honoured with “Padma Bhushan” by the Government of India.

The Sanskrit Vishwa Vidyalaya, Delhi honoured him with a title “Kala Vachaspathi”. He got honorary doctorate D.Litt. from the Telugu university, Hyderabad. He received title of “Kalaprapoorna” from Andhra University and the title of “Kalaimamani” from Tamil Nadu Government.

His demise was unfortunate and bizarre as the doctors failed to check his blood clotting time during a hip replacement surgery which resulted in the failure of heart and brain and costing the millions of movie lovers a legend whose services were unforgettable. 

Readers may watch few great songs picturized on Jaggayya

If there was one individual who attained superstardom in the early stage of his career and later on became the senior statesman of the southern cinema and remained to be respected affectionately to this day, then his name should be remembered as Vuppaladadiya M Nagaiah alias Chittoor V.Nagaiah alias “Nannagaru”.

Nagaiah garu is majorly known as a elderly figure who played the roles of father and grandfather to majority of the heroes of the golden age but he himself was a big star in his early days. He was an artist who lived for his values and art. He an actor, composer, director, producer, writer and play back singer. In the early days of cinema, when talent was respected rather than the family name, Nagaiah achieved immortal fame and scaled those improbable heights of stardom. Such was his star power that the traffic constables used to clear way for his car first than the Governal General of British India, in the city of Madras and the heads of the nation such as Sri Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan asked him to recite a few lines from his amazing repertoire of songs in his Presidential Chamber.

He started his career as journalist and later edited “Film India” magazine. He had a strong association with ‘Rama Vilasa Sabha’ a cultural association in Chittoor and that is why he came to be known as Chittoor Nagaiah. He performed several stage plays ‘Sarangadhara’, ‘Viswamithra Chitra Nilayam’, ‘Savitri’, ‘Bruhannala’ and ‘Ramadasu’ and took on the roles of saint poets Pothana, Vemana, Rama Dasu and Thyagiah. In those days when females acting on stage were looked down upon, Nagaiah played a female role that of ‘Chitrangi’, in the play ‘Sarangadhara’ and received a gold medal too for his performance.

He learnt vocal music from his childhood. His experience and talent in theater brought him a chance in “Griha Lakshmi” in 1938. He played the role of an idealist and got good recognition. He was noticed by BN Reddy who made him a hero in “Vandemataram”  and also asked him to compose music for this. The film was a runaway success for its theme and also for its music. His bond with Vauhini created great history with the films such as “Sumangali, Devatha, Bhaktha Pothana, Swarga Seema, Thyagayya and Yogi Vemana.” His acting along with his mellifluous voice had created a great image for him.

It is said that his performance in the film ‘Yogi Vemana’ influenced a boy who later turned into a saint and became popular as ‘Balayogi’. A small story about his acting prowess need to be cited over here. It was during the shoot of Yogi Vemana in which Nagaiah was playing the title role. It was the climax scene in which Vemana goes into the self-imposed Samadhi in a cave and doors get closed. Nagaiah started his walk towards the cave in a trance as if Vemana himself was walking towards the cave. The supporting cast which consisted of about 100 extra artists and the crew who were among 50 were so taken by the performance of Nagaiah everyone forgot that it was a shoot and were standing as if watching some spectacle. After Nagaiah started shouting to open the doors of the cave that everyone realised that it was a shoot. Such was Nagaiah’s spell over his audience which made him a superstar and the highest paid actor of his times.

But becoming a producer and director was a blow on Nagaiah’s wealth and career as a lead actor. His “Naa Illu” and “Bhakta Ramadasu” were made with highest integrity and dedication. Even thecse films impressed the audience very much but the box-office success could not be achieved due to some external reasons and the financial worries for the stalwart became too big to ignore.

 

Saridey  Varalakshmi(1927-2009) is one of  the Telugu  & Tamil cinema’s greatest Actresses & Singers. She is equally good in both fields and belongs to first generation of Telugu and Tamil cinema. Varalakshmi  played a variety of roles including the female lead, vamp, later mother and aggressive mother-in-law in hit movies in Tamil and Telugu. She left an indelible footprint in the shifting sands of cinema through her portrayal in movies such as ‘Seva Sadanam’,’Illalu’,’Santha Balanagamma’, ‘Maya Lokam’, ‘Palnati Yuddham(1947)’, ‘Aayiram Thalaivangi Apoorva Chinthamani’, ‘Navajeevanam’ ‘Balaraju’, ‘Vali Sugreeva’,’Jeevitham’ ‘Tingu Ranga’,’Sri Krishna Thulabharam(1955)’ ‘Sathi Thulasi’, ‘Naga Panchami’, ‘Sathi Savithri(1957)’, ‘Chakravarthi Thirumagal’, ‘Veerapandiya Kattabomman’, ‘Deepavali’ , Sivagangai Seemai’,‘Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam’,’Abhimanam’,’ Mahamantri Thimmarusu’,’Krishna Prema’,’Sri krishnarjuna Yuddham’,’ Babru Vahana’, ‘Sathya Harischandra’, ‘Panamaa Paasamaa’, ‘Kandan Karunai’, ‘Raj Raja Chozhan’ etc. Her performance in ‘Poova Thalaiya’ (Tamil) & Bomma Borusa (Telugu) is considered her best. Her fame and name rippled out thanks to her excellent voice and acting talent and her knowledge of Carnatic Music, which she learnt as an young girl.  She also sung some private songs for Radio Ceylon in 1950s. Some of her movie songs are very popular even today. 

Varalakshmi also had a stint in Kannada cinema and played a major role in the Rajkumar-starrer ‘Babruvaahana’. However she did not meet with the same success that she had in her other language films. When the Hit movie Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam (1960) was dubbed into Hindi; She sang her songs in Hindi , Sri Devini Hum teri Ardhangini’ was popular as well. 

Varalakshmi was born in 1927 in the zamindari town of Jaggampeta (then in Madras Presidency, now in Andhra Pradesh), and belonged to a middle class family. Due to certain circumstances, she grew up in her uncle’s house in Kurnool, where he was a musician. Spotting her flair for music, he formally trained her in Carnatic music. 

During this period, the stormy petrel of Telugu cinema and social protest filmmaker Gudavalli Ramabramham (‘Mala Pilla’, ‘Raithu Bidda’, ‘Apavaadhu’) was engaged by the pioneer filmmaker K. Subramanyam to direct the Telugu version of his popular Tamil movie ‘Balayogini’. The film had many children in major roles and Ramabramham, touring Andhra looking for fresh talent, spotted young Varalakshmi in Kurnool. With his encouragement and Subramanyam’s nod, Varalakshmi sailed into the world of lens and lights with this film in 1938. 

Impressed by her looks and singing skills, Subramanyam cast her in his classic ‘Seva Sadanam’ (1938) with M. S. Subbulakshmi. Varalakshmi played an young friend of the heroine (M.S.), and thus began a close friendship between the two, which helped Varalakshmi to hone her singing skills. She played a young girl’s role in ‘Parasuraman’ (Tamil, 1940) along with T. R. Mahalingam. Little did she know then that he would play a major role in her life later, both on and off screen. 

T. R. Sundaram, Modern Theatres’ boss, cast her in a major role in his box office hit ‘Aayiram Thalai Vaangi Apoorva Chinthamani’ (1947). The title role was played by V.N.Janaki. The hero who solves the puzzles in the movie (P. S. Govindan) had a heartthrob (Varalakshmi.) The film was a major success and Govindan and Varalakshmi made an attractive pair. T. R. Sundaram cast her again in the lead role in ‘Bhojan’ (1948) with Govindan as hero. This film did not do as well as expected. Pasupuleti Kannamba cast her in her Tamil movie ‘Navajeevanam’ (1949), an emotion-drenched family story about an young man from a poor family (Sriram) who falls in love and marries a rich girl (Varalakshmi).Varalakshmi’s association with T. R. Mahalingam began in 1950. She played the heroine in ‘Machharegai’ (1951), ‘Mohanasundaram’ (1951), ‘Chinnadurai’ (1952) and ‘Velaikkaran’ (1952). However these were not successful. ‘Mayalokam’ (1945) was the first movie of Akkineni Nageswara Rao as full fledged hero with two heroines, Varalakshmi and P. Shanthakumari. It was a box office hit. ‘Balaraju’ (1947) again with Nageswara Rao, was a major hit and some of Varalakshmi’s songs became popular. She was also paired with ANR in the classic ‘Palnati Yuddham’ as Manchala who loses her lover in the historic battle. The two sang a duet (‘Ohoooohooo..Charuseela’),  which is still hummed and remembered by Telugu film buffs. 

Varalakshmi acted with all the top actors of her day including P.U.Chinnappa, Chittoor. V.Nagayya, N.T.Rama Rao, S.V.Ranaga Rao, Akkineni Nageswara rao, Shivaji Ganeshan, M.G.Ramachandran, T.R.Mahalingam, Ranjan, Gemini Ganeshan and R.S.Manohar etc.. 

K. S. Gopalakrishnan, the star-maker, cast her as an aggressive woman in ‘Panammaa Paasamma’ in which she excelled as the tough lady. Then came her crowning glory with K. Balachandar’s ‘Poova Thalaiya’(Tamil), Bomma  Borusa (Telugu). Here again, she played a tough woman pitted against Jaishankar & Chandra Mohan.

In her later career, she acted in mother and aunt roles. She married  film producer and brother of Tamil poet Kanndasan ,  A.L. Srinivasan and has two children. She continued to act after marriage in senior roles in Telugu and Tamil cinema to keep herself occupied, Varalakshmi lent her voice for some films as well. The last years of her life were spent in physical pain, as she suffered from a hip fracture and was hospitalized often. 

S.Varalakshmi passed away on 22-Sep-2009 with deep illness, she was 82 years. 

Varalakshmi’s powerful acting and her lilting melodies with unique voice shall ever be remembered by moviegoers of south India.

Readers may watch her great Melodies from some of her movies.

Source: Various websites 

Some names are just so interlinked with a particular piece of history that their entire life seems to be connected with that single event of a lifetime. One such legend is Chittajallu Pullaiah also famously known as C Pullaiah, the producer-director of “Lava Kusa” (1963) which had N T Rama Rao as Rama and Anjali Devi as Seeta Though he was a pioneer of many important innovations and history with regards to cinema, but for the common audience he is just synonymous with Lava Kusa.

During the silent era, C Pullaiah joined Kohinoor Film Company in Bombay in 1922. When Raghupati Venkaiah Naidu formed the “Star of the East Films Limited” in Madras, C Pullaiah joined the company as an Assistant Director with R S Prakash. But the production company was a in a lull after making “Bhishma Pratigna”. Unable to stay away from making films, C Pullaiah decided to make films on his own and purchased some lighting equipment and a camera and started shooting in his house at Kakinada. The logistical problems of developing the footage and screen it was big as he had to travel either to Madras or to Bombay or else to Calcutta. But true to his nature Pullaiah constructed a theatre in Kakinada, “City Electric Cinema”, which was later rechristened as “Minerva”.

C Pullaiah always believed in construction of film theatres as he thought that there would be no life for Cinema if there are no Cinema theatres to show the movies. Hence he spent considerable amount of his time in the construction of theatres in various places. He used to conduct Touring Theatres and used to sell them of for interested buyers and in this process he spread the film movement through out the region.

East India Film Company of Calcutta invited him to direct a few movies in the year 1932 and from then on C Pullaiah became a Director for films like “Sati Savitri”, “Lava Kusa” (previous version), “Anasuya – Dhruva”, and other such movies. Later in the year 1938, when the Studio Durga Cine Tone in Rajahmundry was up for closure, C Pullaiah, on the condition of paying a rent of Rs 1000 per month, ran it on the name of Andhra talkies and made “Satyanarayana Vratam” in it.

C Pullaiah is credited for introducing Bhanumati who later on became a celebrated personality of Telugu Cinema through his movie “Vara Vikrayam” in the year 1939.  He was called a revolutionary Director for introducing western orchestra for the Re-Recording of “Vara Vikrayam” though the songs were of local flavor. He is also remembered for shooting the first outdoor movie of Telugu Cinema “Mohini Bhasmasura” in the year 1938.

He was always a Film maker who always wished to entertain the audience with his movies and always thought that the common man who comes to watch his movies has to be satisfied for the money he paid for. His belief is glorified when he shot a comic track “Kasulaperu” and a song “Chal Mohana Ranga” to his movie “Satyanarayana Vratam”, when he thought that the film was of short duration. He clubbed two movies into a single show with “Anasuya” and “Dhruva”.

“Lava Kusa” (1963), catapulted his name into immortality and became a success without any match. The movie took seven years to complete and was a big burden on C Pullaiah, but with the help of N T R and Anjali Devi, he completed the film under his Supervision and his son C S Rao as the Director. The legend says that the audience was enthralled to see NTR as Lord Rama and Anjali Devi as Sita and they used to pray to them by offering coconuts and camphor. Such was the success of the film that people used to travel to big cities in hordes of bullock carts to watch it.

The legend of C. Pullaiah lives on inspiring many Directors and Producers.  Watch few famous songs and scenes from the epic movie Lava Kusa(1963).

Indian cinema has to have a heroine, whether a script demands it or not. This is the ground rule for ages and in the earlier times it was even difficlt to get women to act on screen. Hence, the importance of Surabhi Kamala Bai who is credited as the first Telugu heroine of talkie era is noteworthy.

As some say, Kamala Bai was destined to be under arc lights as her mother, who was a stage artist herself, went into labor pains while she was on stage and gave a dramatic birth to Kamala Bai. Though her original name was Kamala Bai, she became famous as “Surabhi” Kamala Bai for her association with Surabhi theater group.

In 1931, director HM Reddy intended to make a Talkie film in Telugu on the banner of Imperial Films with Ardeshir Irani as the Producer. He chose Kamala Bai from ‘Surabhi Drama Company’ as heroine in his film. Kamala Bai became the first heroine in the first Telugu talkie ‘Bhaktha Prahlada’. Kamala Bai donned the role of ‘Leelavathi’ in the film. “Bhaktha Prahlada” was a stupendous success and Kamala Bai settled as leading actress in Telugu film industry.

Kamala Bai acted in the lead roles in her next films ‘Shakunthala and Paduka Pattabhishekam’ in 1932. These films were directed by Sarvottham Badami and produced by Chunni Bai Desai on ‘Sagar Films’ banner. Kamala Bai co-starred with Addanki Sri Rama Murthy in the film ‘Paduka Pattabhishekam’ and co-starred with Yadavalli Surya Narayana in the film ‘Shakunthala’. Though these movies were well received they could not make much money like “Bhaktha Prahlada”.

Surabhi Kamala Bai acted in nearly 140 films. She could sing songs and poems on her own in the films. She had good voice, good body language and body structure which are great assets to an actress. In the latter part of her career, Kamala Bai mostly played side roles in some movies like ”Keelu Gurram(1949), Mallishwari(1951). Pathala Bhairavi (1951) as Thota Ramudu’s mother role, Devadas (1953) as Parvathi’s grand mother, Jayabheri(1958), Shabash Ramudu (1959) , Raja Makutam (19549)and Velugu Needalu (1961).

