In his first broadcast as Prime Minister, on 11 June 1964, Shastri stated:

“There comes a time in the life of every nation when it stands at the cross-roads of history and must choose which way to go. But for us there need be no difficulty or hesitation, no looking to right or left. Our way is straight and clear—the building up of a socialist democracy at home with freedom and prosperity for all, and the maintenance of world peace and friendship with all nations.” 

Lal Bahadur Shastri was the second Prime Minister of India, who devoted his entire life in the service of the nation. Shastri ji was born on October 2, 1901 at Mughalsarai, a small railway town seven miles from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. His father was a school teacher who died when Lal Bahadur Shastri was only a year and half old. His mother, still in her twenties, took her three children to her father’s house and settled down there. Lal Bahadur’s small town schooling was not remarkable in any way but he had a happy enough childhood despite the poverty that dogged him. He was sent to live with an uncle in Varanasi so that he could go to high school. Nanhe, or ‘little one’ as he was called at home, walked many miles to school without shoes, even when the streets burned in the summer’s heat. As he grew up, Lal Bahadur Shastri became more and more interested in the country’s struggle for freedom from foreign yoke. He was greatly impressed by Mahatma Gandhi’s denunciation of Indian Princes for their support of British rule in India. Lal Bahadur Sashtri was only eleven at the time, but the process that was end day to catapult him to the national stage had already begun in his mind.

Lal Bahadur Shastri was sixteen when Gandhiji called upon his countrymen to join the Non-Cooperation Movement. He decided at once to give up his studies in response to the Mahatma’s call. The decision shattered his mother’s hopes. The family could not dissuade him from what they thought was a disastrous course of action. But Lal Bahadur had made up his mind. All those who were close to him knew that he would never change his mind once it was made up, for behind his soft exterior was the firmness of a rock. Then onwards his life was only for his country. Lal Bahadur Shastri joined the Kashi Vidya Peeth in Varanasi, one of the many national institutions set up in defiance of the British rule. There, he came under the influence of the greatest intellectuals, and nationalists of the country. ‘Shastriji was the bachelor’s degree awarded to him by the Vidya Peeth but has stuck in the minds of the people as part of his name. Shastri, who belonged to the Kayastha caste, dropped his surname Srivastava  as it indicated his caste  and he was against the caste system a major principle of the Gandhian movement. Shastri also enrolled himself as a life member of the Servants of the People Society and began to work for the upliftment of the Harijans under Gandhi’s direction at Muzzafarpur and later became President of the same. He got married to Lalita Gauri in 1927.

As the freedom movement intensified, Lal Bahadur took active part in it. He worked at the grass-root levels, motivating the common and ignorant people to fight for the country’s honor. In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi marched to the sea beach at Dandi and broke the imperial salt law. The symbolic gesture set the whole country ablaze. Lal Bahadur Shastri threw himself into the struggle for freedom with feverish energy. He led many defiant campaigns and spent a total of seven years in British jails. Shastriji was a man of great integrity and honesty. Even in the jail he observed the rules and discipline. During the Quit India Movement of 1942, he went underground and worked from Anand Bhavan, Pt. Nehru’s home in Allahabad.

 It was in the fire of this struggle that his steel was tempered and he grew into maturity. When the Congress came to power after Independence, the sterling worth of the apparently meek and unassuming Lal Bahadur Shastri had already been recognized by the leader of the national struggle. When the Congress Government was formed in 1946, this ‘little dynamo of a man’ was called upon to play a constructive role in the governance of the country. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in his home State of Uttar Pradesh and soon rose to the position of Home Minister. His capacity for hard work and his efficiency became a bye word in Uttar Pradesh. He moved to New Delhi in 1951 and held several portfolios in the Union Cabinet – Minister for Railways; Minister for Transport and Communications; Minister for Commerce and Industry; Home Minister; and during Nehru’s illness Minister without portfolio. He was growing in stature constantly. He resigned his post as Minister for Railways because he felt responsible for a railway accident in which many lives were lost. The unprecedented gesture was greatly appreciated by Parliament and the country. The then Prime Minister, Pt. Nehru, speaking in Parliament on the incident, extolled Lal Bahadur Shastri’s integrity and high ideals. He said he was accepting the resignation because it would set an example in constitutional propriety and not because Lal Bahadur Shastri was in any way responsible for what had happened. Replying to the long debate on the Railway accident, Lal Bahadur Shastri said; “Perhaps due to my being small in size and soft of tongue, people are apt to believe that I am not able to be very firm. Though I am not physically strong, I think I am internally not so weak.”

