ANNA GAARIKI ANKITHAM

[Yuvarathna]

(goodpost)(super)(yourock)(yourock)(yourock)(yourock)

 

Bandlamudiiiiiiii  ;D

[Rams Edara]

Eppudina Lord krishna peru vinagane naaku gurtukuvachedi Anna gaare  ...Johar NTR..

[kodiNANDAMURI]

[kodiNANDAMURI]

[kodiNANDAMURI]

[kodiNANDAMURI]

[kodiNANDAMURI]

[Simham]

KODI MAMA KUMMESAVU GA..THANX FOR THE POSTING

[Simham]

JOAHR NTR JAI NTR JAI JAI NTR(adore2)(adore2)(adore2)(adore2)(adore2)

[Madhu]

[Yuvarathna]

(yourock)(yourock)(yourock) kodi mama kummesav gaaaaa

 

 

 

(super)(super)

[Simham]

JOHAR NTR JAI NTR JAI JAI NTR

[Simham]

ENTI ANDHARU MARCHIPOYARU EE THAADU :(

[Simham]

JOHAR NTR..

[Yuvarathna]

nuvvu levu ga mama so andharu marchipoyaruuuuuuuuuu   :(

[Simham]

adhentahe..meeru kummaka..nenu lenantaru :)

[Simham]

NTR SILVER SCREEN GOD

 

The late SV Ranga Rao, a veteran who made a name for himself by playing most of the bad characters in Indian mythology, detested metallic crowns. If any producer tried to persuade him to wear them, he would yell at him, "What nonsense! Why should I burden my head with that wretched thing? Get me a cardboard crown".

 

With Rama Rao it was exactly the opposite. He would chide people who suggested that he wear a cardboard crown. "How can I act like a real god or king without a proper crown?" he would ask. He was in a hurry to finish making Daana Veera Shoora Karma (released in 1977) to pre-empt a professional rival?s project on a similar subject. Apart from playing Karna, Duryodhana and Krishna he wrote its script. He was also its producer, director and was in charge of costumes.

 

He would arrive on the sets dressed up as Duryodhana, donning a copper crown coated with gold that weighed about three kilograms. Throughout the day, he let the crown stay on they head and went about his work. This went on for three weeks at the end of which he sustaine an injury on his forehead, caused by the base of the crown. The injury lift a permanent scar. During the last three days, he worked day and night for all the 72 hours continuously, practically without sleep.

[Simham]

NTR SILVER SCREEN GOD

 

There were stars twinkling on the Telugu film horizon before Rama Rao got there; a lot more made the rather steep climb after him. But none has become the kind of phenomenon that he did and none so unique. Why?

" He stopped eating rice after entering films," says Basavarama Taraka, 56, his wife for 42 years who cooks all his meals. Even though he can be a voracious eater, he east an omelette, a couple of idlis or pesarattus (a dosa-like Andhra delicacy, made of rice and greengram) and tea for breakfast, chapatis, chicken and vegetables for lunch and dinner. On April 14, 1983, the Telugu New Year day (Ugadi), Rama Rao took to eating vegetarian food and wearing saffron robes.

 

When playing godly roles, he would be completely off non-vegetarian food and sleep on a mattress on the floor. If playing villainous roles like Ravana, Duryodhna or Yama Dharmaraja, he would eat only non-vegetarian food in order to work himself up into the required mood.

 

He would be particular about the garments he wore and the crown he would don. No fake zari garments and cardboard crown for him. Metallic crowns are heavy. Most stars who have to put them on while playing mythological roles normally prefer crowns made of cardboard.

[Simham]

NTR SILVER SCREEN GOD

 

Interestingly enough, Rama Rao charged his producers only in thousands for as long as 22 years. He was paid a paltry Rs.7,500 for playing Krishna for the first time in Maya Bazaar in 1956. He graduated to charging a fee of Re one lakh per film only in 1972. From then on, the fee reportedly went up by Rs. five lakh once every few years. In the late 1970s, when producers began to swamp him with role, he reportedly began to charge Rs.20 lakh per film. These figures are based on unconfirmed reports; in the Indian film industry there?s no such thing as an authentic figure when it comes to the star?s fee.

