This is a chronicle of a master story teller who was instrumental in creating such big hits and trend setters for years together. Even now at various occasions those mammoth creations remembered and compared with present day huge technical entertainers. Born in a village of Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh in the year of 1908, 5th August, 'Chakrapani' alias Alur Venkata Subbha Rao rose to the heights of challenging strong Hindi film world in terms of production that involved heavy budgets and technical aspects of films produced under the banner of Vijaya-Vauhini. His extraordinary ability in weaving a story by just knowing four or five lines (knot) of any story and integrating necessary items such as dialogue, songs and fight sequences. He mastered himself with Hindi through a freedom fighter Prajanandan Sharma who inspired him to write in Hindi with a pen-name 'Chakrapani'. While he had to attend medical treatment at Vellore, AVS Rao met a patient and learned Bengali and later utilized to translate Sharath Chandra's novels in to Telugu and credited with introducing the great Bengali to Telugu readers. Later he entered into flourishing Telugu cinema world with P Pullaiah's Dharma Patni. During the tenure he met Nagi Reddy and BNK Reddy a combination that extended up to 30 years since 1945 to 1975. At first together with Nagi Reddy he founded a children's magazine Chandamama, and other two Andhra Jyothi and Vijaya Chitra, among them Chandamama expanded into other ten Indian languages, in subsequent years. The hit movies of Vijaya-Vauhini productions not alone remain as the ever-green hits which are on top, in the list of favourites, for Telugu people but also dubbed and remaked into other languages including Tamil and Hindi. Patala Bhairavi, Maya Bazar, Gundamma Katha, Missamma, Shavukaru and Appu Chesi Pappu Kudu, are some those hits.
It is high time not only for the film industry to pay honor for the legend but also every film lovers of land to appreciate any work that sequel Chakrapani's contribution.
Chakrapani: 100 years
Aug 5, 2008 - 11:03:30 AM
By NaChaKi
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"Chakrapani" is one name that shall stay in the annals of Telugu Cinema for ages to come! Also a celebrated writer, publisher, translator, Chakrapani was born Aluru Venkata Subbarao on August 05, 1908 in Tenali. With formal education only until SSLC, no one probably guessed that he'd become a great writer and creative artiste in future! He was married to his cousin (maternal uncle's daughter) Rangamma at 24. Chakrapani's primary interest had always been into translation, it seems. He used to send translated stories to Vinodini, Chitragupta, and other such magazines of those times. That was about the same time that he rechristened himself as "Chakrapani", thanks to a suggestion by a North Indian pandit Sree Vrajanand Sharma. He soon started Sanchari and Vihari magazines from Tenali itself. Later, he started the monthly magazine Yuva and "Yuva Publications". His interest in Bengali literature sprouted through his acquaintance in a hospital - from a Bengali patient on the next bed when Chakrapani was being operated due to a bad lung in 1934. This brush with Bengali literature led to the famous "Sharat saahityam" translated by Chakrapani. Sharat Chandra Chatterjee's famous novels such as Devadasu, Bada Didi, Parineeta, etc. became to seem original Telugu novels in the skillful hands of Chakrapani. Books of famous writers including Chalam, Kodavatiganti Kutumbarao (KoKu), Gopichand, Palagummi Padmaraju, etc. were also published by Chakrapani, in an attempt to present them in their full worth to Telugu book-readers. With an intention to settle in the domain of publishing, Chakrapani landed in Madras, and his association with B.N.K. Press, Chennai introduced him to B. Nagireddy, in whose house he continued to stay in Madras. Upon the request of Nagireddy, Chakrapani provided the script for the popular Nagayya-Bhanumathi-Narayana Rao starrer Swarga Seema (1945), the film which also marked the debut for Ghantasala as playback singer. However, Pullayya's Dharmapatni (1941) was Chakrapani's debut into the field, when Sree Pullayya heard of Chakrapani's flair in writing and approached the latter for the film's script. B. Nagireddy and his brother B.N. Reddy bought Andhra Jyothi, which was also managed by Chakrapani. Eventually, Chakrapani conceptualized and brought out a story book for children, with the intention that each story should be useful in some way or the other to the readers which included children and adults too! Thus took shape the famous children's book of even this day, Chandamama, in 1947. Starting in Telugu and Tamil and with 6000 copies then, Chandamama comes out in six languages now, and has its presence, with archives from yesteryears, in WWW too @ < http://www.chandamama.com/ >. In 1947, Nagireddy bought Vauhini Studios and turned it into Vijaya Studios. Since then, Nagireddy and Chakrapani were interested in producing movies, and thus took birth one of the greatly successful banner that gave us classy movies - Vijaya Pictures Private Limited. Shavukaru (1950), Pathala Bhairavi (1951), Pelli Chesi Choodu (1952), Chandraharam (1954), Missamma (1955), Maya Bazar (1957), Appu Chesi Pappu Koodu (1959), Jagadeka Veeruni Katha (1961), Gundamma Katha (1962), Satya Harischandra (1965), C.I.D. (1965), Uma Chandi Gauri Shankarula Katha (1968), Ganga-Manga (1973), Sree Rajeswari Vilas Coffee Club (1976) were the Telugu movies made on the prestigious Vijaya banner. While most of these films such as Pathala Bhairavi, Pelli Chesi Choodu (as Kalyanam Panni Paar 6 months later), Chandraharam, and Maya Bazar were dubbed into Tamil at the same time, Missamma was remade as Missiamma (1955) with Gemini Ganesan playing NTR's role. Excepting Chandraharam and Uma Chandi Gauri Shankarula Katha, nearly all movies made by Vijaya Pictures were hits and are celebrated even today!