In between his Ministerial assignments, he continued to lavish his organizing abilities on the affairs of the Congress Party. The landslide successes of the Party in the General Elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962 were in a very large measure the result of his complete identification with the cause and his organizational genius. More than thirty years of dedicated service were behind Lal Bahadur Shastri. In the course of this period, he came to be known as a man of great integrity and competence. Humble, tolerant, with great inner strength and resoluteness, he was a man of the people who understood their language. He was also a man of vision who led the country towards progress. Lal Bahadur Shastri was deeply influenced by the political teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. “Hard work is equal to prayer,” he once said, in accents profoundly reminiscent of his Master. In the direct tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri represented the best in Indian culture.

After Pt. Nehru’s sudden death in 1964, Shastriji was unanimously elected as the Prime Minister of India. There were many problems facing him, mainly the hostile neighboring countries.This tiny and soft spoken man showed a will of iron at the time of Pakistan invasion in 1965. ‘Force will be met by force’, were his words. Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was one of those great Indians who has left an indelible impression on our collective life. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri’s contribution to our public life were unique in that they were made in the closest proximity to the life of the common man in India. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri was looked upon by Indians as one of their own, one who shared their ideals, hopes and aspirations. His achievements were looked upon not as the isolated achievements of an individual but of our society collectively. Under his leadership India faced and repulsed the Pakistani invasion of 1965. It is not only a matter of pride for the Indian Army but also for every citizen of the country. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri’s slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” reverberates even today through the length and breadth of the country. Underlying this is the inner-most sentiments ‘Jai Hindustan’. The war of 1965 was fought and won for our self-respect and our national prestige. For using our Defence Forces with such admirable skill, the nation remains beholden to Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri. He will be remembered for all times to come for his large heartedness and public service. On the suggestion of UNO, he went to Tashkent to sign a cease-fire treaty. But the strain took its toll on his frail health. After signing the treaty, he suffered a fatal heart attack and passed away at Tashkent on 11^th January 1966. 

                       “Though I am not physically strong, I think I am internally not so weak- Lal Bahadur Shastri”

Dr. C.V. Raman was one of the greatest scientists of India, who was awarded the 1930 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the ‘Raman Effect’, which is named after him. Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman, commonly known as C.V. Raman was born on November 7, 1888 at Tiruchirapalli in Tamillandu. His mother tongue was Tamil. He was the second child of Chandrasekhar Iyer and Pravathi Ammal. His father was a lecturer in mathematics and physics. Raman was a very brilliant student right from his childhood.

At an early age, Raman moved to the city of Vishakhapatnam, which is situated in the state of Andhra Pradesh, where his father accepted a position at the  A V N College. Raman’s academic brilliance was known at a very young age. Raman was an avid reader right from his childhood. Three books among many books that he read as a child, had a lasting impression on Raman’s young mind. These three books were “Light of Asia”, “The Elements of Euclid”, and “The Sensations of Tone”. The last of these books was about sound waves. Later on, when he grew up and got an opportunity to conduct research in IACS (Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science), he chose to study musical instruments. He also published a book on the mechanical theory of the musical instruments. Thus, as Raman himself humbly admitted later, what he read in his school days paved the way for his future interests.

At the age of twelve, he finished his matriculation education and entered A V N College and two years later moved to the prestigious presidency college in Madras (Chennai). There he failed to impress his teachers because he was not athletic like his father and looked too young to be a college student. So, when he went to attend his first English class, the professor asked him if he really belonged to the junior B.A. class. But, very soon Raman proved all his teachers wrong by asserting his presence and standing first in his class. When he was fifteen, he finished ahead of the class and graduated B. A. with honors in physics and English. His teachers were so impressed with his brilliance that they forced Raman to appear for the ICS(Indian Civil Service) examination.

In those days, it was government’s administrative procedure that students who did well academically were sent to abroad (England) for higher studies. Because of Raman’s poor health, the Civil Surgeon of Madras declared Raman physically unfit to travel abroad for appearing for the Indian Civil Services examination. Raman did not get disappointed since he was not at all interested in any career other than scientific research. Raman forever remained grateful to this “great man” – the Civil Surgeon of Madras! He considered this as blessing in disguise and continued his higher education choosing his favorite subject Physics for his M.A. He made most of the liberal attitude of his teachers in Presidency College and ventured into research on light waves. He achieved great heights of glory in his chosen field and became the first student from the college to publish a paper in the prestigious Philosophical Magazine. In 1907, barely eighteen Raman received his Master degree with honors. He got first position in the University in M.A. In the same year, he married Lokasundari Ammal,with whom he had one son, Radhakrishnan. 