Surabhi Kamala Bai, who regaled the audience with her performances and created a benchmark for acting when the Film Industry was taking its wings. She took her last breath in 1971.

Readers may Watch few videos of Surabh Kamalabai

There is a beginning for everything in the world. There has to be an inventor or a discoverer or else a pioneer of newer thnings the world has to see. Even the cinema which we see today was invented by Lumiere brothers and brought to India by Dada Saheb Phalke. But there is another personality who shared the same vision which Dada Saheb had. He is none other than Raghupati Venkaiah Naidu  who brought cinema to the Southern part of India. And rightfully, he deserves to be called as the father of Southern Cinema (as there were no language based cinema at that point of time).

Raghupati Venkaiah Naidu used to run a photo studio at 161, Mount Road, Chennai. When he got to know that the Gay Mount Company in London have invented a projector called “Chrono Megaphone” which could transmit moving pictures along with sound, he mortgaged his studio and ordered the projector for an amount of Rs.30,000, which was a huge amount in those days, along with 400 shorts.

Raghupati Venkaiah Naidu managed a show, to exhibit the projector, at Victoria Hall in Madras and wowed the audience. Later on he started exhibiting films through a touring theatre and conducted shows in Bangalore and other cities of Andhra. He also exhibited in Sri Lanka and Burma. Later on in 1912, Raghupati Venkaiah Naidu built a permanent theatre “Gaiety” in Madras.  Later on he built “Crown” in Mint Street and “Globe” in Parasuvakam. In 1913, under the management of “Star of the East”, “Glass Studios” was established behind the premises of Globe theatre.

Raghupati Venkaiah Naidu sent his son, Raghupati Surya Prakash, to London to learn Cinematography. When his son came back, Raghupati Venkaiah Naidu produced a film named “Bhishma Pratigna”, under the direction of his son, Raghupati Surya Prakash, under the banner of “Star of the East”, in 1921. Later on he produced “Gajendra Moksham”, “Bhaktha Nandanar” and “Matsyavataar” which were all silent films.

Raghupati Venkaiah Naidu retired from the company in 1929. He transferred all his responsibilities of the company to his son, Raghupati Surya Prakash. He deceased in the year 1941.

Raghupati Venkaiah Naidu’s life was remarkable as he was the one who started film movement in South India by daring to exhibit movies, to own a film studio and later on produce movies. He took the risk when there was no guarantee for the returns on his investments. He paved a way for the coming generations to follow and told the world that million others can depend on this form of entertainment not just for entertainment but also for livelihood. He created cinema out of nowhere and proved to be a successful one at that. Recognizing his contribution, the Andhra Pradesh Government has been giving the Life Time Achievement Award on his name and most of the present generation now comes to know that Award as Raghupati Venkaiah Naidu Award. Raghupati Venkaiah Naidu’s name shall remain forever in the annals of southern cinema history and his name shall be the first page anyone comes across while discussing the origin of southern cinema.

“Zindagi aur maut upar waalon ke haathon mein hain jahaapanah. Use  naa aap badal sakte hain aur na hum. Hum sab toh is rang manch ke  katputliyah hain jiske dor upar walon ke hath mein bandhe hain. Kab kaun kaise uthegaa kisiko bi pata nahin”

It was just a week ago that the fears about the health of Bollywood icon were dispelled as he was discharged from hospital. Countless fans of his heaved a sigh of relief when it was announced that Rajesh Khanna is doing well. But all of a sudden the news came in this afternoon that, he is no more. It is not just the mourning of his wife, Dimple Kapadia and daughter, Twinkle and Rinkie and son-in-law, Akshay Kumar, but also the mourning of a nation. The Indian nation is collectively saying, Our Anand is no more, our Amar Prem is no more, our Bawarchi is no more, our Kaka is no more.

What a gush of emotions and what a whiff of his memories. He was 69 when he left this world, but what he left behind is a sea of memories and fondness.

If at all there is one production house of yesteryears which stands as the most prestigious among those production houses that produced Telugu Cinema then it has to be Vijaya Pictures. The movies churned out by the house have been the iconic memories of Telugu cinema and the man behind it, Aluri Venkata Subba Rao alias CHAKRAPANI is revered as the brain behind the banner. Along with Nagireddy, Chakrapani is remembered as the most iconic of Producers and the stories and anecdotes about his ways have occupied most cinema  space than any other producer.

The name Chakrapani would bring the colorful pictures of the famous magazine “Chandamama” and the famous film banner “Vijaya Pictures” before us. He was the soul behind these Telugu Creative Giants.

Chakrapani was born on 05-08-1908 at Aitha Nagaram in Tenali, AP and was christened as Aluri Venkata Subba Rao. He got interested into literature and took up writing. He assumed charge of a Hindi school and had translated some hindi write-ups into Telugu. He took up writing seriously and wrote for the magazines “Chitragupta and Vinodini”. He assumed a pen name of “Chakrapani” which was suggested by Vrajananda Sharma.

Chakrapani was introduced to Bengali literature when he was at the sanitorium at Madanapalli undergoing treatment for Tuberculosis. He was introduced to Sharath’chandra Chattarji’s Bengali works and was highly influenced by his works. He started to translate most of the Sharath’s works into Telugu. He employed such a lucid language in translating the novels that people assumed Sharath to be a telugu person rather than a Bengali. Chakrapani’s work won him the appreciation of Puchchalapalli Sundaraiah, a famous Communist leader.

Chakrapani’s life always surrounded the artisitic world. Literature, Magazines and Films formed the core of his world and had always immersed him with these passions. He was a versatile writer who wrote the stories “Patha Mangali, Aham Brahmasmi, and Komma” etc and wrote satires on the society under the title of “Panileni Mangali”. He secured a high position in Telugu literature. He started the magazines “Andhra Jyothi” and  “Chandamama” . Chandamama catered to the taste of children. He established the universal record that as an editor he published the children’s monthly magazine “Chandamama” in 14 Indian languages. He also introduced this magazine in Braille script from 1980 for blind readers. The magazines “Vanitha and Vijaya Chitra” were also started under in his editorship. These magazines were also published in Kannada and Tamil languages.

He started his film career with this literary back ground in 1941. He wrote story and dialogues for the film “Dharmapathni” (1941) directed by P.Pullaiah. He worked as dialogue writer for the film “Swarga Seema” (1945) which was produced by Vauhini films.

Chakrapani developed friendship with B.Nagi Reddy who was the press owner of BNK Press which was used to publish the magazines of Chakrapani. Then Nagi Reddy planned to establish a film studio with the partnership of Chakrapani. They started “Vijaya Productions” and produced the first film “Shavukaru”. Chakrapani wrote the script for Shavukaaru. But the film was very much a realistic portrayal of the times sans any dramatic scenes. The film was liked by the critics but was rejected by the audience who felt that too much of realism was not their cup of tea. But still, Shaavukaru opened modern trends in Telugu cinema. Chakrapani then understood what a common man wants from films and realized that ideology should be told in a sugar coated entertainment form rather than telling it bluntly. With that realization, Chakrapani then became the doyen of cinema by moulding his scripts in such a way that there was a proper mix of values and entertainment and the end result was several silver jubilee films under the banner of Vijaya Productions.

Films like, “Paatala Bhairavi, Maya Bazaar, Gundamma Katha, Missamma, Jagadeka Veeruni Katha, Pelli Chesi Choodu, Appu Chesi Pappu Koodu, Rechukka Pagatichukka” etc etc which still are considered as the classics on Telugu screen. He contributed as a writer for most of the films and doubled up as a Producer along with Nagi Reddy. In the later years, the Vijaya acquired Vauhini studios, after Moola Narayana Swamy, the owner of Vauhini, was engulfed with tax problems and became Vijaya Studios.

Chakrapani’s intellect was the most trusted upon in the film industry. He set up a disciplinary code during the shooting of the film and no one ever dared to breach that code. The most quoted example is when Bhanumati, a star in her own right, was dropped straighaway from “Missamma” for coming late to the shoot. She offered some reasons to Chakrapani who refused to accept her reasons and replaced her with Savitri. Still, he did not let his professional decision affect his personal relation with Bhanumati and remained as a true friend of Bhanumati’s family till his death. Bhanumati used to write for Chakrapani’s publication, “Yuva” and her stories were the regular features of the Deepavali issues of the magazine. Bhanumati wrote a story “Rambha Chakrapaneeyam” keeping in view the character of Chakrapani. If  God Indra sends Rambha to Chakrapani, how he would behave with her is the theme of this article. This story secured a special place in Telugu literature.

Chakrapani used to be very straightforward during the script discussions. He did not mince words to express displeasure and directors like, Dukkipati Madhusudana Rao, BA Subba Rao used to accept his words without any bitterness. Such were the times.

Chakrapani’s theories about film making had strong conviction and showed his understanding of cinema and his hold on the pulse of the audience. Some of his principles stand good even today

1. He shunned tragic films and was all for entertainment factor coated with values.

2. He was averse to the hero crying on screen. His belief was that the hero would be the connecting factor of any film and showing him as a weak person would hamper the audience connectivity and the impact would be lost on the audience. He always made his hero overcome the obstacles faced but his hero never wept.

3. He believed in correct casting of any film. He used to say that it was okay for any new heroine to pair with a star hero but any new hero should not pair with a star heroine as the audience will not accept it easily. He was a strong advocate of popular actors. He used to say that it saved time and energy for the director to present any story as the audience would be expecting the lead pair to have some relation at some point of time during which the director would have ample time to establish the conflicts between the lead pair. A strong conviction indeed.

4. His understanding of comedy is praiseworthy and a lesson to be learnt by the next generations. His view is that comedy should never be mixed with suspense. For example while introducing the character of Savitri in Missamma, the focus was to be on the mole on Savitri’s feet and then on her. That single shot would tell the audience that she is the lost daughter of SV Ranga Rao. But that fact is not known to the the characters on screen and what follows is just comical scenes and conversations which peaks in the climax. The end result is there for everyone to see, Missamma stands as a timeless classic in every language it is made. Missiamma in Tamil and Miss Mary in Hindi.

5. Once a make-up man came to him and proudly said that he created a make-up for NTR in which he cannot be recognised that easily. Chakrapani immediately said that the disguise is for the characters on screen and not for the audience. If the audience cannot recognise that it is NTR they are seeing on screen, then NTR is not required to act at all. 

6. During the shoot of Gundamma Katha, Relangi came to Chakrapani and rued that he did not get a chance to act in the film. Chakrapani cajoled him saying that there were no comic roles for him for which Relangi replied that Ramana Reddy was doing a role which he could have done easily. Chakrapani then became very serious and replied, “నీవు చేస్తావు, కాని వాళ్ళు చూడరు.” You would definitely do it, but the audience will not see you” and went away. This lone incident justifies the importance Chakrapani laid on correct casting of his film.

Director Bapu rues that Chakrapani was not alive to supervise the direction of Vijaya’s film, “Sri Rajeswari Vilas Coffee Club” and that is why the film could not achieve the expected success though the film is still regarded as a great film. With reverence to Chakrapani, he was credited as the director of the film.

Chakrapani took his last breath on September 24th 1975. With the passing away of Chakrapani, Nagi Reddy announced to the world that Vijaya would never produce again and closed the banner. The banner was briefly revived after 2 decades with few films like, “Brindavanam and Bhairava Dweepam” though they were produced on the banner of “Vijaya Chandamama Pictures”.

The legend of Chakrapani continues to inspire generations of film makers and the stories of his intellect continue to educate film makers of today.

 

There are few films in Telugu cinema which have found a place in the history and culture of Telugu people. If Maya Bazaar occupies the mythological seat in people’s hearts, Pathala Bhairavi became the eternal movie in the genre of folklore. When it comes to socials none can beat the aura of “GUNDAMMA KATHA” which when released on June 7th, 1962 became such a success story that generations of Telugus see the film just to have fun and laugh wholeheartedly at the idiosyncrasies of a Telugu household.

The premise of the film and the subsequent story, that of two brothers marrying step-sisters and bringing a reform in their mother-in-law by staging some drama in the house, is well-known. The film which was acted by the likes of NTR, ANR, Savitri, Jamuna, Haranath, L Vijayalakshmi and SVR is as famous as any mythological story. But the impressive star-cast which commands every bit of respect were for once overshadowed by two women who just reminded everyone that this is a story which can happen in any household. Suryakantham as Gundamma and Chaya Devi as Sooramma just stole the show from the stars. Ramana Reddy as the comic-villain Gantanna added to the flavor and Rajanala in a guest role provides the thrills.

The story reminds everyone that anyone can fall in bad times. Gundamma who just despises her step-daughter, Lakshmi jumps with joy on seeing her back again after Sooramma ill-treats her. Gundamma repents her own mistakes and asks Lakshmi to take her away. That scene with Suryakantham and Savitri tells it all about the reform the director, Kamalakara Kameswara Rao was talking about. Even Saroja, spoiled daughter of Gundamma is put in hardships by her husband to reform her. On the other hand, Lakshmi who suffered all through her life without complaining is given lot of happiness post-marriage. Sooramma is taught a lesson for her boorish and lecherous behaviour and even Gantanna is mildly reprimanded for his eyes on Gundamma’s property.

Gundamma Katha was directed by Kamalakara Kameswara Rao who directed previously only mythological and folklores. This film remains as his best social movie ever. The film was made on Vijaya Productions  Banner by B Nagi Reddy and Chakrapani. Gundamma Katha happens to be the most successful commercial film of Vijaya Productions and banked on the performances of the stars rather than banking on a solid script, considering the Tamil version of the same film did not succeed as the Telugu version. The reason for its success was attributed to the star cast and the performances of Suryakantham and Chaya Devi. At one point of time, Nagarjuna and Balakrishna wished to remake the film but stopped mid-way because they could not find any replacement for Suryakantham and Chaya Devi. Such was the impact of the duo on the viewers.

The music of the film, scored by Ghantasala, remains to be a high point of the production as every song turned out to be a classic and the children who participate in the reality shows are seen singing songs from this. The melodies like, “Mounamu gaane manasu paadina” “Enta haayi ee reyi” “prema yaatralaku” “sannaga veeche challagaaliki” and the satires on the society, “lechindi nidra lechindi” “Veshamu maarchenu”, the devotional “aligina velani choodaali” and the playful, “kolo kolo anna” remain as the some of the musical classics.

The film had amazing cinematography from Vijaya’s regular DOP, Marcus Bartley. He captured the outdoor shots as beautifully as he captured the studio sets. The song “kolo kolo anna” is best remembered for its choreography of which one couple, ANR and Jamuna is placed on the first storey of the house and the second couple, NTR and Savitri were placed on the ground floor. All the four actors are never to be found in a single frame and even the shoot was done in different time zones, yet the impact on screen was magical. The direction, choreography, editing and cinematography were perfect that the viewer could never point out the reality. Such was the dedication and perfection, the technicians and artists of the day gave to their work.

GUNDAMMA KATHA remains as a greatest commercial entertainer of Telugu cinema. Generations of Telugus pass on this film as a gift to their future generations. For the past 50 years the film is getting newer fan base and remains as an evergreen entertainer.