While Vijaya Pictures produced movies with ample dose of healthy comedy, Chakrapani was known to be a serious, taciturn personality who seldom spoke but point-blank frank when he actually did speak! It's said that even when watching the rushes of the great comedy Missamma, he was the only one among the audience that was not laughing. When asked why he wasn't, he simply said that he cannot smile until he gets his invested money back! Such was his shrewd nature, but there was a streak of sarcastic comedy in his words and acts. More such examples are heard all over the place, real or not. It's apt to recollect some such jokes here: -
Once Chakrapani presented an artiste with a box of cotton wicks (vattulu). When the surprised artiste asked why, Chakrapani clarified, "You'd then remember to pronounce Telugu properly, with vattulu (mahaapraaNaalu), whenever you see this box!"
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When asked why Chandraharam was a flop, Chakrapani's reply was: "People come to see NTR's action! And, we made a movie in which NTR is sleeping most of the time!"
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When someone commended that NTR's makeup in Bheeshma (made under the Vauhini Productions banner, by B.N. Reddy, brother of B. Nagireddy of Vijaya Pictures) made him totally unrecognizable, Chakrapani quipped, "You could have then gone for some cheaper artiste, if people cannot anyway recognize it's NTR!"
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When asked about the message he was giving in a movie, Chakrapani snapped, "I'd rather send a telegram if I need to give a message, than making a movie with huge expenses!"
While Chakrapani didn't believe in passing messages through his films, he did make socially conscious movies nevertheless! Missamma touches upon the unemployment in the society then, Pelli Chesi Choodu on issues of marriage, Shavukaru on maintaining harmonious relations among neighbors, and so on. Even in films like Pathala Bhairavi, when the evil sorcerer boss S.V. Ranga Rao asks his assistant Padmanabham, "janam kOrEdi manam SaayaDamaa? manam chEsEdi janam chooDaTamaa?" ("Should we do what people want, or should people watch what we exhibit?"), Chakrapani's intentions as a producer seem to come out as the reply: "mana janam, mana maaTa... janam kOrEdE manam chEyaali." (It's our people, after all! We must do what people ask for!") If a mythological film like Maya Bazar could come close to so many people, it's because of the way the story was presented - to be nearer to society and people's mindsets. Chakrapani's intentions of "presenting something useful" is also reflected in the dialogues that precede Mohini-Bhasmasura play in Maya Bazar. One can write volumes about Vijaya Pictures' gifts to Telugu Cinema, but that still only covers a part of the towering, multi-faceted personality of Sree Chakrapani. The very fact that his centenary is being celebrated proves the strong impact he has on Telugu Cinema and literature. Such personalities with a good taste and command on departments on story, music, direction, camera, lyrics, and people's tastes is rare to find in any film industry! Telugu Cinema world should be ever-thankful to such great people that enriched our film culture. TeluguCinema.Com pays homage to the great visionary who cared to teach people to lead their lives putting in hard work and not with blessings from someone.
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sree chakrapaani laanti vaaru enta mandi unte anta baaguntundi mana samaajam
రిప్లయితొలగించండిChakrapani gari pillalu wala family members wale details .. chakrapani Gari pillalu eamayyaru
రిప్లయితొలగించండి