Soon after, he was forced to appear for the IFS (Indian Financial Service) examination because he was not in a position to pursue research in his favorite subject due to financial constraints. After getting top ranking in the Financial Civil Service competitive Exam, he was appointed as Deputy Accountant general in Calcutta. At the time of his graduation, there were few opportunities for scientists in India. This forced him to accept a position with the Indian Civil Services as an Assistant Accountant General in Calcutta. There, he came across the IACS – Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science which offered laboratory facilities for the research enthusiasts. The day when Raman walked into the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science was a historic moment because it was where he along with his team performed the legendary experiments on light, which the world knows today as “The Raman Effect”. While there, he was able to sustain his interest in science by working, in his remaining time, in the laboratories of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science. He also studied the physics of stringed instruments and Indian drums.

He was appointed as the Professor of Physics at the University of Calcutta in 1917 by Ahutosh Mookherjee, the Vice Chancellor and a philanthropist. Raman decided to accept this offer. During his voyage across the Mediterranean Sea while coming back from his European trip, after participating in a conference, Raman discovered that water molecules could scatter light just like air molecules. It led him to the discovery of his famous “Raman effect”.  After 15 years of service at the Calcutta University, he left that job and shifted to Bangalore and became the Director of the Indian Institute of Science, where two years later he continued to work as a professor of physics. In 1947, the new Government of Independent India appointed him as the first National Professor. He also worked in the field of magnetic attraction and theory of musical instruments. He worked out the theory of transverse vibration of bowed strings, because of superposition velocities. This does a better job in explaining bowed string vibration over Helmholtzs approach.

Professor C V Raman was also the first to investigate the harmonic nature of the sound of the Indian drums such as the tabla and the mrudanga. In 1930, for the first time in its history, an Indian scholar, educated entirely in India has received highest honor in science, the ‘Nobel Prize’ in physics. His discovery of the ‘Raman Effect’ made a very distinctive contribution to Physics. He was also conferred the highest civilian award ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 1954. The ‘Raman Effect’ was a demonstration of the ‘Collision’ effect of light bullets (Photons) passing through a transparent medium, whether solid, liquid or gaseous. Raman was also awarded the ‘Lenin Peace Prize’ in 1957. India celebrates National Science day on 28th February every year to commemorate Raman’s discovery.

Raman Effect:

Raman Effect, a change in frequency observed when light is scattered in a transparent material. This phenomenon was discovered by the Indian physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman in 1928. When monochromatic light, such as that obtained from a laser, is passed through a transparent gas, liquid, or solid and is observed with the spectroscope, the spectral line ordinarily produced by the light has associated with it lines of longer and of shorter wavelength, called the Raman spectrum. These lines are caused by photons losing or gaining energy by elastic collisions with the molecules of the transparent substance. The Raman spectrum of a particular spectral line varies with the nature of the material that scatters the light. The Raman Effect has practical importance in spectrographic chemical analysis and in the determination of the structure of molecules.

Raman Research Institute:

Raman Research Institute, institution of higher education in the city of Bangalore. The institute was founded in 1948 by Chandrasekhara Ventaka Raman, and until 1970 was run from his personal resources. On his death, the institute was reorganized, and is now mainly funded by the Indian government’s Department of Science and Technology.The Institute has active collaboration programmes with several research institutes and universities both nationally and internationally. The institute’s library has holdings of some 18,850 volumes and 22,000 periodicals. Raman’s principal scientific interests in optics, spectroscopy, and vision are reflected in the institute’s main current research specializations, which embrace astronomy and astrophysics, condensed matter, optics, and theoretical physics.

He retired from the Indian Institute of science in 1948 and after one year, he established the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore, served as its director and remained active there until he left for heavenly abode at the age of eighty-two. Sir Venkata Raman died on November 21, 1970 at Bangalore, India. We are all proud of him.

The film, Sholay is recognized for the past three decades as blockbuster having perfect story and good acting. Therefore, the film has been standing more as prototypical to the Indian cinema industry  than any other Hindi film. It is learnt that the story discussion alone took one year. This 70 mm movie collected 30 crore rupees in the first five years of its release and this was considered as a huge achievement then.

Though the scenes and characters were copied from various films and  were encompassed in this film thinking that they might create a new trend in the field.   For e.g. the story was owned by the Japanese director Korsakov in his film Seven Samurai- The character sketch of Amitabh and Dharmendra were reproduced from the film” Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”. In the entire movie Amitabh played mouth organ,a copy from the Sergio Leona’s ”Once Upon a Time” in the West. The slow motion gun fight scene in this movie also was inspired by ”The Wild Bunch”. Even the character of Gabbar Singh also imitated the real dacoit, who lived in Gwalior.

Of all these, the main twist on the promontory where the two sides of the coin are same, was already used by Marlon Brando in ” One Eyed Jacks”. The train fight scene also copied from the movie” Great Train Robbery”. In fact the ”Mehbooba Mehbooba” song has been based on Demi Roussos’s ”Say You Love Me”… Even though the film has been copied from the various films we should perceive it as the numerous blooms on one creeper.