Cinema goers and critics have been so dazzled by Madhubala’s looks that they often fail to appreciate her immense talent. She had a perfect sense of timing which made her click in lighter roles and she is one of the most beautiful actresses ever to grace Indian silver screen. She survived for a short span of time but kept her mark in the films she had acted in and glorified bollywood films of the 40s, 50s and 60s. A case in point is Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi where she dominates over the three Kumar brothers, Ashok, Kishore and Anoop. There was also a rare spontaneity about her which manifested itself in movies like ”Tarana” and, at the same time, intense poignancy which found expression in the role of the ill-fated Anarkali in ”Mughal-i-Azam”. In both these films she co-starred with the only man she loved, Dilip Kumar. But their romance was doomed like the one they portrayed in K. Asif’s magnum opus, ”Mughal-i-Azam”.

The 1933-born Madhubala started her career as Baby Mumtaz in ”Basant”, when she was merely eight years old.She impressed the film-lovers by creating suspense in her role of ghost in the film” Mahal” opposite Ashok Kumar, in 1947. Lata’s song “ayega anewala” composed by Khemchand Prakash gave Lata the identity which made her unparallel in the world of playback singing.Madhubala was well accepted by the audience as romantic pair opposite Dilip Kumar, and their film ”Tarana”, stormed the silver screen. She had played the role of a rich girl coming from an affluent family in the film ”Mr & Mrs 55”, opposite Guru Dutt. The film had melodious songs composed by OP Nayyar and ended up being a blockbuster. She also acted in films opposite Raj Kappoor including” Do Ustad”, and Dev Anand including musical hit ”Kala Pani”. Madhubala acted opposite all the giants of bollywood industry including Pradeep Kumar in the film ”Rajhath”, Shammi Kapoor in the film ”Boy Friend”, Sunil Dutt in the film ”Jwala” which is her last appearance in the films.

She had probably acted in one of her most romantic roles in ”Barsaat Ki Raat”opposite Bharat Bhushan in 1960. The music of the film composed by Roshan was extraordinary with songs like  “zindagi bhar nahi bhulenge woh barsaat ki raat”, “yeh isq isq”, etc. Sahir Ludhiyanvi could write the classical lyrics due to the historical presence of Madhubala in the film. At the same time made the character ‘anarkali’ immortal by acting opposite Dilip Kumar, in the epic film” Mughal-i-azam”. K. Asif’s grand venture had left people speechless and recently being transformed into colored film due to public demand. The romance between Salim and Anarkali had classical dimension and reached the hearts of millions of film-lovers due to majestic performance of Madhubala and Dilip Kumar. Naushad’s superlative composition of music and Lata’s melodious songs “pyar kiya to darna kya”, “mohe panghat me nandlal”, became immortal. Madhubala had also contributed in comedy films opposite Kishor Kumar, including ”Chalti ka Naam Gadi”, ”Jhumru”, ”Half-ticket”, etc. ”Chalti-ka naam gadi” dealt with a story of motor mechanic who maintained an old car, which won him races and helped in catching criminals, etc. The songs in these films including “haal kaisa hai janaab ka”, “thandi hawa yeh chandni suhani”, “aankho mey hi tum hi tumho”, became evergreen hits. Madhubala had other successful films like” Howrah Bridge”, ”Phagun”, etc. Madhuri Dixit, one of the successful actresses of the 90s, initially impressed the film-lovers due to the fact that she had some resemblance with Madhubala. Madhubala’s screen presence had given her a separate identity among all the actresses of 50s and 60s, and she is still alive in her memorable roles that she played during the golden age of bollywood films.

Two of Madhubala’s qualities that were reflected in many of her deeds were honesty and dedication. In an industry where the top stars were almost always unpunctual, Madhubala reached the studios on time, sometimes even dragging her co-stars and producers with her. Once when Bombay was deluged with heavy rains, she reached the flooded studio early in the morning only to find the gates locked. “From the very start, this was an unusual young girl, whose rare sense of values and responsibility towards her commitments, whose discipline and devotion to work marked her apart. Madhubala’s innate sense of charity, which was not well known because she helped people and causes quietly. In 1950, when barely 17, she donated Rs 50,000, a colossal figure in those days, for the rehabilitation of refugees from what was then East Pakistan. She was generous in more sense than one and never forgot the people who stood by her in difficult moments. Her last film,  was released when she was 27 and she died  in 1969 when she was 36 from a congenital heart disease. Ironically, the surgical cure for a hole in the heart became a success shortly after her death.

Madhubala worked hard despite her failing health and paid a heavy price for it. Hastening her death was her marriage to the eccentric Kishore Kumar, whom she married on the rebound after the tragic end to her love affair with Yusuf Khan, the actor known to the world as Dilip Kumar. While he too wanted to marry Madhubala, her father played the villain role. Madhubala was the sole bread earner of a large family, which included her five sisters. Dilip Kumar, on the other hand, insisted on her giving up her film career. She was caught between two, her overprotective father, Ataullah Khan, and the love of her life, Yusuf Khan. Once, her biographer was informed by Om Prakash, in whose film Madhubala was working at that point, that Dilip Kumar visited her makeup room and said that a Qazi was waiting to perform the nikah. But there was no wedlock, there was only deadlock. Madhubala could not leave her family in the lurch. Commitment took precedence over love, much to the chagrin of her proposer.

He was the man who strove for discipline and values and remained as one throughout his life. Kadiri Venkata Reddy hailed from Anantapur district. He spent his child hood at Tadipatri in the guardianship of his uncle. He finished his graduation Bsc (Hons) from Madras, present Chennai. By that time he developed keen interest in literature and wrote a series of poems which were published under the title of “Pattabhi Panchangam and Fidelu Ragaalu Dozen”.

Those were the days Cinema was finding its feet and also just learnt how to speak. KV Reddy too was attracted to the lure of cinema and joined as a cashier in “Rohini Pictures”. During the time of production of “Gruha Lakshmi” certain differences cropped up between HM Reddy and BN Reddy over the projection of the heroine. The differences became big and few big names like Nagaiah, BN Reddy and Moola Narayana Swamy walked out of the production house. KV Reddy too joined them and along with few others, they started the banner, “Vauhini” and they became a by-word for qualitative cinema. KV Reddy initially joined “Vauhini” as cashier and production manager.

Most of the viewers  Bollywood  films remember Tragedy Queen Meena Kumari. Her death anniversary falls on 31st March every year . Meena Kumari can be considered as the greatest actress of Bollywood during the golden age, who had portrayed images and characters showing complexity of the mind of the Indian woman and the social ostentations that they had faced during different periods of time. She had acted with all top actors of the bollywood in those days including  Dileep Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Pradeep Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Prithvi Raj Kapoor, Raj Kumar, Bharat Bhsuhan and Balraj Sahni etc. She was very good in writing poetry as well.

Meena Kumari was born on 1st August 1932, known as Mahjabeen Bano and started to act at the age of 7 as child actress as baby Meena. She stormed into the Indian silver screen in the year 1952, with the sublime performance in Vijay Bhatt’s master piece Baiju Bawra(1952). Although the film had been renowned for everlasting composition of Hindustani ragas by Naushad and supreme performance by Mohammad Rafi, with songs like “Man tarpat”, “Woh duniya ke rakhwale”, etc., Meena Kumari’s performance opposite Bharat Bhushan showed the film lovers that she had come to conquer Bollywood with her soft style of acting. In the 50s Meena Kumari’s performance in films like Parineeta(1953), Footpath(1954), Azaad (1955) Yahudi(1958) etc. were appreciated by critics as well. She had created her image of martyr in  L.V.Prasad’s  film Sharada, 1957,  even after having an affair with Raj Kapoor, in the film she had to sarcrifice her affection to marry Raj Mehra, his father, who was much older than her in age.

Her films with the ”Tragedy King” Dileep Kumar in movies like Azaad (1955), Yahudi (1958) and the costume film Kohinoor(1960) were also a success. In Dil Ek Mandir(1963), Meena Kumari after having affair with Rajendra Kumar in her youth had to marry Raj Kumar, due to the social pressure. But from the time she had married Raj Kumar, she fulfilled all the duties of a middle class Hindu woman and brought her sick husband to the hospital at the mercy of Rajendra Kumar. She prayed to God for the recovery of Raj Kumar. Rajendra Kumar sacrificed his life to treat her husband and dies at the end of the film. The songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan and sung by Rafi and Lata had not lost their significance even today. In 1962 Meena Kumari performed the role of Choti bahu in Guru Dutt’s Saheb Bibi aur Ghulam, the film showing the zamindari raj (dominance of Feudal lords) existing in the British capital in India, that is Calcutta. She was married to the youngest son in a family of zamindars who used to attend mujras in Jaan bazaar, in Calcutta, where performers from Lucknow, Benaras used to come and exhibit their skills of singing classical songs. She tried to retain her husband Rehman at home and through her conversation, Guru Dutt, the observer comes to know about the history of the family.

The film Bhabhi Ki Chudiyan, which was released in 1961 was also a masterpiece. The film was related to the story of a middle-class woman played by Meena Kumari who sacrificed her entire life for the cause of happiness for the family. Balraj Sahani has a little brother who missed his mother at a very early stage. The mother died even before the little boy came to realize the gravity. He required mother’s care. Balraj Sahani marries Meena Kumari. She fulfills all her duties of the mother and nurtures the child. Sailesh Kumar played the role of the brother of Balraj Sahani. He marries Seema Deo who belongs to a rich family. Durga Khote played the role of the mother of Seema Deo, while Om Prakash played the role of the father of Seema Deo. Her mother tries many tricks to get the brothers separated. She could not succeed. Meena Kumari never begot any child due to a miscarriage. But when Seema Deo’s child was seriously ill, Meena Kumari neglects her health to treat the child and at the end of the film dies. Her bangles (chudiyan) did not burn after her body turned into ashes. The excellent performance of Meena Kumari and Balraj Sahani made the film immortal. Sudhir Phadke’s excellent classical music mesmerized the audience. Lata’s song “Jyoti kalash Chalke” still haunts huge number of cinema lovers.

Meena Kumari’s performance opposite Pradeep Kumar, used to create a different dimension, as her  image had matched with royal style of acting of Pradeep Kumar. After the success of Aarti(1962); Meena Kumari, acted in the blockbusters Bheegi Raat(1965), and Bahu Begum(1967), opposite Pradeep Kumar and Ashok Kumar. In Bheegi Raat, she loved Pradeep Kumar, yet due to an accident which made her legs paralysed she could not attend the engagement and worked in the house of Ashok Kumar as governess. When society boycotted Ashok Kumar, she agreed to marry her, but presence of Pradeep Kumar at the end of the film in the song “dil jo na keh saka” compelled Ashok Kumar to sacrifice his affair and go back to London. It was a film where, Rafi, Lata, Roshan and the actors all had provided their best performance possible. Meena Kumari’s other film with Pradeep Kumar titled Chitralekha(1963) was also successful. Meena Kumari played the role of Noorjahan in the film Noorjahan (1967) with Pradeep Kumar who  had directed many landmark historical films like Taj Mahal, Bahu Begum, etc. In Noorjahan the love story of Salim with Meherunnisa was shown.

Meena Kumari had become immortal with her classic performance in the film Pakeeza(1971), opposite Raj Kumar, which took around 16 years to be completed. It was created on a subject related to women brought up in  the class of women who could not give the recognition to their next generation as their father’s are not known. The music composed by Ghulam Mohammad, Lata and Rafi’s songs, her ex husband director  Kamal Amrohi’s direction  all complemented each other, and the film became historical piece of document.

The greatest hallmark of Meena Kumari lied in her ability to depict the helplessness of Indian women existing specially in the 50s and 60s, when the  society dominated them and they had no independent income to live separately against the pressure of society. In her performances beauty, aristocracy, tragedy, personality all blended into one and for her frequent portrayal of sorrowful and dramatic roles in her films and her real-life story. Whenever we think about cinema classics like Sharada (1957), Miss Mary (1957) Dil Apna aur Preet Parayi(1960) and Ghazal(1965) Meena Kumari’s image automatically comes in our mind. She was the national best actress for four times. In 1962, she made history by getting all the three nominations for  Filmfare Best actress award for her roles in Aarti, Main Chupa Rahungi ( Tamil block buster film Kalathoor Kannamma Hindi remake) and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. She won the award for Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam third time. Her last Filmfare award as best actress was received  for  her movie Kajal(1965).

She died on 31st March 1972, only at the age of 41 years due to liver damage. Meena Kumari’s films should be restored in an archive for future generations to learn the art of understanding the characters from the core of the heart the way Meena Kumari had done during the golden age of Indian cinema.

There were numerous actors, actresses and technicians who had joined the film field since its inception. Very few remained as pioneers and very few have added their own art to the cinema and gave a new beginning to another art. One such pioneer was Vempati Satyam, who is regarded as the first choreographer of Southern cinema. He was the one, who had coached stalwarts like NTR, ANR and all others who danced under his supervision. He had popularized the cinema dance and has taken it to a new level by bringing appropriate changes to the classical dance forms to suit the cinema themes. He is the one, who many have adored and took inspiration from to take up cinema dance as a profession.

Vempati Satyam was born in the Kuchipudi village in Andhra Pradesh. Vempati Satyam family members were the practitioners of Kuchipudi dance form. Satyam’s father had different plans for his son and let him to concentrate in studies instead of learning dance. Satyam could not pursue higher education after his schooling. He was attracted to dance and learnt Kuchipudi with dedication.

Vaijayanthimala can be considered as one of the greatest dancers of bollywood,Tamil and Telugu films who had glorified the films she has acted with her serene performance and notable creative art of choreography. Among all the South Indian actresses, she was probably the path-breaker, who blended her acting capabilities with the South Indian style of Bharatanatyam and other forms of eastern classical dances and inspired the bollywood directors to make films based on those subjects. Vaijayanthimala acted with all the leading stars of that age including Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Dev Anand, Dharmendra, Uttam Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Kishore Kumar,Sunil Dutt, Shammi Kapoor,  N.T Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao Shivaji Ganeshan, MGR and Gemini Ganeshan etc. She had ruled bollywood and Tamil films during the 50s and 60s, during an age when Muslim actresses like Nargis, Madhubala, Meena Kumari and Nimmi rocked  the silver screen in Bollywood. She was the first South Indian actress to create a sensation in bollywood films and paved the way for other South Indian actresses to follow like Hema Malini, Rekha, Sridevi , Jaya Prada, Meenakshi Sheshadri, and others.

Vaijayanthimala was born on August 13, 1936 in an orthodox Tamil Brahmin family. Her father was M.D Raman and Mother was Vasundhara Devi, who was also a leading actress in Tamil Films. During her childhood, she was raised primarily by her maternal grandmother, Yadugiri Devi, and her father, M.D. Raman. At age 5, Vaijayanthimala was chosen to perform a classical Indian dance for Pope Pius X11while her mother shared the honor as an audience in 1940 at  Vatican city . Vaijayanthi did her schooling at Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, Presentation Convent, Church Park, Chennai. She learnt Bharatanatyam from Guru Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai and Carnatic Music from Manakkal Sivaraja Iyer. She had her Arangetram at the age of 13 and started performing all over Tamilnadu later.