 

Considering that Telugu films have a limited market in the sense that they can be shown mostly in Andhra Pradesh and a few towns outside the state where there are clusters of Telugu-speaking people, Rama Rao was possibly the highest paid film star of his time in the country. Comparisons are odius: Amitabh Bachchan, whose fee reportedly took a quantum jump after his 1982 accident from Rs.20 lakh to Rs. 45 lakh per film, is a saleable commodity all over India and in several foreign countries where people of Indian origin live. Marlon Brando charged more than Rs.2.5. crore for his brief role in Superman because the whole world is his audience. On a single day, the film grossed more than Rs.5 crore in 1395 theaters in Canada and the United States!

[Simham]

NTR SILVER SCREEN GOD

 

 

Because he was a strict disciplinarian who never let down his producers, he made one film every six weeks, on an average. During 1963, 1965-67,and 1969 he made practically one film every month. In 1964 he bettered his own record by completing as many as 15 films in a calendar year!

 

According to a well-informed film industry source in Madras, his 292 films may have grossed a staggering total of Rs.200 crores.

[Simham]

NTR SILVER SCREEN GOD

 

Because he is pleasant and easy to work with, producers used to flock to him with roles. He used to give all sheets 12 to 18 months in advance. That is to say, he would tell the producers when exactly he would be available to act in their films. This helped them to plan their films accordingly. And, whatever happened, he would always stick to his dates. While shooting, he broke his hand four time, suffered a snake bite on one occasion and the wheel of a bullock cart went over him on yet another. But he was always ready almost soon after, for the next shot. Except twice, when he had to be hospitalised.

 

Rama Rao kept good health all his life. He never touched liquor; there was no question of late nights, brawls or hangovers. He smoked chutta, the native cigar, in his youth but soon gave it up. He used to eat paan in his Vijayawada days but promptly gave it up when director LV Prasad said that a man aspiring to be a film hero must possess teeth that sparkled. He did not seem to know what "star tantrums" were either. In an industry notorious for complex man-woman relationships, he was rarely linked with any of his heroines; well, almost.

 

He teamed up with nearly 50 of them, including Anjali Devi, Savitri, Bhanumathi, Jamuna, KR Vijaya, Waheeda Rahman, Jayalalitha, Vyjayantimala, B.Saroja Devi, S.Janki, Krishsnakumari, G.Varalakshmi, S.Varalakshmi, Vanisri, Jayapradha, Jayasudha, Rati Agnihotir and Sridevi.

[Simham]

NTR SILVER SCREEN GOD

 

He worked two shifts a day: 7 am to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. The moment he arrived on the sets, the atmosphere would undergo a sea change and become businesslike. No small talks or gossip for him. Once the shot was over, he would sit in a chair in a corner and promptly doze off until summoned for the next shot. He would do as many retakes as the director would want him to. If any of his old-time colleagues were around, he would ask: Was that shore all right? If the man said, "not quite, you overdid the scene a bit", he would smile and say, "OK, let?s do it once again".

 

Rama Rao would cooperate with director, notwithstanding his age or experience. He would venture to give his advice or suggestions only when asked to. "The director is supreme", he would say. "He must be having some idea about what the film is all about. He knows best. Why should I interfere?"

 

Though laudable in principle, this often turned out to be disadvantageous to him. Overawed by Rama Rao?s presence, many young directors often hesitated to get the best out of him and made do with indifferent performance. This resulted in quite a few mediocre films.

[Simham]

NTR SILVER SCREEN GOD

 

Success did not come to the man easily or overnight. He worked hard for it and chose each role he played with great care. If a producer said he wished to make a film with him, Rama Rao would first ask: "Who are the technicians?" If he liked the director and his team, he would then ask: "What?s the story?" Only if the story session convinced him that he would be suitable for the role, would he then accept the role.

 

From the very first film of his, he evolved an acting style of his own. He would create characters from his own imagination. He would write his dialogues ? sent him earlier by the director ? in his won elegant hand. This helped him to remember his lines will; he rarely fumbled for his words in front of the camera. Later, he had the dialogues read out to him; eyes closed; he would listen and then remember.

