Dasari: Filmmaker with a golden heart

Dasari: Filmmaker with a golden heart
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Highlights

Undoubtedly, veteran filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao was a director with a mark of his own, but his fight for lakhs of cine workers and upliftment of hundreds of small-budget filmmakers will be ever etched in the minds of the film fraternity. 

Hyderabad: Undoubtedly, veteran filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao was a director with a mark of his own, but his fight for lakhs of cine workers and upliftment of hundreds of small-budget filmmakers will be ever etched in the minds of the film fraternity.

The ace director was truly the champion of workers in 24 unions and always fought for their wage hike, better treatment and instilled confidence in them to fight for their cause and accomplish their goals, albeit, after a struggle.


HIGHLIGHTS:

  • He was actor, director, producer and writer all rolled into one and left his mark as an eminent filmmaker
  • He became a messiah of sorts for small filmmakers and cine workers and took on the might of rich producers

Similarly, he took on the might of top stars and producers and theatre lessees whenever they tried to strangle small-budget and content-driven films and did not mind taking potshots at star family heroes and became a messiah of small films for more than four decades.

“After NTR, Dasari was the only guardian in Telugu cinema since he always thought about the welfare of cine workers and small filmmakers and even spent from his own pocket as head of various trade bodies to ensure that justice prevailed. Telugu cinema has lost a filmmaker with a golden heart,” says producer Prasanna Kumar.

Coming to his illustrious career spanning over four decades, Dasari left a mark of his own with his 140-odd films as a director out of his 250-odd films and touched upon relevant topics like social injustice, corruption and gender discrimination and bagged two national awards and nine Nandi awards besides numerous other honours.

“After the success of `Thatha Manavadu’, he didn’t look back ever since and went out to be make classics like `Swargam Narakam’, ‘Sivaranjani’, `Chillarakottu Chittamma’ and Swargam Narakam’ to name a few and established himself as a maker-par-excellence,’’ says director Kodi Ramakrishna .

Apart from thematic films, he also gave biggest hits to yesteryear superstars like NTR and ANR like `Sardar Paparayadu’ and `Premabhishekam’ respectively , besides a heart-touching film `Meghasandesam’ and began to be hailed as star filmmaker.

“After a brief lull, he returned with a bang with `Osey Ravulamma’ in 90’s and gave young directors a run for their money. He depicted the plight of low-caste girls in the hands of feudal lords which went on to become a cult movie in T-wood’ adds Kumar.

The legendary filmmaker was an all-rounder of sorts as he succeeded as a director, producer, studio owner, exhibitor and distributor. “He also showed his brilliance in political life and served the people as a MP and Central Minister and also dabbled in media. His life will be an inspiration for every aspiring filmmaker, who has lot of passion and creative talent, can reach great heights despite humble beginnings,” concludes C N Rao.

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