She was introduced to the silver screen by  South Indian film pioneer A.V. M Chettiar with the block buster Tamil film Vazhaki (1949). The movie was simultaneously released in Telugu as Jeevitham( Life) and they remade it in Hindi as Bahar (1951), which was also a success. She learnt Hindi at the Hindi Prachar Sabha in order to dub her own voice for her character in the film . Later she acted in several Tamil and Hindi films simultaneously. She kept her mark in the film Nagin in 1955, opposite Pradeep Kumar, her performance in the song “Man dole” sung by Lata is worth mentioning. She played the role of Chandramukhi in Bimal Roy’s epic film Devdas (1955) opposite Dilip Kumar, in 1955. Her character tried her best to reform Devdas by preventing him from taking recourse to alcohol for forgetting Parvathi whom he loved and was married to another person. The same role was played by another established dancer Madhuri Dixit when Sanjay Leela Bhansali remade Devdas in recent years. Vaijayantimala received the film fare award for the best supporting actress in” Devdas” and she refused it saying that her role was even more important than that of Parvathi. In fact Parvathi had led to the death of Devdas, on the other hand, Chandramukhi tried to give him a new life, although she could not succeed in her pursuit.

In Bimal Roy’s” Madhumati”, made in 1958, Vaijayantimala exhibited her class of dancing abilities opposite Dilip Kumar and showed her innocence in a role related to women of hilly region of India. Her performance in songs like “Aaja re pardesi”, “dil tarap tarap ke keh raha hai a bhi ja”, composed by Salil Chowdhury had impressed the film lovers and they lamented her death shown in the film. She also displayed her choreographic skills in the film Katputli, where songs like “bol re katputli” composed by Shankar Jaikishan became big hits.  Her Tamil film Gemini Vasan’s magnum Opus Vanji Kottai Valiban along with Gemini Ganeshan and Padmini was a huge success in those days. The film was still remembered for the dance of the Vaijayanthimala and Padmini in the Kannum Kannum Kalanthu song, which was choreographed by famous choreographer Hiralal which was well received by critics and audience alike where the popularity of the song surpasses the popularity garnered by the film. Perhaps the song is still remembered as one of the best dancing sequence in Indian cinema.  Later   Gemini Vasan remade this movie in Hindi with the same caste as Raj Tilak(1958).

In the early 60s she displayed the role of village girl in the film Ganga Jumna. She adapted herself to the bhojpuri accent used in the film. If the other films had marked her dancing capabilities ,”Sangam” marked her acting potentiality. Her character had a love affair with the role played by Rajendra Kumar, yet Raj Kapoor’s character married her not knowing her liking, and at the fag end of the film, when Raj Kapoor wanted to sacrifice his love, she questioned his authority to take decision about her, because from the time she married him she fulfilled all the responsibilities of a Hindu wife. Rajendra Kumar sacrificed his life by killing himself. Vaijayantimala received the film fare award for the best actress for performing in the film Sangam. At the same time she had acted in female oriented roles like Amrapali, where she depicted the role of a devdasi who performed her art in Indian temples.

Her online chemistry with Tragedy King Dilip Kumar created history in bollywood. Most of their films including Devdas, Naya Daur, Madhumati, Paigham, Ganga Jumna, Leader, Sunghursh ended up being blockbusters. Her films opposite Rajendra Kumar including Zindagi, Aas ka Panchi, Ganwar, Suraj, Saathi, etc., were very successful. She played a very significant part in Vijay Anand’s crime thriller Jewel Thief in 1967. Her brother was kidnapped by the Jewel Thief played by Ashok Kumar and throughout the film she cultivated an image of a character Amar who never existed. Her lips in the song “Rulake gaya sapna mera” are worth mentioning. In the 60s, Vaijayantimala was matchless. Her name was enough to make any film hit

She also performed well in the film Choti Si Mulakat( Remake of Bengal movie Agni Pareeksha) opposite to Uttam Kumar which was based on child marriage. The hero and heroine were married together when they were infants but some of the family members did not accept the marriage. Later when they met each other not knowingly to be spouses, they entered into affair and the child marriage stood in their way. Then their identity was disclosed. Vaijayantimala almost acted with all the leading actors of the golden age of Indian cinema. She married Dr. Bali and left films in early 70s. Her success had paved way for other notable South Indian actresses like Hema Malini, Rekha, Jaya Prada and Sridevi etc., who made significant contribution to Indian Films.  She continues to give Bharatanatyam dance performances after her retirement from films all over the world.

Vyjayanthimala and Padmini’s Dance-off in Vanjikottai Valiban and Raj Tilak

[See post to watch Flash video]

It’s extremely difficult to write a few lines about the great singers when volumes and volumes can be written.

Those were the golden days when we had great singers, who were blessed to have been given the songs written by the writers of the calibre of Devulapally Krishna Sastry, Sri Sri, Arudra, Atreya, Kosaraju, Senior Samudrala, Junior Samudrala and Dasarathi.  During later stages Dr. C. Narayana Reddy, Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry and Veturi Sundara Rama Murthy contributed immensely to the lyrical beauty of Telugu. Those were the days when we had dedicated Music Directors like Saluri Rajeswara Rao, Ghantasala, Pendyala , Adi Narayan Rao, Susarla Daksina Murthy, T.V.Raju followed by K.V.Mahadevan, Viswanathan – Ramamurthy , S.P.Kodandapani, Chakravarthy, Ilaiyaraja and A.R.Rehman. All these great men contributed to the glory of the Telugu film Industry while remaining in the background and enabling the singers to get more credit. However maximum credit always went to the hero and heroine or whichever the character singing the particular song on screen. These singers sang the songs with crystal clear clarity in a style of their own. Each and every word uttered by them clearly. The singers were given prominence and music played the secondary role.  So, it’s 100% true that those golden days can never come back.

Chittor V. Nagayya(1904 – 1973):

He was an actor, director, composer, singer, producer and writer. Baburao Patel of Film India described him as Paul Muni of India. He acted in about 360 films in all south Indian languages and sang many songs. He was humility personified. He was a well trained Carnatic Classical singer like Raghuramaiah, Ghantasala, Suseela, S.Janaki and Vani Jayaram and not professional Carnatic Classical singer like Balamurali Krishna, Yesudas and Bhimsen Joshi. His career spanned four decades.

All songs sung by him in Tyagayya, ” Sannuthi seyave manasaa” in Panduranga Mahatyam, ” Hare Ram” in Tenali Ramakrishna, ” Radha mano Ramana” in Bhaktha Jayadeva, ” Vegarara Prabho” in Venkateswara Mahatyam , ” Ra Ra Krishnayya” in Ramu etc. are very popular.

Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao(1922-1974) :

He ruled the Telugu film industry for 3 decades as the undisputed king. He sang more than 10,000 songs that comprise all the south Indian languages. He is ‘’ Gaana Gandharva’’. He was a Classical trained singer as well. He is also well known for his private songs such as ‘’ Bhagavad Gita’’, ‘’ Pushpa Vilapam’’ and ‘’ Kunthi Vilapam’’. He is very popular in entire South India. He is more famous for his devotional songs especially those sung in the praise of Lord Venkateswara.  He is named by his parents after the Lord. He sang the songs with great feeling and crystal clear clarity while emoting navras in his divine voice. He was very comfortable singing the slokas in Sanskrit. It’s said that even an atheist becomes an ardent devotee of God in no time if he listens to Ghantasala’s devotional songs. He composed music for more than 100 films. He was a very pious man and simplicity, humility and dignity personified. He has won many awards. He is a singer of ‘’ Na Bhootho Na Bhavishyathi’’ kind. The Central Government washed off its hands by releasing a postal stamp in his honour on 11^th February 2003 and comfortably ignoring his talent altogether. He is one of the few famous Telugu personalities, who are well known by the surname. He is more popular as ‘’ Ghantasala’’.

Who can forget his romantic songs ” Carulo shikaarukelle paala buggala pasidi daanaa” in Todi Kodallu, ” Niluvave vaalu kannula daana” in Illarikam to cite a few, sad and philosophical songs ” Janmametthithiraa Anubhavinchithi raa” in Gudi Ghantalu and ” Jagame maya brathuke maya” in Devadas to cite a few.  I find no words to express my feelings to describe the pleasure the South Indians have had by listening to his numerous devotional songs like ” Sivasankari” in Jagadekaveeruni Katha, ” Jaya Krishna Mukunda Murari” in Panduranga Mahatyam, ” Syamala Dandakam” in Mahakavi Kalidas, ” Madi Sarada Devi Mandirame”, ” Rasikaraja thaguvaaramu kaamaa” and ” Yamunaatheeramuna Sandhya samayamuna” in Jayabheri etc for the past so many decades.

The over enthusiasm of Telugu fans of Ghantasala to depict him as the greatest male playback singer India has ever had led to the mudslinging match between Ghantasala and Md.Rafi fans in You Tube. The degrading comments made about these immortal souls should be immediately withdrawn. Comparison of two great singers by mere mortals doesn’t make sense.

P.Suseela(1935):

She is one of the undisputed queens of the entire South Indian film Industry along with S.Janaki. She ruled supreme for  four decades unlike Lata Mangeshkar, who was the undisputed queen of the Hindi Film Industry only. She has sung more than 60,000 songs in various Indian languages and also in Sinhalese language. She won 5 National awards and many State and other prestigious awards. She is very much comfortable singing classical based songs and also Sanskrit Slokas. She sang many unforgettable duet songs with Ghantasala and S. Janaki . She is well known for her mellifluous voice. It’s extremely difficult to pinpoint which of her numerous songs is her best song. Undoubtedly a very gifted and blessed singer indeed.

She is a singer, who is gifted with the golden voice. Here are some of her countless songs that describe her versatality. ” Andaala pasi Paapa ” in Chitti Chellelu, ” Narayana Mantram” in Bhaktha Prahlaada, ” Ghallu ghallu ” in Swarna Kamalam, ” Vidhatha Thalapuna” in Sirivennela, ” Jalakaalaatalalo” in Jagadekaveeruni Katha, ” Oohalu gusa gusalaade” in Bandipotu, ” Yemandoyi Sreevaaru” in Manchimanushulu, ” Aakaashaveedhilo” in Mangalyabalam, ” Ramakathanu vinarayya” along with P.Leela in Lavakusa so on and so forth. How can I describe the beauty of her lullaby ” Laali Laali” in Swathi Mutyam.

S.Janaki(1938):

She reigned supreme in the south Indian film industry for 4 decades along with P.Suseela. She is very famous for her voice modulation and very comfortable in singing classical songs and also Sanskrit slokas. She sang 27,000 songs in various Indian languages and is very famous for her singing association with the singer S.P.Balasubramanyam and composer Ilaiyaraja. She also sang 100 Hindi film songs at a very late stage. Her song in the Hindi film ‘’ Saheb’’ is quite popular. She is more famous for her classical songs like the great Manna Dey in Hindi. Her song in ‘’ Thillaana Mohanambal(1968)’’ in Tamil bears eloquent testimony for her highest standard in her esteemed film singing career. She won 4 National awards and many State and other prestigious awards. How can I say which of her thousands of songs is her best.

I take this opportunity to mention here only a few of her numerous unforgettable songs starting with her duet with Ghantasala ” Nadireyi ye jhaamulo ” in Rangula Ratnam, ” Sirimalle Poovaa” in Padahaarella Vayasu, ” Naravara O Kuruvara” in Nartanasaala, ” Idigo Vachhithi” in Paramaananda Shishyula Katha, ” Gunnamaamidi komma meeda” in Balamithrula Katha, ” Janani varadaayini ” in Bhaktha Prahlaada, ” Nee leela paadeda Devaa” in Muripinche Muvvalu, ” Banthi Chamanthi” in Abhilaasha, ” Manasu Palike” in Swathi Mutyam,” Nemaliki Nerpina Vidya livi” and ” Govullu Thellana” in Saptapadi.

P.Bhanumathi(1925 – 2005):

She is the only artiste of her kind in the film world. Neither S.P.B nor Kishore Kumar can be compared with her as far as  multi talented personality is concerned. She is actress, producer, director, studio owner, music director, story writer and song writer, all in one. She is called ” Ashtavadhani” of Telugu Film Industry. She won Andhra Pradesh Government’s Sahitya Academy Award for her stories ” Attagari Kathalu( Stories of mother-in-law).  She excelled in whichever department she handled in the Film Industry. She acted in Telugu, Tamil and few Hindi films as well. She acted in 200 films and sang many songs in Telugu and Tamil films. Her film career spanned more than 5 decades. Her songs in” Malliswari”, ”Vipranarayana”, ”Batasari”, ”Tenali Ramakrishna” etc. are very popular. She sang the Tyagaraya krithi ” Nagumomu kanaleni ” in a very melodious way. She was equally at ease with Classical songs as well as filmy songs.

Here are some of her popular songs. They are ” Aakasha veedhilo haayigaa yegirevu” , ” Manasuna maalaloogine” ” Kothi baavaku pellanta, all in Malliswari, ” Saavirahe Tava”, ” Endukoyi Thotamaali” and ” Choodumade Cheliyaa” in Vipranarayana, her recital of Telugu poems in Palnati Yuddham etc.

Jikki(P.G.Krishnaveni 1935- 2004):

She is a very popular singer in south India. She also sang in other languages. She sang about 10,000 songs. She was a regular singer for 22 years. Her last song was for the Telugu film ‘’ Murari’’ in 2001. She is famous for her duets with her singer-husband  A.M.Rajah.

Some of her well known songs are ” Chiguraakulallo Chilakammaa” in Donga Ramudu, ” Chaangre Bangaaru Raja” in Srikrishna Pandaveeyam, ” Chettulekkagalavaa O Narahari”, Chilakaa Gorinkaa ” and ” Kaanaga raavaa” in Chenchulakshmi,  ” Chilakallo Chilakave” in Jayam manade, ”  Mounaalu maanave” in Bhaktha Jayadeva along with her husband and many other beautiful songs.

A.M.Rajah(1929-1989):

He is a popular singer in entire south India. His career spanned for 2 decades from early 1950s till early 1970s. He is well known for his singing in Telugu films like Vipra Narayana (1954), Missamma(1955) and ‘Pelli Kaanuka(1960). He is versatile music director as well.

”Avunante Kaadanile”, ” Brudaavanamadi andaridi”, ” Avunante kaadanile” and ” Raavoyi Chandamama in Missamma, ” Srikaalahastheeswara Swamy” and ” Mayaajaalamuna ” in Srikaalahastheeswara Mhatyam, ” Cheyi Cheyi kalupave” in Appu chesi pappu koodu are some of his hit songs.

P.B.Sreenivas(1930):

He is a popular singer in the entire South India and more popular for his singing in Telugu and Kannada films. He is a multi linguist. He is fluent in eight languages i.e Telugu,Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam,Hindi,Urdu, Sanskrit and English. His film career spanned 2 decades. He sang thousands of songs in various Indian languages including Hindi and won many awards. He was the main playback singer in Kannada films at one time.