 

He would wake up before four in the morning, do his exercises, finish his bath, pray for half an hour, have breakfast and be ready for make-up. Pitambaram, the make-up man who worked with him for 25 years in Madras, would get him ready for the role he was due to play that morning. He would then drive to the studio in his imported car. In his time, he owned a Cadillac, a Chrysler, a Buick, Chevrolet, a Studbaker and now a Packard. He liked to change his car every five years. But the fist car he bought in December 1951, a Morris Minor (MDO 1522), continues to adorn the spacious garage of his Madras home.

[Simham]

NTR SILVER SCREEN GOD

 

 

In the mythologicals, he plays divine role and performs miracles. In folklores. Numbering 55, he plays the swash buckling hero who bestowed with super qualities, goes about punishing wicked villains and rescuing assorted princesses whit full breasts and large hips, and emerge the victor and walk away with the heroin in the last reel.

 

On the other hand, while playing the wronged hero in the immensely popular socials, 184 of them, Rama Rao creates around himself the halo of a pop Robin Hood, emerging at the end as a law unto himself in Bobbilipuli(The Tiger of Bobbili), his 1982 blockbuster, for instance, he plays the hero up against a corrupt society. He retires to a cave from where he metes out rough and ready justice to all wrongdoers. Finally, after his arrest, he defiantly tells the judge: "Because the court cannot ensure justice, I was obliged to take law into my hands". The audience cheers wildly in approbation.

 

This in short is how Rama Rao became a cult figure for the state?s weekly two-crore cinema-going people who revere him almost as a demi-god.

[Simham]

NTR SILVER SCREEN GOD

 

What is surprising is that whether he played Krishna or Duryodhana, Rama or Ravana, Karna or Yama Dharmaraja, most of the mythologicals in which he worked did well at the box office. While he is remembered most for playing the roles of Rama, Krishna and Lord Venkateshwara, his positive interpretation of the traditionally negative characters like Ravan, Duryodhana and Karna also won him critical acclaim. The audiences lapped up both kinds of films. Lava Kusha made history in the Telugu film industry by becoming the first film to celebrate diamond jubilee by only in 1982 by Akkineni Nageshwara Rao?s Premabhisekam. Two mythological of Rama Rao's celebrated golden jubilees, seven silver jubilees and 25 others had 100-day runs in 225 theatres.

 

It is not just in godly roles that Rama Rao captured the hearts and imagination of his audiences. He played all the important emperors and kings in India history and folklore: Chandragupta, the great Mauryan emperor; Akbar, the benevolent Moghul emperor; Krishnadeva Raya, the famous Vijayanagara monarch in the 16th century; Dushyanta, the here of Sanskrit Poet Kalidasa?s magnum opus Shakuntalam; Harishchandra, the king who never told a lie; Bhatti Vikramarka, the king with unlimited patience and wisdom who had an answer for every riddle asked of him; and Valmiki, the sage who penned the Ramayana

[Simham]

NTR SILVER SCREEN GOD

 

Krishna is apparently Rama Rao?s most favourite godly role. He acted as Krishna in as many as 17 films out of the 42 mythological films in which he had starred! In a film called DaanaVeera Shooora Karna (1997), he played Karna, Duryodhana and Krishna too. He also wrote the script; he produced and edited the film as well. Every day, six in the morning he would be made up to play Duryodhana, wear a heavy crown and spend the whole day either acting or directing. This went on for three weeks with out a break; during the last three days of shooting, he worked round the clock without a wink of sleep.

 

The Mahabharata provide material for a majority of his mythologicals: 23 in all. In Srimadvirata Parvam , ( 1979 ) he performed the incredible feat of portraying five roles as diverse as those of Krishna, Duryodhana, Keechaka, Arjuna and Brihannala.

 

He played Arjuna in four films, Duryodhana in four, Karna in one, and Bheeshma and Bheema in one each.

 

The other Hindu epic, the Ramayana, Yielded comparatively fewer Rama Rao films: eight. He played Rama in six of them and Ravana in three. In one film, Sri Rama Pattabhisekham (1978), he played Rama and Ravana as well! He played Vishnu in four and Shiva in one.

