Sattiraju Lakshminarayana (15 December 1933 – 31 August 2014), known professionally as Bapu, was an Indian film director, painter, illustrator, cartoonist, screenwriter, music artist, and designer known for his works in Telugu and

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been d ...

cinema. In 2013, he was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferre ...

, for his contribution to Indian art and cinema. He has garnered two National Honors, two

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

, seven state

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are the awards that recognise the excellence in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre and Telugu television, and Lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. Presented annually by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the award is named after ...

, two

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing f ...

, a Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, and a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South. Bapu's directorial venture '' Sakshi'' (1967) was showcased at ''Tashkent International film festival'' in 1968. '' Seeta Kalyanam'' (1976) was screened at the

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the com ...

, San Reno and Denver International Film Festivals in 1978, and is part of the course at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

. '' Tyagayya'' (1981) and '' Pelli Pustakam'' (1991) were premiered at the Indian Panorama of the

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pl ...

. Bapu's 2011 film, ''

Sri Rama Rajyam ''Sri Rama Rajyam'' () is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological film directed by Bapu who co-wrote the film with Mullapudi Venkata Ramana, and produced by Yalamanchali Saibabu. The film stars Nandamuri Balakrishna, Nayanthara, Akki ...

'', had a special screening at

on 28 November 2011. In 1996, he appeared in the

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

Documentary ''Eminent Cartoonists of India'', and was awarded Lifetime Achievement from Indian Institute of Cartoonists in 2001. He gained international recognition through his art works viz., ''Bapu Bomma'', ''The Navarasas'', and the ''Indian Dances'' etc., which were held at the National Film Theatre, London, in 1978 and at the innumerable Telugu Conferences in the United States. He has worked as a graphic artist for ''J Walter Thomson'', ''Efficient Publicities'' and ''F. D. Stewarts'', Chennai. In 1964, he was a delegate at the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

sponsored seminar in Bangalore on ''Children's Books''. The same year, he gave demonstrations for the training course programme on book illustrations and cover designs sponsored by UNESCO in Chennai. In the 1960s he has served as art Consultant for

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

sponsored ''The Southern Language Book Trust''. He has designed and illustrated several books for leading publishers in South India out of which, five received Government Awards. He has also done the same for innumerable works drawn from

Puranas Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

and

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging fro ...

Early life and background

Bapu was born on 15 December 1933, in Narsapur, in present-day West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to Sattiraju Venugopala Rao and Suryakantam. He has worked as a political cartoonist for the newspaper ''Andhra Patrika'' in 1945. He holds B.Com (1953) and BL (1955) from

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

Painting

Bapu's paintings focus on Hindu mythological characters, and he has painted the Hindu epic

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

as a pictorial

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

. His character portrayals, such as

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hi ...

Bhima In Hindu epic Mahabharata, Bhima ( sa, भीम, ) is the second among the five Pandavas. The ''Mahabharata'' relates many events that portray the might of Bhima. Bhima was born when Vayu, the wind god, granted a son to Kunti and Pandu. Aft ...

Duryodhana Duryodhana ( sa, दुर्योधन, ) also known as Suyodhana, is the primary antagonist in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata.'' He was the eldest of the Kauravas, the hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra and his queen Gandhari. Being ...

, look distinctly male with wide chests, large jaws and large biceps; while

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one o ...

and

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bei ...

are more feminine in build. His paintings have decorated the cover pages of many magazines in India and Abroad. Telugu Naadi Magazine published from USA for Telugu audience have published Bapu's great paintings. Bapu also later served on their advisory board to guide and have an outstanding content for the magazine that catered to Telugu people.

