50 glorious years of Krishna

Come this Tuesday, veteran actor Krishna will be completing 50 years in the industry. Credited with introducing many firsts in Telugu cinema like the first cinema-scope movie (Alluri Seetharama Raju), first 70 mm movie (Simhasanam), first Eastman colour film (Eenadu) and the first DTS film (Telugu Veera Levara), the actor burst on to the scene with Adurthi Subbarao’s ‘Tene Manasulu’ in 1965. Reflecting on his journey, he says, “I have seen ups and downs. Never was I proud of my successes nor I took failures to heart. I took everything in my stride and moved on.”

After his third film ‘Gudachari 116’ which brought the detective genre of films to the forefront in Tollywood, there was no looking back for the actor. “After its release, I was signed for 20 films straightaway,” he recalls. “During the shooting of my second film, ‘Kanne Manasulu’, director Goondi proposed the idea of making a Bond-like movie. They had no second thoughts about the lead hero. They paid me advance and departed.”

He continues, “The film boasted of heavy duty action which required three months of planning. It was a rip off of Hollywood flick ‘Panic in Bangkok’. Writer Arudhra tweaked it to suit our sensibilities.” There was a point where he worked three shifts a day. “During my first 10 years in the industry I used to work for three films a day- from 7 am to 1 pm, 2 pm to 9 pm and from 10 pm to 2 am. Only after I completed 100 films I decided to work for a single film a day,” he stated.

He also introduced cowboy films to Tollywood. ‘Mosagallaku Mosagadu’ was his one such film. “We wanted to make something on the lines ‘MacKenna’s Gold’. We once again gave the mantle of writing to Arudhra garu. It (Mosagallaku Mosagadu) was a smash hit here and was also dubbed into Tamil, Hindi and English. It released across 70 countries in English.”

He attributed his long innings to the kind of films he made. “My mantra was always simple- to explore different subjects with each and every film. Take for instance the films that I produced on Padmalaya Studios, my home banner. The first film under the banner was ‘Agni Pariksha’ (female-centric drama). It was followed by ‘Mosagallaku Mosagadu’ (cowboy style), ‘Pandanti Kapuram’ (family drama) and ‘Devudu Chesina Manushulu’ (multi-starrer).”

The highest point of his career, he says, was ‘Alluri Seetharama Raju’. It was his 100th film as an actor and opened in cinemas in 1974. “When ‘Devudu Chesina Manushulu’ collected Rs 12 lakhs in the first week it was a record. However, ‘Alluri Seetharama Raju’ broke it, as it garnered 18 lakhs in the first week. A ticket rate during those days was one-and-half rupee,” he recalls, adding, “’Alluri Seetharama Raju’ release was followed by 14 consecutive flops and I was almost written off. No one was willing to sign me but I bounced back with ‘Paadi Pantalu’ in 1976.”

Besides acting, he was a successful director too. ‘Simhasanam’ which released in 1986 was his first film as a director and it is regarded as the first 70 mm stereophonic sound Telugu movie. “The sound mixing alone took one month to be completed. We’ve wrapped up the film in January but we had to release it in late March as post production consumed time.” He also admits signing some films --despite not liking the script in the first place. “Poolijoodam (1984) was one such film. The moment I heard the script I told its producer it won’t run. But I had to do it.”

On the question of his son Mahesh Babu who is carrying forward his legacy, he says, “I want to see him as James Bond. He fits the role.” Once an extremely busy hero, what’s keeping him occupied of late? “Besides going through film related news, I’m into yoga and walking daily. I also visit my office on a regular basis,” he says, signing off.

By:Nagaraj Goud