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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.
Career
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 styleThe 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 artistsHe 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.