I take delight in citing some of his popular songs like ” Oho gulabi bala” in Manchi Manishi, ” Aanaati chelimi oka kala” in Pelli Roju, ” Madi Sarada Devi Mandirame” in Jayabheri along with Ghantasala and other singer, ” Chigurulu Velasina” in Poola Rangadu, ” Manasuloni Korika” in Bheeshma etc.

Madhavapeddi Satyam(1922-2000):

He is a well noted playback singer in Telugu, more famous for his comedy songs sung for Relangi and Ramana Reddy, a wonderful combination of comedians sans vulgarity of any kind. His evergreen song even popular after so many decades is ” Vivaha Bhojanambu” sung for the one and only S.V.Ranga Rao the great, who elevated this song to the heights of mount Everest by his wonderful performance as only he can.  This song is enjoyed by people of all ages even now. His career spanned 5 decades. He sang many songs in his long film career. His other popular songs are ” Ayyayo Jebulo Dabbulu Poyane” and ” Bhale Bhale Cigarattu, idi Doral thaagu Cigarettu”.

Pithapuram Nageswara Rao(1930-1996):

He is a popular Telugu playback singer in Telugu. He sang thousands of songs in a career span of 3 decades. He is also very popular singer of comedy songs. He sang many songs in combination with Madhavapeddi Satyam. His well known songs are ” Enchsthe adi Ghanakaryam”, ” Maya Samsaram Tammudu”, ” Chebithe Vintiva Guru Guru” and ” Buddhochhena Neeku Manasa” etc.

Kalyanam Raghuramiah(1901- 1975):

He was a very famous Drama artiste, who later acted in Telugu films. He is more famously known as Eelapaata Raghuramiah. Eelapaata means whistle. He used to sing the songs by whistling. He was also popular for singing and for playing the role of Lord Krishna. He acted in about 20,000 dramas. His film career spanned 3 decades. He is said to have been awarded the title of ”Andhra Nightingale” by none other than Rabindranath Tagore.

K. Jamuna Rani(1938):

She is a popular singer of all South Indian films. She sang over 6000 songs in Telugu,  Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and  Sinhalese in a career span of 2 decades.

Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna(1930):

He is the undisputed king of the Carnatic Music. He also sang few film songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Sanskrit. He won National awards twice, once for singing and once for his music composition in Kannada film ‘’ Hamsa Geethe’. His film career has spanned 5 decades. He is a singer par excellence and won International acclaim for his singing talent pertaining to Carnatic Music. He is quite at ease singing songs also in Sanskrit and Bengali, especially Rabindra Sangeet. He is the first Classical Musician to have started Jugalbandi tradition. Volumes can be written about his enormous talent. Telugu people are blessed to have him in their midst since he is a divine singer, who has enthralled millions of his listeners across the Globe.

S.P.Balasubramanyam(1946):

He is a multi linguist and multi talented person next only to P.Bhanumathi. He is producer, writer, singer, music director, actor and dubbing artist. He is considered to be the ghost voice of Salman Khan. He sang in many Indian Languages including Hindi. He took up the challenge of singing Classical songs in the Telugu films starting with ‘’Sankarabharanam’’ and played a major role in the success of this unique movie in the entire south India. He sang more than 40,000 songs in many Indian Languages in a career span of over 4 decades. He is quite at ease singing Sanskrit Slokas. He is the first singer to have won National awards for singing in all the four South Indian languages. He has won 25 Andhra State awards and other prestigious awards. He is considered to be the ghost voice of Kamal Haasan in Telugu films as far as voice dubbing is concerned.  L.V.Prasad, the famous producer of Prasad Productions introduced him as singer in Hindi films in his film ‘’ EK Duje Ke Liye’’ in 1981. Incidentally this movie marked the entry of Kamal Haasan as Hero. He is a very popular TV host and very famous for bringing out the young singing talent through his TV shows in Telugu ‘’ Paaduthaa Theeyagaa(I sing sweetly) ‘’ and ‘’ Paadaalani Vundi(I want to sing). ‘’

S. Varalakshmi(1925 – 2009):

She is a well known actress and singer in Telugu and Tamil films. She acted in many movies and excelled in her roles. She has an unique style of singing. Her career has spanned more than 5 decades. Her songs in ” Venkateswara Mahatyamu” ” Srikrishnarjuna Yuddham” and ” Mahamantri Thimmarasu” etc. are very popular.

I would be doing great injustice if I don’t mention about the immense contribution to the Telugu Film Industry by the non Telugu singers of terrific talent  like P.Leela, Yesudas, L.R.Eswari and Vani Jayaram, who played a key role in enhancing the beauty of Telugu by singing Telugu songs in huge numbers with their mesmerizing voices.

I am placing below some of the video links of these great singers. The readers are requested to listen to these evergreen great singers and have a heavenly treat to their ears.

Courtesy: I thank Wikipedia for the statistical and other information.

http://youtu.be/oYcykXjCH4c

http://youtu.be/lszW_3pAWGQ

http://youtu.be/yaJ-a6La7xk

http://youtu.be/ULdtDwbT-cQ

http://youtu.be/qONTssMkGAk

http://youtu.be/3c-u1s8zGzY

http://youtu.be/vCh9ldDPmQo

http://youtu.be/X1iMy7wc1ng

http://youtu.be/iRhahTRzRko

http://youtu.be/0fXsMpUnpiM

http://youtu.be/_fhR8g_oj6g

http://youtu.be/Emc18GpAeRY

http://youtu.be/UB7VhpIcLSg

http://youtu.be/X0yrSorugWo

http://youtu.be/GiM-h37iKvE

http://youtu.be/bP7uRuLs4b0

http://youtu.be/oDRgGpEwSYw

http://youtu.be/fnhc9XTMwkA

http://youtu.be/iZACVIMSbOM

The article goes like this… Yes, Mrs.Padmini Ramachandran of Travancore sisters fame gave an introduction, in that magazine like this, in the year 1961.

Her family is an artiste’s family. Her sister Lalitha achieved the maximum glory in this field and settled peacefully as house wife. Padmini also rendered her service in this field and later settled as house wife. Following  her, Ragini also settled in the family life. They belong to Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala state. They belong to a traditionally respectable Royal family. They are brought up with care by their parents Mr. Thangappan Pillai and Mrs. Saraswathi Ammal.

Eventually, her family fame put hindrance to her passion as she was very much interested in fine arts. The Royal family didn’t permit the sisters to dance and put  many hindrances for them to learn arts. The Royal family thought that all these arts bring  disrepute to their family. So they opposed their children to join in the Niruthya Kalasalai School of the court dancer Gopinath.

However, Padmini and Lalitha joined the school with the help of their grandmother Mrs.P.K.Pillai. Padmini was 6 years old and Lalitha was 2 years elder than Padmini at that time. With, an interest They joined the art school with interest but they had to face many problems in their career. They were compelled to wake up early in the morning and attend the dance and music classes. They had to attend Veena class in the evening after school hours. Apart from these tight schedules they used to have regular rehearsal in the presence of their grandmother at night. This was their daily routine. They were taught Kathakali only in Gopinath’s art school. But, they wished to learn Bharata Natyam also. There were no such facilities to teach the Bharata Natyam in Gopinath’s School. Because of this, they  invited Mr. Mahalingam Pillai, from Thiruvidaimaruthur to teach them the art, in a proper way.

Mr. Udaiyashankhar came forward to help the sisters like an anthropomorphous by giving a chance to the sisters in his movie” Kalpana”.This scarce opportunity was got in their uncle’s residence, who, served in the naval force at Mumbai. Mr. Udaiyashankhar the popular artist parenthetically met the sisters in her uncle’s residence at Mumbai. While, at the meeting the sisters were asked to perform a dance before him. After the event the great artist blessed the sisters and later he gave a chance in his movie. They got many chances for acting in movies after the success of ” Kalpana”. Here after, Padmini’s cine life was at peak. She achieved  maximum success and acted in more than 250 films.

Her mother discussed with Lalitha about her marriage proposal. But she asked her mother to postpone it by one year. In the meantime she completed all her films. In 1957, Lalitha got married and quit films to settle down, in Trivandrum. Lalitha, very often said, though she achieved glory in public life, the family life is the most important for the girls.

Padmini, also was forced to marry by her mother. Padmini agreed immediately. Madhavan Nayar, a Bank Manager,who settled the marriage of Lalitha, took charge to seek the alliance for Padmini.

When Padmini was compelled to marry by her mother, she didn’t refuse her mother. Eventually she requested her to postpone by one year. By that time she completed all her pending movies. On 9 th Nov, at Alzhapulzhai, in Lalitha’s residence, her marriage was fixed by performing a simple ceremony, in the presence of Kerala’s respectable personality, Mr. Manath Padmanabhan.

Padmini gave dance performance in the presence of Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru at a court function while her marriage fixing ceremony was in process at Alzhapulzhai. The marriage date was fixed to be held on 27th April 1961, but her pending film works were not completed by then , though the marriage was to take place five months later. Because of this problem, the marriage date was postponed to 25th May 1961. However, the pending film works  were not completed as scheduled even till the wedding date.

She also participated in Ramayana dance-drama. Without any break she took part in film shooting during the day time and  dance-drama during the night hours. Her last drama ”Ragini-Raman” was staged on 22nd. She played the role of Seetha in this drama. The make-up is perfectly suitable to her. After, the completion of the drama, Ragini told her, with tears in her eyes that the make up was just appropriate; ”Ok! The drama ”Raman ” is over in your life. The real Ramachandran too entered in your life”.

Her, flight departed on 24th and landed in Kochi. She picked the car on the same day for her onward journey to Guruvayoor. Nine spinsters held nine lamps and greeted Padmini. She was accompanied by them to the bride groom. Her brother Chandran washed the bride groom’s legs with sanctified water. As per their custom the bride groom gave mundu to her. Then they exchanged rings. Exactly at 8.15 he put the knots of the holly string around her neck. Later they went to Thalacherry. There Padmini was seated on the turmeric cloth. In the bridegroom’s house, Padmini was made to sit on the yellow coloured cloth. From that moment she became a member of Dr.Ramachandran’s family.

Filmography: (selected movies)

1.Martanda Varma (1933) …. Parukutty

2. Laila Majnu (1949)

3. Maruthanattu Ilavrasi (1950)

4. Sampat (1952) Malini Devi

5. Talli Pillalu (1953)

6. Kalyanam Panniyum Brahmachari (1954)

7. Amar Deep (1958)

8.Kalpana (1960)

9. Jis Desh Mein Ganga Bahta Hai (Hindi 1960)

10. Kaajal (Hindi 1965)

11. Mahabharat(Hindi 1965)

12. Thillana Mohanambal (1968)

13. Mera Naam Joker(Hindi) 1970

14. Vietnam Veedu (1970)

15. “An American Dream” (2002) TV series

By Sivashanmugam. Tn, India.

Cinema is not just for entertainment, it is a powerful medium to spread a social cause and also forward thinking in the minds of the  populace watching cinema. There are very few film makers who believed it and Gudavalli Ramabrahmam was the pioneer for this trend in films which was later followed by the likes of R Narayana Murthy and Madala Ranga Rao.

There was a period before the independence when the era of silent movie ended and cinema learnt to speak a language during which the film makers of the time believed in bringing mythological stories onto the celluloid. But Gudavalli Ramabrahmam defied that trend and opted to utilise the powerful medium of cinema for a social cause and took the cine world and society by storm by creating a social masterpiece in the form of “Mala Pilla”. With one stroke, Gudavalli achieved the impossible of tackling a serious social issue with his film and made it acceptable to the masses as well. “Mala Pilla” produced and directed by himself in the year 1938 brought in a kind of revolution and made other film makers think of making social movies with relevant themes. In short Gudavalli brought revolution through screen.

Born on 24th June 1902 in Nandamuru in Krishna District, Rama Brahmam completed his Inter education in the year 1918 at National College in Bandar. He got married to Saradamba, daughter of Koganti Nagaiah of Indupalli, in the year 1920. He grew to become a nationalist with patriotic fervor in his ideology.

He believed that Journalism is the best way to propagate his ideology and thoughts and ran the news tabloid “Sama Darsini”, and later on “Praja Mitra”. He used to have good contributions from the great thinkers and social activists of his day like Gopi Chand, Tapi Dharma Rao, Samudrala Raghavacharya, and Narla for his news tabloid.

Due to his passion and liking towards Theatre, he used to review plays regularly in the tabloid “Swarajya”. All his reviews were frank and fearless.

He used to visit the Vel Pictures Studio frequently. He developed interest on film industry right there. He believed that Movies were the best way to propagate his ideology to reach the common man who cannot read and write. Later on he decided to learn more about techniques of film making. He worked as a production executive for the film “Kanakatara” and introduced Samudrala Raghavacharya to the film industry.

Later on he worked as a Production Manager for a couple of films and decided to start his own Production Company, “Sarathy Films Private Limited” with the help of his friends. Yarlagadda Siva Rama Prasad (Challapalli Raja) acted as the Chairman and Tummala Sita Brahmam, Lingam Satyanarayana acted as the Directors while Gudavalli Rama Brahmam was the Managing Director for the Company.

“Mala Pilla” was made in the year 1938 and it had an explosive theme for those times, an orthodox Brahmin marrying a Harijan girl, the story of which was written by legendary revolutionary writer Chalam and dialogues were by Tapi Dharma Rao. The movie was a pioneer of sorts for its usage of diction which was contemporary. The movie was released on 25th September 1938 in 12 centers and became a huge success. Some sections of the society demanded a ban on the film but they were pacified by Ramabrahmam.

Buoyed with the success of “Mala Pilla”, Ramabrahmam proceeded to produce and direct “Rythu Bidda” in 1939 which exposed the Zamindari system. This movie received rave reviews but the feudal lords were so annoyed that they forced the Government of Madras to ban the film, which they duly did and “Rythu Bidda” remains the only Telugu movie to have been banned by the Government. This movie negatives are now saved in the Pune National Archives.

The controversy over “Rythu Bidda” implied financial constraints for Ramabrahmam but he recovered by producing other movies like “Illalu” in 1940, “Apavaadu” in 1941, “Patni” in 1942. He produced “Panthulamma” in 1943 which exposed the murky world of Municipal Corporation. Again he produced “Mayalokam” in 1945.

In 1945, he was elected as the President of South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce. Later he started his dream project “Palnati Yudham” with all Top actors of those days . During the production of this movie he fell seriously ill and had to delegate the directorial responsibilities to L V Prasad. The movie was released in the year 1947 but Gudavalli Ramabrahmam, the champion of masses and the pioneer of social cinema in Telugu, took his last breath on 1st October 1946 itself.

The celluloid revolutionary Gudavalli Ramabrahmam may have died before breathing the airs of an independent India, but the social taboos and issues still remain and his inspirational movies still remain as relevant to this day as they were in his times.

Courtesy: Krishna Chaitanya

Vasant Desai (1912 - 1975) was one of the greatest music composers of Hindi and Marathi films. He was born on 9th June, 1912 in a wealthy family in Sonwad village, in the princely State of Sawantwadi (now in Maharashtra), then ruled by the Bhonsale clan. He grew up in Kudal, Sindhdurg district (of present day Maharashtra). (Some sources indicate that he was born in Kudal). He got an impression as a classist for most of his career, which made him not to come up in commercial films. He was limited mainly to mythological and historical films. 

