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Bapu. |
Sattiraju Lakshmi Narayana About this sound pronunciation (help·info), also known as Bapu (born on December 15, 1933) is a filmmaker in the Telugu film industry. He is also a popular artist, painter, cartoonist, and designer.Bapu was born to a Telugu Brahmin family in Narsapur, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India.
In 1955, he graduated from the University of Madras with a degree in law. Bapu worked as a political cartoonist for the newspaper Andhra Patrika in 1955. |
Website : www.bapubomma.com Blog : www.bapuramaneyam.blogspo
Bapu introduced a painting style of simple bright colors. His unique style consisted of economy of strokes, freehand drawing and a lack of background clutter.
His paintings focus on Hindu mythological characters, and he has painted the Hindu epic Ramayana as a pictorial story. His character portrayals, such as Shiva, Bhima, Duryodhana, look distinctly male with wide chests, large jaws and large biceps; while Krishna and Rama are more feminine in build. All his female characters have doe eyes, a waist-hip ratio of 0.7, voluptuous breasts, long hair and a sharp nose. The phrase Bapu Bomma ("Bapu's painting") has become synonymous with a beautiful Telugu girl. Another character called Rendu Jadala Seetha ("Seetha with two plaits") became a synonym for any girl wearing her hair in two plaits.
Bapu has also introduced a new style of cursive writing in Telugu. The font is his own handwriting and reflects the same simplicity as his art.
Cinematic style
The most notable achievement in Bapu's movie making is his success in capturing the nativity of the Telugu people and translating it into visuals. His movies center on realistic family issues and relationships, however his recurring theme is magic realism, with vignettes of mythological characters aiding in the narration.
Most of his movies have a female protagonist; a breakaway style from the formulaic movies that relegate female lead characters to song and dance numbers. His penchant for preserving the Telugu nativity in his movies can be seen in the choice of artists, especially the dusky female leads and weak villains.
Collaborations with other artists
He worked with Satyam Sankaramanchi and drew 101 pictures for each of the stories in Amaravati Kathalu. Bapu is one-half of the Bapu-Ramana (Mullapudi Venkata Ramana) pair that made movies in Telugu cinema. Ramana provided an able foil, providing script and dialogue to suit Bapu's visuals. Bapu collaborated with Ramana to give life to Ramana's character Budugu in the form of pictures. Through his movies he brought to focus renowned artists such as Ravu Gopal Rao, Rajendra Prasad and Aamani.
FilmoGraphy
Director
1. Saakshi (The Witness), 1967 2. Bangaru Pichika (The Golden
Bird), 1968 3. Buddhimanthudu (The Good Boy), 1969 4. Inti
Gowravam (Honour of the House), 1970 5. Balaraju Katha (The Story
of Balaraju), 1970 6. Sampoorna Ramayanam (The Complete Ramayana),
1971 7. Andala Ramudu (The Handsome Rama), 1973 8. Sri
Ramanjaneya Yuddham (The War between Rama and Hanuman), 1974 9.
Muthyala Muggu, 1975 10. Seetha Kalyanam (The Wedding of Sita),
1976 11. Sri Rajeswari Vilas Coffee Club, 1976 12. Bhakta
Kannappa (Worshipper Kannappa), 1976 13. Sita Swayamvar, 1976
14. Sneham (Friendship), 1977 15. Manavoori Pandavulu(Pandavas of
Our Village), 1978 16. Gorantha Deepam(The Flickering Lamp), 1978
17. Anokha Shivbhakt, 1978 18. Toorpu Velle Railu (The Train Going
East), 1979 19. Vamsa Vriksham(The Family Tree), 1980 20.
Rajadhi Raju (The King of Kings), 1980 21. Kaliyuga Ravanaasurudu
(Demon Ravana of Kaliyug), 1980 22. Hum Paanch (We Five), 1980
23. Tyagayya (the life of Saint Tyagaraja), 1981 24. Radha
Kalyanam (The Marriage of Radha), 1981 25. Bezubaan (The Mute),
1981 26. Krishnavatharam(The Incarnation of Krishna), 1982 27.
Pelleedu Pillalu (The Marriageable Children), 1982 28. Neethi
Devan Mayangugiran (Even the God of Justice Is Confused), 1982 29.
Edi Dharmam Edi Nyayam (What Is Truth? What Is Justice?), 1982 30.
Manthri gari Viyyankudu, 1983 31. Woh Saat Din (Those Seven Days),
1983 32. Seethamma Setha (The Doings of Seetha), 1984 33.
Mohabbat (The Love), 1985 34. Pyari Behna (Beloved Sister), 1985
35. Bullet, 1985 36. Jackie, 1985 37. Mera Dharam (My Duty),
1986 38. Pyaar Ka Sindoor (The Vermilon of Love), 1986 39.
Kalyana Thamboolam (The Betrothal), 1986 40. Diljala (Heartburn),
1987 41. Prem Pratigyaa (The Oath of Love), 1989 42. Pelli
Pusthakam (The Book of Marriage), 1991 43. Mr. Pellam (Mr. Wife),
1993 44. Srinadha Kavi Sarvabhoumudu, 1993 45. Pelli Koduku,
1994 46. Pramaatma, 1994 47. Rambantu(The Servant of Rama),
1996 48. Radha Gopalam (Radha and Gopalam), 2005. 49.
Sundarakanda, 2008
Awards
Bapu was awarded the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award by the State Government
of Andhra Pradesh for his "outstanding contribution to Telugu cinema" in
1986. He shared the award with his partner, Mullapudi Venkata Ramana.
Bapu
was conferred with the prestigious Raja-Lakshmi Award in 1982 from Sri
Raja-Lakshmi Foundation, Chennai.
The Telugu literary work
Koonalamma Patalu ("Poems of the common folk") says the following in
praise of Bapu:
* కొంటె బొమ్మల బాపు KonTe Bommala Bapu,
* కొన్ని తరముల సేపు Konni Tharamula Sepu, * గుండె ఊయలలూపు Gunde
OOyala-loopu, * ఓ కూనలమ్మ O Koonalammaa.
meaning, Bapu's
paintings sway the heart for generations.
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