P C Reddy, the maker of Badipanthulu and a whole lot of films surrounding social issues is all nostalgic as he talks in detail about the experiences he went on to share with his mentors Adurthi Subba Rao and Victory Madhusudan Rao. In the experiences he shares with Telugu360.com, he goes on to share the likes of Shobhan Babu being rebutted, about how NTR and ANR too would be corrected, the generosity of Krishna and many on those lines.
On Victory Madhusudan Rao: It was 1958 when I’d met him. I was doing my MA then but owing to my fascination for cinema, I was introduced to Jagapati Pictures and worked as a first assistant by N Jagannath. He made Annapurna for Jagapati Pictures. He then made Aaradhana with ANR, the romantic song Na Hrudayamlo Nidurinche Cheli was written by Sri Sri and not Atreya. Out of 30 films that Madhusudan Rao accepted, I worked as an assistant for 25 movies. He worked in Praja Natya Mandali where he would act and even correct NTR and ANR’s dialogue modulation. He would direct many remakes and original stories for Jagapati Pictures. Out of 60 films, 58 were super hits, so he was given the sobriquet Victory. He was very hardworking and non compromising. I would read a lot of books and would discuss a lot of things with him. He would ask me what I had read that day when he was free. He was short tempered. Except for NTR,ANR and Savitri, many big actors like Gummadi were scared of him. The reason being he was efficient and would get things done accordingly. He would want people to tell the dialogue the way he needed it.
Once he lost his cool on Shoban Babu, Abhimanyudu ga neeku anavasaram ga icchaanu vesham, he flared up. Second and third takes would make him angry. “Buddhi undha ledha, enni saarlu cheppali neeku,” he would scream. Adurthi Subba Rao was different. Even after five or six takes, he would laugh and say malla tappu cheppaventayya. VMR worked as an assistant director with Kovelamudi Prakash Rao and Adurthi Subba Rao. He would do three films at a time and I would continue to be his assistant director. I would be there in two of his films and for the third film, he would take someone else as the assistant director. His wife Sarojini was a writer and an artiste from Praja Natya Mandali who pointed out that her husband would often get angry with her but with stay friendly with me. The reason, given I spent most of the day with Madhusudan Rao from 7 am to 10 pm. The producers like Tammareddy Krishnamurthy, Jagapati Rajendra Prasad were too good. There were very few people those days and we all were like family members. He would often get angry if he instructed something and it would never carry out. If a particular scene came out well, he would be really happy and excited. He was unfortunately on bed for 8 years and lost his memory. He has two daughters and put up Madhu Film Institute. Lot of good artistes passed out of the institute while NTR inaugurated it. Those days films were a success because they had a budget for a particular hero and spent that much. These days, producers are spending huge money on heroes who are not on par with a big star too. I worked with Madhusudan Rao for ten years.
On Adurthi Subba Rao: He introduced Krishna with Tene Manusulu. He was an editor and an assistant director and directed a film called Kalpana having worked with Uday Shankar, a dance master and Kovelamudi Prakash Rao. Except for Todi Kodallalu, he’d directed all films for Annapurna Pictures which was jointly owned by Dukkipati Madhusudan Rao, ANR and Navayuga Group, who ran Sarathi Studios. Every hero had his own production house then. Adurthi’s shootings were something everyone looked forward too. It was like a picnic. Being a very adjusting person, he doesn’t take anything to heart and is a genius. Gifted with extraordinary talent and a writer too, writer Satyanand is his nephew. He would explain the scene to his artistes and just correct what they had done and was friendly with all people. He turned a producer with a Hindi film Milan (Mooga Manasulu) and got many offers. Instead of taking it up, he produced his films and lost his money. His son worked as an assistant with me and Vishwanath too. He had directed a film for Padmalaya later. Adurthi introduced Krishna and in a show of gratitude, Krishna introduced his son. Ultimately he couldn’t rise, as only success matters in the industry. Adurthi’s brother and other kith and kin were given employment by Padmalaya for 20-30 years. Perhaps, this is one reason why Krishna is great and has goodwill in the industry. Goppa Natudu Kante Goppa Manishi. Even his brothers are too good, late Hanumanth Rao and Seshagiri Rao listened and followed Krishna’s instructions. They had great love and respect for him. I worked very briefly with Adurthi but learnt a great deal from him. The greatest thing those days was that none owned success. Even the heroes and others worked as a team.