I am more than pleased to let the readers, especially when Indian Film Industry is celebrating centenary year, know about the significant contribution made by the film production house called ‘’ Jupiter Pictures’’. They are the pioneer movie makers, who produced approximately 47 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi languages.

Whenever the glory of Tamil cinema is mentioned, we can’t but thank about the contribution made by Jupiter Pictures, who played a significant role in this industry. They have produced the first social movie’’ Menaka’’. They also produced many popular films like ‘’Chandrakantha’’,’’ Bhoolok Rambhai’’,’’Kannagi’’,’’Abhimanu’’, ‘’ Velaikari’’,’’Marmayogi’’,’’Manohara’’,’’ Thangapathumai’’ and ‘’Arasilang  Kumari.’’

Mr.Perirarghar Anna and Mr.Kalaighar Karunanidhi (Founders of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and ex. Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu) were introduced by Jupiter Pictures as Story and dialogue writers.

The production house also introduced M.G.Ramchandran (founder of A.I.A.D.M.K  and ex. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu) as Junior Artist. Famous novelist Sandilyan was the backbone of story department. Well known director Sridhar was introduced by them as Assistant Director. They also introduced Kavigar Kannadasan and also N.S.Krishnan.

Founders of the Jupiter Pictures

Somu’s father was a grain merchant at Puthukotai, Keeranur in Tamilnadu. He dispensed with the partnership of his company due to the misunderstanding and started a new mundi shop with the help of S.K. S.K was the working partner in this grain mundi business. After the death of these two partners, the successors Somu and S.K. Habibullah took proper care of the business.

While doing the grain business, they got interested in the movie business. This was the period when the talkies were made. But, their family opposed their idea of getting involved with the movies. However, they ignored their family members’ advice and produced Menaka in 1935 under the banner of ‘’Sri Shanmuganantha Talkie Company’’

The veteran comedian N.S. Krishnan was introduced in this movie ‘Menaka’ and later he became a very popular actor.

Meneka’s blockbuster success encouraged them to produce the movie ‘Chandrakantha’ .This is a social reform story, based on J.R. Rengarajan’s novel. He was a revolutionary writer at that point of time. The Jupiter twins released this bumper hit movie in 1936 under the banner of Jupiter Pictures. In this movie the key role was played by T. R. B. Rao. He was paid highest remuneration for this film. When a search was made for a villain character, T.R.B. Rao, recommended a drama actor Chinnasamy from Pudukotai. Chinasamy was later renamed as P.U. Chinnappa and now we know very well how much fame he got in Tamil Film Industry!

Thereafter these successful twins broke up the partnership and produced two films as a separate group under the same Jupiter Pictures banner. The two films were however failed to achieve success commercially. Later these twins returned to Coimbatore and engaged in the tea business. They earned sufficient income in the tea business and once again started the film ‘Bhuloka Rambai’ along with some friends. This film was released under the banner of ” Vijaya Maruthi Pictures and Sri Shanmuga Pictures” and it became a super hit.

After the tremendous success of this movie, they decided to produce the movies only under the banner of ”Jupiter Pictures”. They approached P. U. Chinnappa for their next movie with slight hesitation because by then he had established himself  as a well-known star. However, he extended full cooperation to them and assured them that he would act in three movies continuously under their banner. With this assurance,they took up the work of producing the movie ”Kannagi” with the help of the dialogue writer Elangovan. But, P.U. Chinnappa didn’t agree to act along with the actress Kannaamba as his heroine because he felt that she was taller than him. Moreover, she was older in age. On hearing this, Kanamba approached him and convinced with her pleasing attitude. The rest is history.

Even though the next movie ”Maha Maya”  flopped, it gave opportunity to some new actors. M.G. Chakrapani was introduced in this film. While, on the shooting spot P.U. Chinnappa noticed a handsome boy. He was the younger brother of M.G.Chakrapani. P.U.Chinnappa was attracted by his shrewdness and recommended him for some roles. Because of his recommendations, the producers made some changes in the film script to accommodate him. He is none other than the great M.G.R,whr on became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. At the same time an actor who was wielding the double role as canteen manager and stunt actor of that ”Maha Maya movie” would be known as Sando Cinnapa Thevar later. Thus, this movie gets its pride of place for opening up new avenues for actors.

Evergreen movies like ”Velaikari”, ”Marma Yogi” and ”Manohara” are the capstone of the Jupiter Pictures. Ironically, the Jupiter Pictures have shut their business. But, easily we can say that Tamil cinema’s crowning glory is essentially due to the foundation laid by the one and only ”Jupiter Pictures”.

Thank You

p. sivashanmugam

Sunday 24 2013  11: 05 AM

http://youtu.be/Zy8RM-nayTg

Hero

O deer eyed lady!