Vasantji was fascinated by music when he was living with his maternal uncle. He bought an old harmonium and started learning music. Fascinated by films, he went to Kolhapur where he met the legend V.Shantaram, who was then working in Prabhat Film Company.

Vasantji was associated with Prabhat Film Company in his early film career. He entered into films as an actor in Prabhat’s silent film Khooni Khanjar (1930). He worked as an assistant under music director Govindrao Tembe for Prabhat Co.’s first talkie ‘Ayodhyecha Raja (1932)’, which was the first Marathi talkie. The film was also made simultaneously in Hindi as Ayodhya Ka Raja (1932). After the 2003 fire at the National Archives of India, Pune in which prints of first Indian talkie Alam Ara (1931) were lost, it became the earliest surviving talkie of Indian cinema. Vasantji worked with Govindrao Tembe for a few other films like Our India, Monsoon, Amar Bhoopali, Shobha Aankh Ki Sharam and Mauj.

Vasantji acted, composed music and also sang in a few films of Prabhat co. like Dharmatma and Sant Dhyaneshwar. He sang many songs in that period in various films. He could not get the lead-role in the film Aadmi (1939), so he gave up acting and started his training in music, under Ustaad Aalam Khan and Ustaad Inaayat Khan.

He settled into composing music for films in 1940s. His first film as a composer was V.Shantaram’s mythological film Shakunthala (1943). The film was a major hit of its time. It ran for 104 weeks. After Shakuntala’s overwhelming success, Vasant Desai became a part of V. Shantaram’s Rajkamal Studio. 

Jeevan Mein Nao Na Dole – Shakuntala (1943) - Jayshree Shantaram

He composed music for 14 films in the 1940′s. Parvat Pe Apna Dera (1944), Subhadra (1946), Jivan Yatra (1946), Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946), Matwala Shaayar Raam Joshi (1947), Uddhar (1949) were some of his popular films. By the end of 1940s, he was known for his melodious and touching music. He composed music for films made by V.Shantaram’s Rajkamal productions like Dr.Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946), Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955), Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957). Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani is based on the real life story of Dr. Dwarakanath Kotnis, who did selfless service in China.

Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955) was a film based on classical Kathak dance. Vasant Desai composed most of the music for this film in a very classical way. Nain Se Nain Naahi Milao sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Hemant Kumar is the most popular song from this film. Lyrics were composed by Hasrat Jaipuri. Gopi Krishna, the well known classical dancer played the lead role in this film.

Nain So Nain Naahi Milao – Lata Mangeshkar, Hemant Kumar

Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (Title song) - Ustad Amir Khan

Rutu Basant Aayi – Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar

Saiyan Jao – Lata Mangeshkar

Jo Tum Todo Piya -  Lata Mangeshkar

Kaisi Yeh Mohabbat Ki Saza – Lata Mangeshkar

Mere Ae Dil Bata – Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey

Murli Manohar - Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey

O Suno Suno Sunojee More Rasiya – Lata Mangeshkar 

Rajkamal Kalamandir’s Toofan Aur Diya (1956) had a variety of songs penned by Bharat Vyas and Hasrat Jaipuri…..

Nirbal Se Ladai Balwan Ki – Manna Dey

Meri Chhoti Si Behen – Geeta Dutt, Lata Mangeshkar

Aaya Re Aaya Re Bhaajiwala – Geeta Dutt

Meri Aan Bhagwan – Geeta Dutt

Two dance songs were sung by Shamshad Begum…..

Aankhon Mein Aankhen Daal Ke – Shamshad Begum & Chorus

Dil Tumne Liya Hai Meri Jaan – Shamshad Begum & Chorus

All the solos by Lataji from this film were Meera bhajans…..

Muraliya Baje Ri Jamuna Ke Teer - Lata Mangeshkar

Giridhaari Maane Chaakar Raakho Ji – Lata Mangeshkar

Piya Te Kahan Gayo – Lata Mangeshkar & Chorus

The song Aye Malik Tere Bande Hum, sung by Lata Mangeshkar from the film Do Aankhen Barah Haath is considered a gem. Vasantji’s relations with Shantaram detoriated in late 1950s after which they never worked together.

Aye Malik Tere Bande Hum – Lata Mangeshkar

A typical toyseller’s song from the same film…..

Saiyan Jhooton Ka Bada Sartaj Nikla – Lata Mangeshkar

A rain song…..

Ho Umad Ghumad Aayi Re Ghata – Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar & Chorus

A sweet lullaby…..

Mai Gaoon Tu Chup Ho Jaa – Lata Mangeshkar

A meaningful song…..

Taka Taka Dhoom Dhoom – Lata Mangeshkar & Chorus

(My personal choice is Saiyan Jhooton Ka Bada Sartaj Nikla)

Mausi (1958) had a popular song composed by Vasantji….. Tim Tim Tim Taaron Ke Deep Jale, sung by Talat Mahmood and Lata Mangeshkar. This song’s tune was used by Ghantasala in his film Santi Nivasam (1960) for the song Come Come Come Kangaru Neekelane, sung by Jikki and himself.

Tim Tim Tim Taaron Ke Deep Jale – Talat Mahmood, Lata Mangeshkar

Another song from Mausi…….

Meri Godi Mein Gopala – Lata Mangeshkar 

Do Behnen (1959) was a musical hit. It had Rajendra Kumar and Shyama in the lead-roles. Mukhda Dekhle Prani sung by Kavi Pradeep was the most popular song from this film. Other singers were Lata Mangeshkar and Mahendra kapoor. Lyrics were composed by Kavi Pradeep.

Mukhda Dekhle Prani – Kavi Pradeep

Saiyan Pyara Hai Apna Milan - Lata Mangeshkar

Saiyan Pyara Hai Apna Milan (Sad) - Lata Mangeshkar

Badan Mora Lacchke – Lata Mangeshkar & Chorus

Main Natkhat Ek Kali – Lata Mangeshkar

Jhuk Jhuk Jhola Khaye - Lata Mangeshkar, Mahendra Kapoor & Chorus

(My personal choice is Jhuk Jhuk Jhola Khaye, from this film)

Vijay Bhatt’s Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959) was one of Vasantji’s exhibition of talent. All the songs by Lataji and Rafi sahab are some of the best songs of Indian film music. The film’s music was enriched with the rendition of Shehnai by Ustad Bismillah Khan. This was the only film he worked for. This film was the first hit for the legendary actor Rajendra Kumar. The lyrics were beautifully composed by Bharat Vyas. The songs are as follows:

Tere Sur Aur Mere Geet – Lata Mangeshkar

Dil ka Khilona Haye Toot Gaya – Lata Mangeshkar

Teri Shehnai Bole – Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi

Jeevan Mein Piya Tera Saath Rahe – Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi

Kehdo Koi Na Kare Pyar – Mohammad Rafi

Maine Peena Seekh Liya – Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar

Ankhiyan Bhool Gayi Hai Sona – Geeta Dutt & Chorus

Haule Haule Ghoonghat Pat Khole – Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar

Ustad Amir Khan

He also composed for Pyar Ki Pyas (1961), which was a children’s film. This film contained songs of all aspects like patriotic, lullabies etc.

Sawan Ke Jhoole Pade – Lata Mangeshkar, Talat Mahmood

Kya Dharti Aur Kya Aakash (Title song) – Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar & Chorus

Pyas Bhujane Sabke Mann Ki - Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Mahendra Kapoor & Chorus

A multilingual patriotic song…..

Uttar Mein Hai Khada Himalay - Manna Dey, Baby Ranu Mukherjee, Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt & Chorus

The following lullaby is quite unexplainably beautiful (My personal choice)

Chanda Dhale Pankha Jhale – Geeta Dutt (This song appears twice in the film)

Chanda Dhale Pankha Jhale – Lata Mangeshkar (This song appears in the last part of the film)

(I personally recommend to see this film, follow this link

Pyar Ki Pyas on youtube…..

This is also available in parts on youtube)

Vasantji composed music for the great mythological film Sampoorna Ramayan (1961), directed by Babubhai Mistry. It had songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Manna Dey, Mohammad Rafi, Mahendra Kapoor and others. The songs are as follows:

Badalo Barso Nayan Ki Aur Se – Lata Mangeshkar

San Sanan Jaare O Pawan – Lata Mangeshkar

Baar Baar Bagiya Mein Koyal Na Bole - Asha Bhonsle

Site Aaj Tumhe Bin Dekhe – Mahendra Kapoor

Bolo Sabhi Shriram – Mahendra Kapoor & Chorus

Dole Re Dole Re Pran – Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar

Dharti Kyon Viparit Huyi – Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar

Hum Ramchandra Ki Chandrakala Mein – Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle

Kamdev’s Nritya – Classical Dance

Dhanya Dhanya Tum – Manna Dey

Vasantji worked for Yaadein (1964), which had only one actor in performance ie. Sunil Dutt. This film mostly depended on its background music. It had only two songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar. The film was not a success, but won critical appraisal. Lyrics were composed by Anand Bakshi.

Dekha Hai Sapna Koi – Lata Mangeshkar

Radha Tu Hai Deewani – Lata Mangeshkar

Ram Rajya (1967) was his last mythological film in 1960s. He worked with Bharat Vyas in this film. The songs are as follows:

Vidhi Ne Dekho – Mohammad Rafi, Suman Kalyanpur & Chorus

Aaj Tujh Bin Sadhana Meri Adhuri – Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar

Dar Laage Garje Badariya – Lata Mangeshkar

Vasantji’s films with Hrishikesh Mukherjhee like Aashirwad (1968) and Guddi (1971) were a success. He made Ashok Kumar sing for himself (after a long period of time) in Aashirwaad. Songs from Aashirwaad like Rail Gaadi Chuk Chuk, Naani Ki Nao Chali by Ashok Kumar; Jhir Jhir Barse Sawani Ankhiyan, Ek Tha Bachpan by Lata Mangeshkar; Jeevan Se Lambe hai Bandhu by Manna Dey were considered a hit, especially the songs by Ashok Kumar. A few other songs from this film were sung by Ashok Kumar, Asha Bhonsle and Harindranath Chattopadhyay. Guddi was probably his last highest successful film. Vasantji introduced Vani Jairam in this film. Her songs from this film Bole Re Papihara and Hum Ko Mann Ki Shakti Dena were a hit. Bole Re Papihara is considered one of Vani Jairam’s and Vasant Desai’s best songs.

Rail Gaadi Chuk Chuk, Nani Ki Nao Chali- Aashirwaad (1968) - Ashok Kumar

Jhir Jhir Barse Sawani Ankhiyan – Aashirwaad (1968) – Lata Mangeshkar

Ek Tha Bachpan – Aashirwaad (1968) – Lata Mangeshkar

Jeevan Se Lambe Hai Bandhu – Aashirwaad (1968) – Manna Dey

Saaf Karo Insaaf Karo – Aashirwaad (1968) – Ashok Kumar, Asha Bhonsle & Chorus

Bole Re Papihara – Guddi (1971) – Vani Jairam

Hum Ko Mann Ki Shakti Dena – Guddi (1971) – Vani Jairam & Chorus

The following bhajan was composed by Vasantji for Guddi. It was not used in the film and was replaced by Aaja Re Pardesi from Madhumati (1958)

Hari Bin Kaise Jiyoon Re – Vani Jairam

Later, in 1974, when Gulzar made Achaanak, which was a songless film, he called Vasant Desai for its music. The film has a great weightage for background music and Gulzar knew that Vasantji was the perfect man for the job. Vasantji did a great job as expected.

He introduced Dilraaj Kaur as a playback singer in the children’s film Rani Aur Laalpari (1975). It had a socio-fantasy background. He breathed his last on 22nd December, 1975. His last film Shaque (1976) was released after his death, the film’s music was completed by P.B.Agha.

Meha Barasne Laga Hai – Shaque (1976) - Asha Bhonsle

Do Naino Ke Pankh Lagakar – Shaque (1976) – Kumari Faiyaz

His favourite poets were Bharat Vyas, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kavi Pradeep, Gulzar and Pt. Narendra Sharma. His songs with Bharat Vyas in Goonj Uthi Shehnai, Sampoorna Ramayan, Pyar Ki Pyas were very successful.

Life is short, but Vasant Desai’s music lasts forever in our hearts.

Dharam Dev Anand(26-Sep-1923-04-Dec-2011) better known as Dev Anand, is a popular Bollywood actor, film producer and director. Dev Anand is one of the Trio who ruled the Bollywood with several hit flicks along with  Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor in the early fifties till mid sixties.  He delighted  his fans with his typical acting style and as a popular romantic hero who adorned the Hindi cinema with distinction. Dev was born in 1923 in Shakargarh Tehsil  of undivided Punjab( Currently in Pakistan), India.  Dev is the second of three brothers who were active in Hindi cinema field. His brothers are Chetan Anand  and Vijay Anand. His sister Sheela  Kanta Kapoor is the mother of renowned Hindi and English film director Shekhar Kapoor.

Dev Anand completed his graduation in English literature and started to work in the military censor office at Church gate, Bombay. Dev struck a friendship with another fellow legendary actor director Guru Dutt. They had decided between themselves that if one of the two becomes successful first in film industry then they would help the other to become successful. It was a mutual understanding between them that when Dev Anand produced a film, Guru Dutt would direct it and when Guru Dutt directed a film, Dev Anand would act in it. Dev kept his word and chose Guru Dutt as director for his first film Baazi(1951) produced on his own banner.

Dev Anand got an opportunity to act in Prabhat talkies Ham Ek Hain (1946) and got fame with block buster movie Ziddi(1948) with actress Kamini Kaushal.  In his early days career he acted with actress Suraiya. There were many hits in their combination. Soon they fell in love and wished to get married but Suraiya’s grandmother opposed this proposal as they were Muslims and Dev was Hindu.  Suraiya remained unmarried and later Dev married actress Kalpana Karthik, who acted with him in several hit films like Taxi Driver, House No 44 and Andhiyaan etc.

A rapid-fire style of dialogue delivery and a penchant for tilting his head while speaking became Dev’s style in films. Dev Anand acted in several hit flicks in 1950’s to 1970’s and won several accolades. Ziddi(1948), Vidya(1948) ,Baaji(1951),Patita(1953), CID(1956), Paying Guest, Funtoosh, House No 44, Tere Ghar ke Samne, Kala Bazar, Kala Pani, Manzil, Hum Dono, Asli Naqli, Nau Do Gyarah, Bombai ka Baboo, Sharabi, Guide, Jewel Thief, Tere Mere Sapney and Hare Ram Hare Krishna etc are some of his famous movies. He acted with almost all super star heroines in those days including Meenakumari, Sadhana, Suraiya,Waheeda Rehaman, Geeta Bali, Nutan, Vyjayanti Mala,  Hema Malini, Jeenath Aman and his wife Kalpana Karthik. Dev got success even after 70′s and hailed as ever green hero.

The other contemporary mega stars of his era in the Indian film industry are Akkineni Nageswara Rao(A.N.R, Father of Nagarjuna) and Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao(N.T.Rama Rao) in Telugu, Uttam Kumar in Bengali, M.G.Ramachandra Menon(M.G.R), Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganeshan (Father of Rekha) in Tamil, Satyan, Madhu and Prem Nazir in Malayalam and Rajkumar in Kannada. 