[Simham]

NTR SILVER SCREEN GOD

 

The man never seemed to have any time for anything else except his work. His habits like waking up early, doing Yoga exercises were formed at the age of 15, when he was still at school in Vijayawada. It?s a life disciplined out of necessity. Every day, before going to school in the morning and after returning from school, he would milch the cows and supply milk to customers, mostly hotels, on his old Hercules bicycle. On the way back home, he would collect fodder for the cattle.

 

Even though he entered the film industry with a good break, he had to rough it up in the initial stages, sometimes even going without food for days.

 

In the beginning, he kept himself busy watching the then veterans at work or improving his dialogue delivery by haranguing at the ferocious waves of the Bay of Bengal that lashed at the expansive Marina Beach in Madras, somewhat in the manner of Abraham Lincoln. Then there were rounds to make to the studios and homes of directors in search of a role or two. Once the roles came his way, he had to toil with his lines and the characters he was to portray.

[Simham]

NTR SILVER SCREEN GOD

The pilgrims, fresh from Tirupati where they stood only in awe in the presence of the Lord?s would be often at a loss for words. Unlike the idol, this one ? whom they saw in the film walking out of the idol ? actually smiled and spoke to them. Suddenly they found themselves pouring their hearts out to him: There?s no drinking water in our village, one would say. Our MLA does not do anything for us, another would complain. We cannot get anything done without bribing somebody or the other, Yet another would moan. Rama Rao would nod is his head in sympathy while the rows and rows of clean-shaven pilgrims filed past him, making room for the hundreds have a glimpse of their living god.

 

Such complaints gradually grew in number; it began to dawn on Rama Rao that all was not well and that most people were generally unhappy with the state of affairs. It disturbed him in a strange way, but he did not really pause to think what all this meant. He was so engrossed in his work that he had no time to do so. It was time for him to leave for the studio. The last of the pilgrims had to be rushed through to see him before he drove off in his black Cadillac.

 

Little did he realise then that these people?s gripes were to work on his subconscious and eventually drag him in to politics some day so that he could do something for them?

[Simham]

NTR SILVER SCREEN GOD

It was following the release of Sri Venkateswara Mahatmyam that the deification of Rama Rao began; 28 Bezulullah Road, Rama Rao?s residence at the time in Madras, slowly became a shrine of a kind. Busloads of pilgrims would arrive every morning from Tirupati. In the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord of the Seven Hills at Tirumala, the pilgrims were face to face with a shimmering and silent idol which only overwhelmed them during those few fleeting seconds. That did not seem enough. A good many of them would head for Madras to see the man who played Lord Venkateswara in flesh and blood.

 

They would arrive early in the morning, their heads clean-shaven and their hands folded in reverence. They would crowd the not-so-large compound of the modest house, while others stood in a serpentine queue along the road outside the house. Rama Rao, who?d be up before four in the morning as a matter of routine, would finish his yoga exercise, bath and breakfast (omelette, puris or upma and milk). The make-up man would finish getting him ready for the role he would play that morning.

 

With the make-up on and with his hands folded, Rama Rao would arrive in the veranda, gently wave at his admirers, smile at them and talk to them. He would normally ask: Where have you come from? How is life in your village? What do you do for a living? Do you get enough to eat? Is drinking water available in your village?

[Simham]

NTR SILVER SCREEN GOD

 

The poor Telugu villagers who could not afford to make the trip to Tirupati instead went to the nearest cinema hall to see the film. Thoughtfully enough, the film?s producers advised owners of the cinema halls to put up an idol of the Lord in front of the halls. The villagers would come, break coconuts, prostrate before the idol, put some coins or crumpled notes in specially erected cash boxes called hundis (just like the one in Tirumala) and then enter the halls to see the film. Pretty soon, news of this reached the administrators of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) ? ever vigilant in matters of this kind. They promptly wrote to Pulliah, the director, and staked their claim to the sums thus collected: Rs 46,000.

 

Pulliah contributed another Rs 4,000 from his own pocket and presented a sum of Rs 50,000 to TTD with a request that a shed be built with the money for poor pilgrims. The idea was accepted along with the money but the shed was not built. Several sheds and other types of accommodation were built on the Tirumala Hills subsequently, but the contributions from the film?s patrons went unacknowledged for some unknown reason.