Here’s a letter for you with love

I am asking you to preserve it forever with love

Heroine

Here’s a letter for you not

Written by hands but with my eyes

Hero

Are you well my Jasmine?.

Are you cool my glittering Pearl?.

Is the virgin’s hip, frail?.

Is the walk weakened at the first sight?

Is the coloured creeper shaped as beauty

Is withheld by the chilled wind?.

Heroine

Is the frailness of the hip not the nature

Is not shyness weakened the walk

Is not the coloured creeper, womanhood

Is it not the truth for the weak- hearted

I came here to teach you but

Learnt something from you

Hero

Has the adolescence not a lesson

Is the eyesight not a School

Both

The night came and so did the moon.

Indian cinema has to have a heroine, whether a script demands it or not. This is the ground rule for ages and in the earlier times it was even difficlt to get women to act on screen. Hence, the importance of Surabhi Kamala Bai who is credited as the first Telugu heroine of talkie era is noteworthy.

As some say, Kamala Bai was destined to be under arc lights as her mother, who was a stage artist herself, went into labor pains while she was on stage and gave a dramatic birth to Kamala Bai. Though her original name was Kamala Bai, she became famous as “Surabhi” Kamala Bai for her association with Surabhi theater group.

In 1931, director HM Reddy intended to make a Talkie film in Telugu on the banner of Imperial Films with Ardeshir Irani as the Producer. He chose Kamala Bai from ‘Surabhi Drama Company’ as heroine in his film. Kamala Bai became the first heroine in the first Telugu talkie ‘Bhaktha Prahlada’. Kamala Bai donned the role of ‘Leelavathi’ in the film. “Bhaktha Prahlada” was a stupendous success and Kamala Bai settled as leading actress in Telugu film industry.

Kamala Bai acted in the lead roles in her next films ‘Shakunthala and Paduka Pattabhishekam’ in 1932. These films were directed by Sarvottham Badami and produced by Chunni Bai Desai on ‘Sagar Films’ banner. Kamala Bai co-starred with Addanki Sri Rama Murthy in the film ‘Paduka Pattabhishekam’ and co-starred with Yadavalli Surya Narayana in the film ‘Shakunthala’. Though these movies were well received they could not make much money like “Bhaktha Prahlada”.

Surabhi Kamala Bai acted in nearly 140 films. She could sing songs and poems on her own in the films. She had good voice, good body language and body structure which are great assets to an actress. In the latter part of her career, Kamala Bai mostly played side roles in some movies like ”Keelu Gurram(1949), Mallishwari(1951). Pathala Bhairavi (1951) as Thota Ramudu’s mother role, Devadas (1953) as Parvathi’s grand mother, Jayabheri(1958), Shabash Ramudu (1959) , Raja Makutam (19549)and Velugu Needalu (1961).

Surabhi Kamala Bai, who regaled the audience with her performances and created a benchmark for acting when the Film Industry was taking its wings. She took her last breath in 1971.

Readers may Watch few videos of Surabh Kamalabai

Some names are just so interlinked with a particular piece of history that their entire life seems to be connected with that single event of a lifetime. One such legend is Chittajallu Pullaiah also famously known as C Pullaiah, the producer-director of “Lava Kusa” (1963) which had N T Rama Rao as Rama and Anjali Devi as Seeta Though he was a pioneer of many important innovations and history with regards to cinema, but for the common audience he is just synonymous with Lava Kusa.

During the silent era, C Pullaiah joined Kohinoor Film Company in Bombay in 1922. When Raghupati Venkaiah Naidu formed the “Star of the East Films Limited” in Madras, C Pullaiah joined the company as an Assistant Director with R S Prakash. But the production company was a in a lull after making “Bhishma Pratigna”. Unable to stay away from making films, C Pullaiah decided to make films on his own and purchased some lighting equipment and a camera and started shooting in his house at Kakinada. The logistical problems of developing the footage and screen it was big as he had to travel either to Madras or to Bombay or else to Calcutta. But true to his nature Pullaiah constructed a theatre in Kakinada, “City Electric Cinema”, which was later rechristened as “Minerva”.

C Pullaiah always believed in construction of film theatres as he thought that there would be no life for Cinema if there are no Cinema theatres to show the movies. Hence he spent considerable amount of his time in the construction of theatres in various places. He used to conduct Touring Theatres and used to sell them of for interested buyers and in this process he spread the film movement through out the region.

East India Film Company of Calcutta invited him to direct a few movies in the year 1932 and from then on C Pullaiah became a Director for films like “Sati Savitri”, “Lava Kusa” (previous version), “Anasuya – Dhruva”, and other such movies. Later in the year 1938, when the Studio Durga Cine Tone in Rajahmundry was up for closure, C Pullaiah, on the condition of paying a rent of Rs 1000 per month, ran it on the name of Andhra talkies and made “Satyanarayana Vratam” in it.