After tasting success Dev Anand turned producer and launched his own company Navketan in 1949 which has produced 31 films till now. It’s the only film company in the world still run by the same person  who started it. Dev Anand has won two Filmfare Awards – India’s equivalent of the Oscars – in 1958 for his performance in the film Kala Paani and in 1966 for his performance in Guide. Guide went on to win Filmfare Awards in five other categories including Best Film and Best Director and was sent as India’s entry for the Oscars in the foreign film category that year. He also did well in films like Kala Pani opposite  Madhubala and Kala Bazar opposite Waheeda Rehaman. Kala Pani was the hindi adaptation of  Bengal Super Star Uttam Kumar’ film Sabar upare, where the father of the hero was imprisoned with false charges of murder. The hero reopened the case and proved that his father was innocent before the court of law. Dev Anand acted in a double role in the film Hum Dono, opposite Sadhana and Nanda. The film was based on the story of a military person who died in the battlefield and his friend having resemblance with his features being asked to pretend as the military major who died in reality. In February 2011, his 1961 black and white film Hum Dono (1961)was digitalized and released  again in colour.

Dev Anand has directed 19 films and produced 31 films of which 7 directorial ventures and 18 other films respectively were commercially successful at the box office. He wrote the story for 13 of his films. Critics say his directorial ventures have always been ahead of its time. Dev Anand’s films are well known for their hit songs. He is known to have been an active participant in the music sessions of a number of his films. 

He co-produced the English Version of “Guide” with the Nobel Laureate Pearl S Buck (The Good Earth). In 1993, he received a Filmfare “Lifetime Achievement Award” and in 1996 he received  the Screen Videocon Lifetime Achievement Award.

Of late he was involved in the direction of a new all American film Project Song Of Life – a musical love story which was to be shot in the United States. He was to play the central character in the film with a predominantly American star cast.

Director Farah Khan requested Dev Anand to act in her block buster movie Om Shanti Om to be a part of the flashback ’70s half of the movie. But Devsaab politely refused saying he has never done a special appearance before and has always done main leads.  He further told her that he did not want to break his tradition by doing guest appearances as he had always functioned alone.

 Dev Anand was honoured with several awards including the prestigious the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 2002.Cinema for his outstanding contribution to the Indian  Cinema. Dev’s autobiography “Romancing with Life” was released on the occasion of his birthday party by the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. He passed away on 04^th December  2011 with heart attack in London. May his Soul rest in peace.

The Legendry Dev Anand (1923-2011) death NEWS clips and tribute !

Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehaman Duet form Guide(1965)

Dev Anand and Sadhana\’s Duet from Hum Dono (1961)

Farewell to Dev Anand the legendary actor Part-1

Farewell to Dev Anand the legendary actor Part-2

Farewell to Dev Anand the legendary actor Part-3

Farewell to Dev Anand the legendary actor Part-4

Farewell to Dev Anand the legendary actor Part-5

Farewell to Dev Anand the legendary actor Part-6

Most of us love to watch movies for entertainment in our mother tongue for thorough understanding of the dialogues, acting and narration of the story. That’s the main reason why we are allergic to watching movies in any language other than our native language. We are akin to ‘ koopastha mandooka’ way of life – a frog thinks the well is its entire world. Our thinking gets narrowed and we can never get to know other cultures, acting and other techniques and we remain where we are all the time.

Watching movies in different languages is like adding different foods made out of various recipes to the taste buds and enjoying it to the heart’s content. We need not understand each and every dialogue. We can easily follow the movie entirely provided we have the patience to watch it from the beginning till end and appreciate the action through facial expressions of the actors and enjoy the narration of the story, music etc. We may take the help of sub titles if required.

English:

•The Sound of Music: - This film is a musical made in 1965. Julie Andrews played the role beautifully of a governess who transforms indisciplined children of a parent played by Mr. Christopher Plummer. She inspires the children to completely change themselves into well behaved persons with her pleasant attitude. This movie is directed by Robert Wise.

•The Blind Side: – This film is made in 2009.This film wonderfully depicts the story of a poor innocent African American boy played by Quinton Aaron. He is adopted by a Good Samaritan lady wonderfully played by Sandra Bullock. She and her family members show affection to this boy who in turn becomes a famous Footballer (American Football) and reciprocates the affection. This film is directed by John Lee Hancock.

Hindi:

•Bawarchi: – This film is made in 1972. Rajesh Khanna played the role of a good natured cook to perfection. He deliberately enters the disturbed families as cook and transforms these families as affectionate ones. This movie is directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

•Tamanna( Desire) : This film is made in 1997. Paresh Rawal played the role of eunuch(hijra) to perfection. This film exceptionally depicts the difficulties experienced by a hijra in bringing up a girl adopted by him. This movie is directed by Mahesh Bhatt.

•Black : - This film is made in 2005. Amitabh Bachhan played the difficult role of a tutor to perfection. In this film he takes up the challenge of tutoring a blind, deaf and difficult girl and does the job successfully. The grownup girl’s role is excellently played by Rani Mukherjee and her childhood character is beautifully played by Ayesha Kapoor. This film is directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. This movie has won many awards and appreciation by critics  and ordinary movie goer as well.

•Do Ankhen Barah Haath(Two eyes and twelve hands) :- This film is made in 1957. Producer and director V.Shantaram plays the challenging role of a jailor to perfection. He takes up the challenge of transforming the dreaded criminals through experiment in an open jail. The prayer song in this movie has an universal appeal and can be sung by the followers of all religions without any doubt whatsoever. V.Shantaram directed the movie superbly. Every scene in this film is a treat to watch. This film has won many awards including National award.

Sparsh(The touch) : This film is made in 1980. This movie shows the love of a Principal towards his school. This is a special film. The principal is blind and the school is for blind students. He doesn’t like anyone showing sympathy towards his students. He wants people to treat them as normal persons. He is very passionate about his school. This sensitive role is played superbly by Naseeruddin Shah as only he can. This wonderful movie is directed by Sai Paranjpye.

Saaransh(Essence) : This movie is made in 1984. This film describes the misery of an old man struggling to obtain the ashes urn of his lost son from the authorities concerned. An young Anupam Kher, 28 years, played the character of a doting father of a grownup son  combined with various emotions and sentiments very efficiently at the beginning  of his career. This film is  marvelously directed by Mahesh Bhatt.

Telugu:

•Sankarabharanam :- This film is made in 1979. This film is considered as the best Telugu film made till now. This film beautifully depicts the plutonic relationship between a classical musician and a classical dancer. The musician’s role is played by J.V.Somayajulu and the dancer’s role is played by Manju Bhargavi. Both have played their roles exceedingly well. Kalatapaswi Kasinathuni Viswanath is the director of this movie. Audience thronged to the theatres as if they are temples. People watched the movie any number of times. This movie was dubbed in all south Indian languages while retaining the songs as it is. The movie ran in entire south India at least for six months at a stretch and it was a huge commercial success as well. This movie has won many awards including National awards and also won International acclaim. K.Viswanath directed a series of glorious movies in Telugu based on Classical Music and Dance that will be remembered for ever.

•Sagara Sangamam : – Kamal Haasan played the role of a classical dancer to perfection who in turn transforms a budding arrogant classical dancer Sailaja into a dedicated classical dancer. Jayaprada and Sarat Babu excelled in their roles. This movie is directed by ” Kala Tapasvi ” , the one and only Kaseenathuni Viswanath. This film has won many awards.

Kamal Haasan is regarded as an Actor’s actor. No actor in the world, including Hollywood,Bollywood and Tollywood, is as good as Kamal Haasan as far as acting excellence is concerned. The variety of  characters played and excelled by him in various Indian languages is simply mind blowing. 

For the benefit of film lovers here are some movies, wherein Kamal Haasan excelled in acting. They are 16 Vayathinile(Tamil), Indrudu Chandrudu(Telugu), Michael Madana Kamarajan(Tamil), Saagar(Hindi), Maro Charitra(Telugu), Aakali Rajyam(Telugu), Nayagan(Tamil) , Sigappu Rojakkal(Tamil), Raja Parvai(Tamil), Chachi 420(Hindi), Pushpak( Dialogueless  movie), Devar Magan(Tamil), Mahanadi(Tamil) etc.

•Swathi Mutyam: - This film is made in 1985. Kamal Haasan does an excellent job as an innocent, illiterate and mentally affected person who dedicatedly takes care of a widow and her child after marrying her. Kamal Haasan is a trained dancer. In this film he plays a character who doesn’t know how to dance. It must have been very tough for him to do that. Radhika played the role of a widow to perfection. The one and only P. Susheela has sung the most beautiful lullaby of all time in this film. This movie is directed by K.Viswanath. Movie magician Vishwanath has woven magic web with his series of inspiring movies ” Apadbhandhavudu”, ” Sruthilayalu”, ” Sirivennela”, ” Swarnakamalam” and ” Siri Siri Muvva” in Telugu and upheld the Indian Culture in the best way possible. 

•Gitanjali : - This film is made in 1989. Nagarjuna played the role beautifully of a patient suffering from a chronic disease who in turn loves another chronic patient. Girija Shettar played the character of his lady love beautifully. This movie is directed by Mani Ratnam.

Tamil:

•Anjali :- This film is made in 1990. This is a beautiful film about a mentally challenged girl. Baby Shamili played the difficult character to perfection. Mani Ratnam directed the movie.

•Moondram Pirai : – This film is made in 1982. Kamal Haasan wonderfully played the role of a lover who takes care of his beloved with dedication and affection. His lady love behaves like a small child due to some accident. Sridevi played this role to perfection. Balu Mahendra directed the movie. This movie is later made in Hindi in 1983 as ‘ Sadma ‘ with the same cast.

Marathi:

Umbartha : The movie’s theme is to show the difficulties faced by a woman in the society when she steps out of her house against the wishes of her family members. This film made in 1982 depicts the story of a house wife who has a comfortable life with a very compassionate husband and a loving daughter. She lives in a joint family. She is not comfortable sitting idly at home. She takes up a challenging job with the support of her reluctant husband but without the support of rest of the family members. She does her job efficiently but lands in all sorts of troubles due to politics involved in it. Her marital life gets disturbed on account of her separation from her husband and daughter. Smita Patil played the character of the heroine depicting various emotions delicately. The director of this movie is Jabbar Patel.

Devrai : This film is made in 2004. This movie can be said as a poem on celluloid. This film revolves around an eccentric man who is obsessed with a sacred grove in his village. He waves so many stories around the grove. He is generally violent in behaviour. His sister is very fond of him and takes care of him with affection by bringing him to the city where she lives with her family much to the disliking of her husband. She tries her best to get him professional help. Atul Kulkarni displayed superb acting skills to perform the difficult character to perfection. Sonali Kulkarni transformed herself as his sister by doing a circus balancing act showing intricate conflict. This movie is directed by Sumitra Bhave.

Both Kulkarnis and Smita Patil in Umbartha have shown to the world of what stuff Marathi actors are made out of.

Kannada :

Tabarana Kathe : This film was made in  1986. This movie depicts the endless trauma of a retired employee to get his pension. This movie goes into detail lethargy and inhuman behaviour of management staff and politicians towards retired persons. Kamal Haasan’s brother Charu Haasan played this character to perfection. Girish Kasaravalli directed this wonderful film.

Here are some inspiring movies. 1) 3 Idiots 2) Taare Zameen Par 3) Chalo Dilli 4) Khubsoorat 5) Abhimaan 6) Satyakaam 7) Ardh Satya 8) Koshish 9) Prahaar 10) Ghar,11) Aalaap all in Hindi. The Telugu movies are 1) Yogi Vemana 2) Panduranga Mahatyam(old) 3) Akali Rajyam 4) Tyagayya 5) Vasantham.  

Two videos of ” Sankarabharanam” , one video of ” Sagara Sangamam”, one video of ”Sadma”, Hindi version of ”Moondrum Pirai” , one video of ” Bawarchi” , one video of ” Anjali”, one video of ” Devrai”, one video of ”  Do Ankhen Barah Haath” and one beautiful lullaby from ” Swathi Mutyam” are placed below for the reader’s pleasure.

Samarla Venkata Ranga Rao (S.V. Ranga Rao) was born on July 3, 1918 at Nuzvidu town in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, when the  first World War  was drawing to a close. His mother, Lakshmi Narasayamma, a staunch devotee of Lord Venkateshwara, named the boy after Him – Venkata Ranga Rao. His father, Koteswara Rao, was an excise inspector.

The possessive father sent S.V.R. to the erstwhile Madras presidency where he completed his schooling at Hindu College. At an early age of 12, the boy showed immense interest in stage acting.  The mind of youthful S.V.R. was always preoccupied with the thoughts of stage-plays and film acting even while studying B.Sc. Immediately after graduation S.V.R.  got a job in the Fire Service as an officer. Two objectives were still clear in his mind, to do MSc and to take active part in dramas and films. S.V.R.’s relatives and family members ridiculed him by telling that he was a fool to go after chances in cinema by shunning the government job. Legendary L.V. Prasad gave S.V.R. the real break and provided all the moral support and encouragement. He is one of the best actors of Indian cinema.

S.V.R. got an invitation from one of his relatives, B.V. Ramanandam, to play the hero in his film “Varoodhini”. He immediately abandoned the job, and left for Salem to join the celluloid world. In fact, it was a great beginning for the young man. The film “Varoodhini” was released and in a few days people began to forget that they had ever seen such a movie. No producer dared to offer a role to him. Soon S.V.R. was disillusioned with the film industry and left the Madras presidency and reached Jamshedpur. He was employed as a budget assistant with the Tata Company there. However his love for dramas began to bloom multifold. At this juncture, he was married to Leelavathi Vadeti on December 27, 1947. In the days that followed S.V.R. was given an opportunity to play the villain in the film, “Palletoori Pilla,” produced by B.A. Subba Rao. Unfortunately, when S.V.R. was about to take a train to Chennai, his father expired. After performing the final rites, S.V.R. reached Chennai, but somebody had knocked away the villain role, so they  offered him a secondary role.  Later he did a small role as Sunnam Rangadu in Vijaya’s  “ Shavukaru(1950).

Luck tapped at S.V.R.’s door through Vijaya Pictures. Vijaya Pictures  offered him the most memorable “Nepala Mantrikudu” role in “Pathala Bhairavi(1951). Initially the role was offered to “Mukkamala” who was already popular as  “ Mantrika” in Swapna Sundari (1950) and Mayala Mari (1951).  K.V. Reddy the director of this movie finalized SVR for this role. S.V.R took this opportunity seriously.He became very famous with this role. He got an offer in “Pellichesi Choodu” (1952)  immediately afterwards. Its Tamil version was also played by him. Within a short time S.V.R. received appreciation from both Telugu and Tamil film viewers. He played almost every historical character. He showed a kind of recklessness and arrogance in his dialogue delivery. The iconic status did not reach him so easily. He struggled a lot initially and from that struggle was born a great actor of all times. Maya Bazaar(1957) and Missamma (1955) are among his famous movies. His dialogue delivery cannot be matched by any film personality in the world as he could deliver dialogues even written in Sanskrit with ease and with complete emotions that no one can ever come close to him in this aspect. It is said that even N.T.R & Shivaji Ganeshan who were great in delivering dialogues in Telugu & Tamil respectively used to stammer in front of S.V.R.  His performance in Bhakta Prahlada (1966) was stupendous as demon king “ Hiranya Kasipa” showing his love towards to his son Prahlada and hatred  towards his enemy Lord Vishnu. 

