Dasari’s secrets of success revealed

I remember standing in front of his house at 2.00 am for roles. What I’m today is because of people’s blessings and his constant encouragement- Mohan Babu on Dasari

NTR dropped by the muhurat of ‘Bobbili Puli’ and asked me what he should wear. I replied him that he should sport a military outfit. Later in the noon, he enquired what role he was portraying in the film- Dasari

Senior folks of Tollywood - Krishna, Krishnam Raju, K Raghavendra Rao, K Viswanath, K Raghava, Mohan Babu, Jayasudha, Kodandarami Reddy, KC Shekar Babu, Kodi Ramakrishna, Muthyala Subbaiah, Paruchuri Venkateshwara Rao and Ramesh Prasad – were under one roof on Saturday in Hyderabad attending the book launch ‘Vishwa Vijetha Vijayagadha’ on veteran director- producer Dasari Narayana Rao. Written by senior journalist Vinayaka Rao, Superstar Krishna unveiled the first copy as Dasari’s first producer Raghava accepted it. T Subbarami Reddy Kala Parishad organised the event.

Speaking about his association with Dasari, Krishna said, “I watched the preview of his first film ‘Tata Manavadu’ and was blown away by it. When distributors, who dropped by the show, asked my response, I said it would be a blockbuster hit. Indeed it was one as it withstood the competition of NTR and ANR’s films that time and ran for over 25 weeks successfully. I don’t see anyone passing Dasari’s record of 150 films as a director.”

Krishnam Raju, who collaborated with Dasari for films like ‘Tandra Paparayudu’, ‘Katakatala Rudhraiah’ and ‘Rangoon Rowdy’ among other successful flicks, said he is yet to come to terms with how Dasari crossed 150 films. “It’s a no mean achievement,” he said and smiled, “For ‘Katakatala Rudhraiah’, he made we walk alongside a tiger. My co-star Jayachitra had shivers while doing the scene. The Hindi version starred Jeetendra and he ran away from the tiger after taking a blow.”

Mohan Babu, who was introduced to the industry by Dasari, recollected his association with him. “There’s no one in the industry who hasn’t knocked his doors to work with him or not had a glimpse of him during those days. I remember standing in front of his house at 2.00 am for roles. What I’m today is because of people’s blessings and his constant encouragement. He has brought dignity and respect to the craft of filmmaking,” he said.

In an emotional speech, R Narayanamurthy who started off his career with Dasari said that the thespian fulfilled the dreams of poor aspiring artistes. “Talent alone mattered to him and he never took a person’s caste and religion into consideration. A great director apart, he is a great human being,” he said.

He added that he competed with every other director and is continuing to do so. “If Viswanath garu made ‘Shankarabaranam’, he made ‘Megha Sandesham’. If Bapu made ‘Sakhsi’, he answered it with ‘Needa’. If Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen made parallel cinema, he made cinema on the same lines. If I did ‘Erra Sanyam’ and other revolutionary movies, he made ‘Orey Riskha’. He has touched genres that no filmmaker has ever resorted to in their careers. I believe that he is thinking of how to give an answer to Rajamouli’s ‘Bahubali’ now,” stated Murthy to a great round of applause from the audience.

Vinayaka Rao said that Dasari has been supporting him ever since he took journalism as his career. “It took two years for me to complete the book. I was firm from the word go that it should be a dictionary for aspiring filmmakers. I faced hurdles to bring the book to the market but TSR came to my resc Kue,” he said.

TSR said that it’s difficult for a director make 100 films but Dasari made 150 films. “He is a brand and an institution. He holds the privilege of introducing record number of actors and technicians to the industry. His films have had all the elements that average cinegoer desires,” he said.

Appreciating the efforts of Vinayaka Rao and TSR, Dasari remembered people like YV Krishnaiah, P Padmaraju, S Bhavanarayana and K Raghava who helped him in his early career. “I consider myself as a lucky one. A guy from Palakollu who abandoned his first film as an actor to direct 150 films? Isn’t it strange? I am extremely lucky. I’ve worked with three generation of actors ranging from Nagaiah, Rukmini, Relangi, SVR, Bhanumati to NTR, ANR, Krishna, Sobhan Babu and Krishnam Raju to Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Venkatesh and Bala Krishna in my career spanning nearly five decades,” he said.

He recalled that most actors those days never heard about the story or their character as he approached them to star in his films. “It was because of the confidence they had in me. They felt that Dasari could never make a bad film with them. NTR dropped by the muhurat of ‘Bobbili Puli’ and asked me what he should wear. I replied him that he should sport a military outfit. Later in the noon, he enquired what role he was portraying in the film,” remembered Dasari.

He further added that book is not an autobiography but a compilation of events of what went into the making of his 150 films.

“Many people wanted to write a book on me but I felt Vinayaka Rao was the right choice. He has done thorough research and has been to Chennai and Bangalore to meet people associated with my career. Through the book I’m telling new breed of directors that they can indeed make 100 films in their career.”