C Pullaiah is credited for introducing Bhanumati who later on became a celebrated personality of Telugu Cinema through his movie “Vara Vikrayam” in the year 1939.  He was called a revolutionary Director for introducing western orchestra for the Re-Recording of “Vara Vikrayam” though the songs were of local flavor. He is also remembered for shooting the first outdoor movie of Telugu Cinema “Mohini Bhasmasura” in the year 1938.

He was always a Film maker who always wished to entertain the audience with his movies and always thought that the common man who comes to watch his movies has to be satisfied for the money he paid for. His belief is glorified when he shot a comic track “Kasulaperu” and a song “Chal Mohana Ranga” to his movie “Satyanarayana Vratam”, when he thought that the film was of short duration. He clubbed two movies into a single show with “Anasuya” and “Dhruva”.

“Lava Kusa” (1963), catapulted his name into immortality and became a success without any match. The movie took seven years to complete and was a big burden on C Pullaiah, but with the help of N T R and Anjali Devi, he completed the film under his Supervision and his son C S Rao as the Director. The legend says that the audience was enthralled to see NTR as Lord Rama and Anjali Devi as Sita and they used to pray to them by offering coconuts and camphor. Such was the success of the film that people used to travel to big cities in hordes of bullock carts to watch it.

The legend of C. Pullaiah lives on inspiring many Directors and Producers.  Watch few famous songs and scenes from the epic movie Lava Kusa(1963).

Saridey  Varalakshmi(1927-2009) is one of  the Telugu  & Tamil cinema’s greatest Actresses & Singers. She is equally good in both fields and belongs to first generation of Telugu and Tamil cinema. Varalakshmi  played a variety of roles including the female lead, vamp, later mother and aggressive mother-in-law in hit movies in Tamil and Telugu. She left an indelible footprint in the shifting sands of cinema through her portrayal in movies such as ‘Seva Sadanam’,’Illalu’,’Santha Balanagamma’, ‘Maya Lokam’, ‘Palnati Yuddham(1947)’, ‘Aayiram Thalaivangi Apoorva Chinthamani’, ‘Navajeevanam’ ‘Balaraju’, ‘Vali Sugreeva’,’Jeevitham’ ‘Tingu Ranga’,’Sri Krishna Thulabharam(1955)’ ‘Sathi Thulasi’, ‘Naga Panchami’, ‘Sathi Savithri(1957)’, ‘Chakravarthi Thirumagal’, ‘Veerapandiya Kattabomman’, ‘Deepavali’ , Sivagangai Seemai’,‘Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam’,’Abhimanam’,’ Mahamantri Thimmarusu’,’Krishna Prema’,’Sri krishnarjuna Yuddham’,’ Babru Vahana’, ‘Sathya Harischandra’, ‘Panamaa Paasamaa’, ‘Kandan Karunai’, ‘Raj Raja Chozhan’ etc. Her performance in ‘Poova Thalaiya’ (Tamil) & Bomma Borusa (Telugu) is considered her best. Her fame and name rippled out thanks to her excellent voice and acting talent and her knowledge of Carnatic Music, which she learnt as an young girl.  She also sung some private songs for Radio Ceylon in 1950s. Some of her movie songs are very popular even today. 

Varalakshmi also had a stint in Kannada cinema and played a major role in the Rajkumar-starrer ‘Babruvaahana’. However she did not meet with the same success that she had in her other language films. When the Hit movie Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam (1960) was dubbed into Hindi; She sang her songs in Hindi , Sri Devini Hum teri Ardhangini’ was popular as well. 

Varalakshmi was born in 1927 in the zamindari town of Jaggampeta (then in Madras Presidency, now in Andhra Pradesh), and belonged to a middle class family. Due to certain circumstances, she grew up in her uncle’s house in Kurnool, where he was a musician. Spotting her flair for music, he formally trained her in Carnatic music. 

During this period, the stormy petrel of Telugu cinema and social protest filmmaker Gudavalli Ramabramham (‘Mala Pilla’, ‘Raithu Bidda’, ‘Apavaadhu’) was engaged by the pioneer filmmaker K. Subramanyam to direct the Telugu version of his popular Tamil movie ‘Balayogini’. The film had many children in major roles and Ramabramham, touring Andhra looking for fresh talent, spotted young Varalakshmi in Kurnool. With his encouragement and Subramanyam’s nod, Varalakshmi sailed into the world of lens and lights with this film in 1938. 

Impressed by her looks and singing skills, Subramanyam cast her in his classic ‘Seva Sadanam’ (1938) with M. S. Subbulakshmi. Varalakshmi played an young friend of the heroine (M.S.), and thus began a close friendship between the two, which helped Varalakshmi to hone her singing skills. She played a young girl’s role in ‘Parasuraman’ (Tamil, 1940) along with T. R. Mahalingam. Little did she know then that he would play a major role in her life later, both on and off screen. 