His compatriot Gummadi once exclaimed “Fortunate are we to have SVR born in India but SVR is unfortunate to have born here… if he were born in the West he would have been one of the top 5 actors of all time in the world” .

The very mention of “Maya Bazaar” brings the picture of S.V.R. as Ghatothkacha in the minds of Telugu people and Tamilians. His role as “Nepali Mantrika” in “Pathala Bhairav(1951)i”  and as Kotayya  in “Bangaru Papa(1954)” will continue to be remembered by millions of his admirers. As Keechaka in “Narthanasala(1963),”   Duryodhana in “Pandava Vanavasam(1965)”,  and Ravana in “Sampoorna Ramayanam(1971)”  S.V.R. proved himself to be the king when it comes to acting the mythological films.  

He was a passionate game hunter sporting an excellent fire-arm that he procured from a friend in the British Indian army. One day, he was hunting a deer. But suddenly, the deer stopped running and looked straight into the eyes of S.V.R., as if questioning rd “What will you get, if you kill me?” And thereafter S.V.R. never took up the gun again.

He won the Best Actor Award for his portrayal of Keechaka in Narthansala at the Indonesian Film Festival. It was the first time an Indian actor received an international award in acting. Surprisingly  this fact is not well-known among many people.  He felt very sad after getting the award that his own country couldn’t honor his talent even though it is accepted by all Indian film fraternity that no one can ever match to SVR acting talent. SVR passed away on 18th July 1974 leaving his memories.

[See post to watch Flash video]

[See post to watch Flash video]

[See post to watch Flash video]

[See post to watch Flash video]

[See post to watch Flash video]

[See post to watch Flash video]

Pasupuleti Kannamba (1912-1964) was one of the finest actresses and singers in Indian Cinema. She was also a successful producer of movies in Tamil and Telugu. She acted in more than 170 films in Telugu and Tamil. She is a bench mark for her dialogue delivery and natural expressions.  Popular Tamil film hero Shivaji Ganesan said that Kannamba put him in shade with her great dialogue delivery in the climax scene after the release of the Tamil super hit movie ‘ Manohara’ and he could have done the queen’s mother role rather than the hero in that movie. He also said that she is his mentor in acting and dialogue delivery.

Kannamba hails from Andhra region which was then part of the Madras Presidency. She made a mark in Telugu theatre playing the lachrymose role of Chandramathi in the hit play, ‘Harishchandra’, during the 1930s. This play was made as a movie with equal success and established her as an excellent actress with mastery over dialogue delivery. That was the period when the Madras Presidency which comprised of 26 districts speaking different languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, saw movies in all languages without prejudice even though people did not understand every word of the dialogue.

 It is not surprising that she attracted the attention of Tamil film producers since Madras was the head quarter of all the South Indian films and also the film studios were mostly based in Madras at that time. Kannamba was tall and attractive. She made  her debut in a Tamil film Krishnan Thoothu(1940). She played the role of Draupadi and  proved  that she was equally at home in Tamil Cinema. She learnt horse riding and sword fighting for her hit movie Chandika(1941). She attained glory in 1942 when she played the difficult role of Kannagi, the box office hit of the year. She virtually carried the film on her shoulders putting even the top hero of the day P. U. Chinnappa in the shade. The scene where she pleads before the king to prove her husband’s innocence proved that she had no equal in the dialogue delivery and action. Even after nearly 70 years, her performance in this film stands unparalleled. It was much more commendable as she did not know Tamil at that time. The tongue-twisting lines were written in Telugu, on a blackboard kept away from the eye of the camera. Kannamba immortalized the role of Kannagi Tamil version ‘Silappadhikaram’. It remains as her best and perhaps one of the best in the history of Tamil cinema. In Gudavalli Ramabrahmam’s historical flick Palnati Yuddham (1947) she gave a memorable performance as ’Nayakuralu Nagamma’ opposite  Govindarajula Subbarao. Kannamba portrayed a variety of characters like queen mother, mother, sister- in- law, wicked step mother and mother- in- law with effortless ease and gained so much popularity. Director B.N. Reddy produced ‘ Raja Makutam’ in Telugu and Tamil at the same time. Tamil film distributors insisted him to add more dialogues for her queen mother’s role, as she was a craze in Tamil Nadu for her mesmerizing dialogues and clarity of diction.

She produced several hits with the help of her husband, director Kadaru Nagabhushanam , under her production banner ‘ Sri Raja Rajeswari Pictures’. She was paid the highest remuneration 85000/- in those days. She has acted in about 170 films and won accolades for her roles in Harischandra, Draupadi Vastrapaharanam, Kanakathara, Saranagadhara, Grihalakshmi, Chandika, Ashok kumar, Kannagi, Maha Maya,Mahananda, Sumati, Palnati Yuddham,Tulasi Jalandhar, Sudarshan, Thalli Prema , Mugguru Maratheelu,Saudamini, Mangaya karasi,Anarkali ,Uma Sundari, Todi kodallu, Raja Makutam,Abhimanam, Athma Bandhuvu, Daksha Yaghnam and Lavakusha etc. Chittoor V.Nagayya’s Bhakta Ramadasu(1964) is her last movie. She has acted with all the Super Stars, in those days, M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, P.U. Chinnappa, Chittoor V.Nagayya, S.V.Ranga Rao, M.K.Radha, N.T.Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Shivaji Ganeshan, M.G.R and Gemini Ganeshan. Kannamba passed away when she was 51 years old in 1964 with cancer in Chennai leaving her memories for ever.

Listen and watch  Some of the songs and videos of P.Kannamba and her great performance.

P. Kannamba Songs

C.Krishnaveni or Meka Krishnaveni is a legendary actress, singer, producer and studio – owner of South Indian film industry. Many may not know her now but 60 years ago she was a star heroine. She was also a great singer and producer. She was the wife of a great film producer, director and the owner of the famous Sobhanachala Studios, the Raja of Mirzapuram (Meka Rangayya). Krishnaveni has many records on her name.  She produced the first patriotic film in India – Mana Desam, which was released in 1949. She introduced the famous actor N.T.Rama Rao in her film Mana Desam. She promoted Ghantasala Venkateshwara Rao as music director in this  film. She also introduced the legendary music director Ramesh Naidu in her film Dampathyam (1957).

Krishnaveni was born on 26th December, 1924 in Pangidi village located in the Krishna district of Madras presidency. This village is now located in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Her father Yerramsetti Krishna Rao was a doctor. Her mother Nagaraju was a stage actress. She was beautiful and learnt classical dance. Gali Penchala Narasimha Rao, who later became a famous music director of Telugu films used to give music to Nagaraju’s stage-plays. Nagaraju’s plays were directed by Dronamraju Kameshwara Rao. Krishnaveni learnt music in her childhood due to her mother’s encouragement and started giving concerts. 

Once her mother Nagaraju was playing an important role in the play ‘Ramadasu’ but the child-actor who was to play the role of ‘Raghurama’ was not available. This role was played by Krishnaveni as there was no one available at that time. She had learnt the songs and poems of the play well and as such she gave an excellent performance.  Krishnaveni’s parents tried to educate her well but Krishnaveni had no interest in studies.  She started giving performances along with her mother in stage-plays after she finished her fourth class.

Krishnaveni’s mother died young. Her father went to Tadepalligudem for practice (he was a doctor). At that time Krishnaveni had to live with her maternal grandmother in Rajahmundry. She continued to give stage performances. She got an offer to act in Sati Anasuya (1936) when she was 12 years old. It was the first film in Telugu in which all the actors were children. Her father did not agree at first but when the director, C.Pullayya  persuaded them he  agreed  unwillingly.  C.Pullayya took 60 children with him to Calcutta for the purpose of  making them act in the film. Sati Anasuya was produced at the same time as Dhruva Vijayam (1936) by East India Film Company with C.Pullayya as the director.  Krishnaveni played the lead role – Anasuya in Sati Anasuya.  She acted in lead roles in about fifteen films after Sati Anasuya. Her first film as a heroine was Kacha Devayani (1938). She even acted in a few Tamil and Kannada films as heroine. She reached the top position in her career as an actress with Gollabhama (1947). 

Krishnaveni was not only a talented actress but also a great singer. Her popular songs include “Jo Achyuthananda” from Sati Anasuya (1934); ”Prema Mahima gana” from Kacha Devayani (1938); a poem “Bhupathi Jampitini” and a song “Chandamama” from  Gollabhama (1947) both sung as a duet  with K.Raghuramayya.  Krishnaveni sang for actress Anjali devi in the film Keelugurram (1949). Her songs in this film include the title song “Sobhanagiri Nilaya”, “Teliyavasama” a duet with Ghantasala,.Other solo songs were “Mohanamaahaa”, “Choochiteeravaladaa” and “Bhagyamu Naadenoyi”. This film was produced and directed by the Raja of Mizapuram. The music was composed by Ghantasala for this film. Krishnaveni previously sang for Anjali devi in Gollabhama (Anjali devi’s first film). The songs of Krishnaveni in Mana Desam were “Bavanu Meppinchali” and “Idi Verapo” – two solos; ”Chalo Chalo Raja” and “Emito Sambandham” – two duets sung with M.S.Rama Rao; “Mata Marmamu” – a stage-play and “Daarulu Kaache” - a burrakatha, sung as a duet with Ghantasala and others; “Atthaleni Kodalutthamuralu” – a folk song sung along with chorus; and “Jayaho Jayaho” the last song of the film. In Lakshmamma she sung “Ooyala Oopanaa Sakhi” – a duet with M.S.Rama Rao; “Chinnanati Swapnaseema” with Ghantasala’s voice in between.”Emani Ememane”, “Jojojo Chitti Naathalli”, “Aasha Harmyamu Kooley”  were solos sung by her. 

 Krishnaveni fell in love with the producer of the film, the Raja of Mirzapuram - Meka Rangayya When she was acting in the film ‘ Jeevana Jyothi(1940)’. They were married in 1940. They had a daughter Rajyalakshmi Anuradha born in 1942.  She stopped acting in non – sobhalachala films except for a few after her marriage.  Krishnaveni started M.R.A. (Meka Rajyalakshmi Anuradha) Productions in the name of her daughter. Her first production was Mana Desam. The production of Manadesam began in 1946 with Krishnaveni as the producer and L.V.Prasad as the director. They tried to release the film at the time of Independence in 1947 but the film was finally released in 1949.  Ghantasala gave great music in this film. The music was so good that nobody can believe that it was the first film for him as a music director. The story was derived from a Bengali play ‘Vipradas’. The story, dialogues and songs were written by Samudrala Raghavacharya. The type of songs included were Patriotic, Romantic, Folk and Comedy.  Gandhiji’s favourite bhajan “Vaishnava janatho” (written by Narasimha Mehta) was included in the film and it was beautifully sung by Ghantasala. This film was produced keeping in mind the taste of all sections of the society. The film was produced with dedication and patriotism. This film was the first film for the great actor N.T.Rama Rao, which Krishnaveni declares with great pride. She said that Telugu people praise N.T.Rama Rao with great pride but they forgot the person who introduced NTR in the film Industry. Mana Desam was the first Telugu film for the famous playback singer P.Leela. Famous playback singer Jikki (P.G.Krishnaveni) got a lift in her career with this film. S.V.Ranga Rao, the great character actor of all time who played the lead role of ‘Pravarakhya’ in Varudhini (1946), got re-entry into films with Mana Desam. 

Krishnaveni later produced Lakshmamma (1950). She played the lead role in this film. This film was a joint production of Sobhanachala and M.R.A. productions.  Tripuraneni Gopichand was the director of this film. Lakshmamma changed two hands before it reached Krishnaveni. They had to produce the film quickly as there was another film Sri Lakshmamma Katha (1950) in production based on the same story. Lakshmamma was a commercial success at the box - office. Ghantasala’s music was also a success. Her last film as heroine was Sevaasram (1952). This film was produced and directed by the Raja of Mirzapuram with Kona Prabhakara Rao, who became Governor of a State in later years, as the leading actor. 

Krishnaveni was the actress who was paid maximum remuneration at that time. She took remuneration amounting to Rs.45,000 /- for the film Dharmangada (1949) which was shot in Sobhanachala Studios. It was produced by Swastik Productions. In those days male actors got less remuneration compared to female artists except V.Nagayya who was paid about 80 to 90 thousand rupees per film at that time. Ch.Narayana Rao was paid Rs.25,000 for  Mana Desam.  

In 1957 she produced Dampathyam. She introduced Ramesh Naidu as music director in Telugu film Industry. She produced Bhakta Kumbhara (1974) in Kannada with Dr.Rajkumar in the lead role. This film was remade in Telugu as Chakradhari (1976) by her daughter Rajyalakshmi Anuradha with Akkineni Nageshwara Rao in the lead role. Krishnaveni remade the super hit film Yamagola (1976) as ‘Yamanukku Yaman’ in Tamil. This was her last film as a producer. 

Krishnaveni stopped production of four films in 1950’s. Out of them three films were produced by Krishnaveni herself. The first of them was ‘Lady Doctor’. It was started with Cinematographer Kamal Ghosh as the director. Next film was ‘Good Evening’ with Cinematographer B.Sridhar as the director. These two films were stopped due to differences with the distributors. The third film was ‘Kummari Molla’. It was decided that the famous actor V.Nagayya would direct the film. The script for the film was written by Nagayya and Devulapalli Krishna Sastri. But the film was not started due to Nagayya’s financial problems with his film Naa Illu (1953) (En Veedu in Tamil). The fourth film was ‘Paleru’. It was produced by Ramayya Chowdary and directed by T.Gopichand. Sobhanachala Studios later was sold to others, it was renamed Venus studios and the studio was closed after a few years.  

Krishnaveni was presented with the prestigious Raghupati Venkayya Award for the year 2004 in 2006. It is the only award she got for her great achievements. She is a living legend and also deserves the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award for her achievements.The most important being the production of the first Indian Patriotic film. 

Bavanu Meppinchali – Mana Desam (1949) – Krishnaveni

Chal Chalo Raja – Mana Desam (1949) – M.S.Rama Rao, Krishnaveni

Matamarmamu (Burra Katha) – Mana Desam (1949) – Krishnaveni and Others

Vedalipo – Mana Desam (1949) – Chorus

Nirvedamela – Mana Desam (1949) – V.Nagayya

Jadiyakuraa Dheera – Mana Desam (1949) – V.Nagayya

Chandamama – Gollabhama (1947) – Krishnaveni, K.Raghuramayya

Teliyavasama – Keelugurram (1949) – Krishnaveni, Ghantasala

Sobhanagiri Nilaya – Keelugurram (1949) – Krishnaveni

Felicitation to Krishnaveni and Others in 2003

Clippings from films