Stars used to queue up for Rs 100 from Dasari?

A bunch of loyalists of veteran filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao claimed that T-town stars and thousands of cine workers from the 24-crafts used to queue up at Dasari’s house to receive Rs 100 and blessings on his birthday for more than three decades. "It was a kind of ritual for over three decades. Dasari used to personally hand over Rs 100 to each of them who visited him on his birthday.

Even big stars and directors didn't mind waiting for two or three hours to receive the precious note from the good-hearted man" says producer Giridhar, who found just 50-members this Friday. "People who adored him as guru, godfather and philosopher were missing at his house on Friday morning after just one year of his demise. It was a disappointing gesture of his so-called loyalists." he adds.

Actresses like Jayasudha, Jayapradha and even late Sridevi and seasoned star Mohan Babu, Vishnu Manchu, late Srihari and hundreds of other actors whom he launched used to come for his blessings for decades. The ritual used to start early at 6 in the morning and go on till evening at times, because the director-par-excellence didn't want to send anyone empty But all this has changed after his demise last year. Another painful sight for the loyalists was the absence of representatives from the ‘Telugu Film Employees Federation’ on Friday last.

"Dasari spent half of his life for the welfare, wages and working conditions of 10,000 -odd cine workers from the 24-crafts but none of them turned up to remember him on May 4. Dasari fought with big producers and even lost some offers, but he never compromised on the workers woes and always stood by them. He helped them to get plots, flats and Chitrapuri colony for their decent living.

Worker unions’ leaders used to visit him every other day to resolve their issues with production houses and he was always available for them even during the midnight, but after his demise, all of them just disappeared. We were expecting top representatives of the Federation who turn up at his premises in the morning, but no one turned up, which is reallly unfortunate and shows their lack of gratitude to their mentor," adds another producer-director.

Instead of industry bigwigs or Film Director's Association, it was producer C Kalyan who spent Rs 3 to 4 lakhs for the statue from his personal funds and also organised the event in the evening which was much better than the morning one. "Even though, many directors didn't turn up, stars added shine to the event.

The gracious presence of stars like superstar Krishna, Vijayanirmala, Balakrishna and others at the unveiling of the statue of a director who brought pride and respect to director's chair. Surely, it could have been much better and more lavish and extravagant to match the illustrious life of the legendary filmmaker," Giridhar concludes.