T. R. Sundaram, Modern Theatres’ boss, cast her in a major role in his box office hit ‘Aayiram Thalai Vaangi Apoorva Chinthamani’ (1947). The title role was played by V.N.Janaki. The hero who solves the puzzles in the movie (P. S. Govindan) had a heartthrob (Varalakshmi.) The film was a major success and Govindan and Varalakshmi made an attractive pair. T. R. Sundaram cast her again in the lead role in ‘Bhojan’ (1948) with Govindan as hero. This film did not do as well as expected. Pasupuleti Kannamba cast her in her Tamil movie ‘Navajeevanam’ (1949), an emotion-drenched family story about an young man from a poor family (Sriram) who falls in love and marries a rich girl (Varalakshmi).Varalakshmi’s association with T. R. Mahalingam began in 1950. She played the heroine in ‘Machharegai’ (1951), ‘Mohanasundaram’ (1951), ‘Chinnadurai’ (1952) and ‘Velaikkaran’ (1952). However these were not successful. ‘Mayalokam’ (1945) was the first movie of Akkineni Nageswara Rao as full fledged hero with two heroines, Varalakshmi and P. Shanthakumari. It was a box office hit. ‘Balaraju’ (1947) again with Nageswara Rao, was a major hit and some of Varalakshmi’s songs became popular. She was also paired with ANR in the classic ‘Palnati Yuddham’ as Manchala who loses her lover in the historic battle. The two sang a duet (‘Ohoooohooo..Charuseela’),  which is still hummed and remembered by Telugu film buffs. 

Varalakshmi acted with all the top actors of her day including P.U.Chinnappa, Chittoor. V.Nagayya, N.T.Rama Rao, S.V.Ranaga Rao, Akkineni Nageswara rao, Shivaji Ganeshan, M.G.Ramachandran, T.R.Mahalingam, Ranjan, Gemini Ganeshan and R.S.Manohar etc.. 

K. S. Gopalakrishnan, the star-maker, cast her as an aggressive woman in ‘Panammaa Paasamma’ in which she excelled as the tough lady. Then came her crowning glory with K. Balachandar’s ‘Poova Thalaiya’(Tamil), Bomma  Borusa (Telugu). Here again, she played a tough woman pitted against Jaishankar & Chandra Mohan.

In her later career, she acted in mother and aunt roles. She married  film producer and brother of Tamil poet Kanndasan ,  A.L. Srinivasan and has two children. She continued to act after marriage in senior roles in Telugu and Tamil cinema to keep herself occupied, Varalakshmi lent her voice for some films as well. The last years of her life were spent in physical pain, as she suffered from a hip fracture and was hospitalized often. 

S.Varalakshmi passed away on 22-Sep-2009 with deep illness, she was 82 years. 

Varalakshmi’s powerful acting and her lilting melodies with unique voice shall ever be remembered by moviegoers of south India.

Readers may watch her great Melodies from some of her movies.

Source: Various websites 

Viswanatha Satyanarayana, the Poet Laureate of Andhra Pradesh and winner of Jnaana Peeth Award, is undoubtedly one of the greatest scholar-poets of Andhra Pradesh.  He was actively involved in literature even as an an octogenerian with continuous and untiring activity extending over six decades, Viswanatha Satyanarayana has had the good fortune of living in the era of excellent writers of three generations.

Viswanatha Satyanarayana was born on September 10, 1895 in a Vaidika Shaiva Brahmin family to Shobhanadri and Parvatamma in Nandamuru village, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. His father was a philanthropist and a devotee of Lord Shiva. In 1902, he brought an idol of Shiva Linga from Benaras and built a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Nandamuru. Thus, Lord Sri Visweswara became their family Deity. Viswanatha wife was Varalakshmamma.

He had his primary education in Nandamuru, Indupalli and Pedapadu villages and higher education in Bandaru City. He was lucky to have the great scholar Chellapilla Venkatashastri as his Telugu teacher in Bandaru High School. Pingali and Katuri, the twins, were seniors to him by one year. He too had a poet companion in Kodali Anjaneyulu and some of the earlier compositions came out with the two in one name “Satyanjaneyakavulu” with the pen-name ‘Girikumara.’

After finishing his BA, he joined Bandaru High School as a teacher. He continued his studies part time in the pursuit of MA and graduated from Madras University. He resigned from his teaching position to paticipate in Mahatma Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement. Later he took up various teaching positions at Bandaru National College (1928), Gunturu Christian College till 1933, a private college in Vijayawada 1933 to 1959, and Karimnagar Arts and Science College (1959).

Viswanatha’s style of poetry was classical in nature. The parallel “free-verse” movement in easy prose of Telugu literature criticized him as a bigot who hung onto the strict rules of prosody such as Yati, Prasa and Chandassu . In scholarship and learning he can be classed with ancient scholar-poets. In tradition he is in line with Nannaya, Tikkana and Srinatha, the great masters of Telugu poetry.

Satyanarayana started his career as writer in 1916 with “Visweswara Satakam,” a devotional poetic composition as a tribute to his family Deity Lord Visweswara (The God of the entire World). At the same time, he wrote “Andhra Pourusham,” a patriotic poetical composition. A drama “Dhanya Kailaasam” and a novel “Antaraatma’ are part of his devotional works written by him at that time. He wrote ‘Kinnerasaani’ songs,’ Nartanasaala’, ‘Sringaaraveedhi’, and ‘Anaarkal’i in 1921-23. He wrote his famous composition “Veyipadagalu” in 1933-34 for which he was awarded with titles and awards, such as “Kavi Saamraat (Emperor of Poets)’ and an award by Andhra University. Later he wrote ‘Ramaayana Kalpavriksham,’ Paamu paata’, ‘Pillala Ramaayanamu’ etc.

Andhra Pradesh Government felicitated him with various awards for his literary contribution. Telugu People felicitated him in 1942, during Sankraanti festival with an elephant ride and celebrated his 60th birthday festival in 1956 in Gudiwada. He served as vice president of Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Academy in 1957 and as a nominated member of Legislative Council in 1958. Andhra University celebrated his achievements by awarding him with “Kalaa Prapoorna” title in 1964. The Government of India honored him  with “Jnaan Peeth” award for his Ramaayana Kalpavriksham in 1971 and the Andhra Pradesh government honored him by hiring him as the State Poet.

He wrote scores of novels, radio plays and critical features.He was notoriously famous for his inflammatory speeches wherever invited, He aroused jealousy as well as admiration in the Telugu literary world. His “Nannayagari Prasanna Katha Kalitartha Yukti” struck a new path in the realm of literary criticism. By this time’ Ayodhyakanda’ was also completed. As a result he stood aloft as a pillar of traditional poetry. Many writers, young and old, earnestly solicited his opinion and forewords for their much-cherished literary compositions. The opinions he expressed and the forewords he wrote stand out as masterpieces of criticism. To a superficial observer some of his important works smack of obsolescence as they are based on religion, tradition and superstition. Some say his works are devoid of modern social awareness and progressive outlook. It is true, if modernism means atheism and political opportunism. Whether old or modern, his works stand for eternal truths and godliness clothed in various literary forms. He was sometimes sharp, pungent, frank and very strong in his literary outbursts. It is this quality which has made him lose many friends.and it is the same quality which helped gather his staunch followers and disciples. But in general his friends and foes alike agree on one point, that he was some superhuman, tempestuous and titanic poetic genius. In his own words he is a “Yugabhrashta.”

Viswanatha was the first Telugu to receive the federal Jnaana Peeth award. He also received Padma Bhushan title from Indian Govt in 1970. He won the Central Sahitya Academy award in 1963. Viswanatha passed away on 18th October, 1976 leaving behind more than one hundred works that include poetic compositions (15), Satakas (6), Song collections (13), Dramas (20), Novels (60), Sanskrit dramas (10), literary criticisms (10), and many essays and radio speeches.

Some of the famous writings of Viswanatha are .
• Aru Nadulu
• Akasa Raju
• Amrita Sharmisthan
• Andhra Prasasthi
• Anarkali
• Anta Naatakame
• Antaratma
• Beddanna Senani
• Bhramara vaasini
• Bhrashta Yogi
• Chandra guptuni swapnam
• Cheliyali Katta
• Chitlee Chitlani Gaajulu
• Dharma Chakramu
• Dhanya kailaasam (a drama)
• Dhooma Rekha
• Eka Veera
• Girikumaruni Prema Geetalu
• Gupta Pasupatamu
• Jebu Dongalau
• Jhansi Rani
• Kadimi Chettu
• Kasmira rajatarangini
• Kinnerasani Patalu
• Kokilamma Pelli
• Lopala Bayata
• Ma Babu
• Mihirakuludu
• Mudu Taralau
• Nartanasala
• Pravahamu
• Purana vaira grandha mala
• Pulula Satyagrahamu
• Punarjanma
• Sasidutam
• Satyagrahamu
• Sri Krishna Sangeetamu
• Srimad Ramayana Kalpa Vrikshamu
• Sringara Veedhi
• Swarganiki Nichhenalu
• Trisulam
• Tallileni Pilla
• Varalakshmi Trisati
• Vishnu Sarma Englishu Chaduvu
• Visweswara Satakam
• Veyi Padagalu
• Veera valladu
• Vena Raju

- By Ayush Nadimpalli