Association with Ramana

Bapu's family was staying in Madras and in 1942, when the Japanese bombed Madras, there was a panic exodus and Bapu's family moved to Narasapuram and stayed there till 1945, when the Second World War ended. Bapu studied in Taylor High School, Narasapuram during these years. Mullapudi Venkataramana's father, who was working as a Sub-Registrar was posted at Narasapuram during the years 1942-45 and so, Venkataramana also studied in Taylor high School, Narasapram, during those years. They were classmates during those three years and that is how their association started. They continued schooling at Kesari High School, Madras. Ramana's first short story 'Amma Maata Vinakapote' was published in 1945 in 'Bala', a children's magazine published by Radio Annayya (Nyayapathi Raghava Rao), he was 14 then. Bapu illustrated the story. That was the beginning of their career as a writer-producer -illustrator- filmmaker duo". Started as an illustrator-story writer team and then turning into a film-director-writer duo, they have contributed immensely to the enrichment of Telugu cultural ethos through literature and cinema. When one mentions Bapu, then one is bound to mention Ramana's name too and vice versa. The most notable achievement in his movie making is his success in capturing the nativity of Telugu people and translating it great on-screen visuals. Ventures like ''Sampoorna Ramayanam'', ''Ramanjaneya Yuddham'' and ''Seeta Kalyanam'' have been the milestones of Telugu cinema, while historical films like ''Thyagayya'', ''Bhakta Kannappa'' and ''Shreenatha kavisarvabhouma'' have been hugely successful. Bapu-Ramana combination has created movie magic on the large screen with some of the path breaking films in Telugu cinema and are ever remembered for films like ''Radha kalyanam'', ''Velugu needalu'', ''Bharyabhartalu'', ''Bhogimanta'', ''Mutyala Muggu'', 'Sakshi'', ''Mr. Pellam', ''Pelli Pustakam''. The duo directed Mana Voori Pandavulu (1978) which won the Filmfare Award for Best Film - Telugu.

Hindi cinema

Bapu is known for his classic movies in Indian cinema, Bapu has directed

Hindi films Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

such as '' Hum Paanch'', '' Bezubaan'', '' Woh Saat Din'', '' Mohabbat'', ''

Pyari Behna ''Pyari Behna'' () is a 1985 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Bapu, starring Mithun Chakraborty, Padmini Kolhapure, Vinod Mehra, Deven Verma, Shakti Kapoor and Tanvi Azmi in her film debut. The film is a remake of the 1978 Tamil fi ...

'', '' Mera Dharam'', ''

Diljalaa Diljalaa is a 1987 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film, starring Jackie Shroff, Farah in lead roles. It was written by Vinay Shukla and directed by director Bapu. The music was composed by Bappi Lahiri. Plot Widowed, multi-millionaire Sh ...

'', '' Prem Pratigyaa'' and '' Paramaatma''.

Death

Bapu had suffered heart attacks many times throughout his career. He was admitted into a hospital at Chennai in mid August 2014. He suffered from a cardiac arrest on 31 August 2014, and died later on the same day. He was given a state funeral by the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Awards and honours

;Civilian honours *

– Government of India – 2013 ;National honours *Life Time Achievement Award from Indian Institute of Cartoonists – 2001 *President of India

Rashtrapati Award Rashtrapati Awards used to be given by the President of India, in some cases the Prime Minister of India, for achievements in the field of sports, art, military, literature, cinema, culture, science and technology, or Scouting. The award-giving ...

from the Academy of Fine Arts, Tirupati ;

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several ...

– Mutyala Muggu *

– Mister Pellam ;

* Filmfare Best Director Award (Telugu) – '' Seeta Kalyanam'' (1976) * Filmfare Best Director Award (Telugu) – '' Vamsa Vruksham'' (1980) * Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South – (2012) ;

* Raghupathi Venkaiah Award – Life Time Achievement in Telugu cinema – 1986 ;;

Nandi Award for Best Feature Film This is the list of winners of the Nandi Award for Best Feature Films since 1964. Best Feature Film - Gold Second Best Feature Film - Silver Third Best Feature Film - Bronze References See also * Cinema of Andhra Pradesh {{DEFAULTSORT:N ...

(director): *1971: '' Balaraju Katha'' *1973: '' Andala Ramudu'' *1975: '' Mutyala Muggu'' *1991: '' Pelli Pustakam'' *1993: '' Mr. Pellam'' *2011: ''

'' ;Other Honours *Asthana Vidwan by Andhra Pradesh Academy of Arts. *South Indian Film Director's Association Award for Best direction – Sampoorna Ramayanam – 1972 *Visishta Puraskaramu from Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University – 2002 *Life Time Achievement Award from Telugu Association of North America *"Shiromani" award fromBooks: American Telugu Association – 1992 *Honorary Doctorate "Kala Prapoorna" from

Andhra University Andhra University (IAST: ''Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat'') is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the biggest don ...

– 1991 * Raja-Lakshmi Award in 1982 from

Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation The Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation is an Indian charitable trust that promotes arts, sciences, literature, medicine, journalism, humanities and other intellectual pursuits and to honour distinguished persons in these fields. Established in 1979 in C ...

, Chennai – 1982. bapubomma.com

Filmography

#'' Sakshi'' (1967) #'' Bangaaru Pichika'' (1968) #'' Buddhimantudu'' (1969) #''Inti Gowravam'' (1970) #'' Balaraju Katha'' (1970) #'' Sampoorna Ramayanamu'' (1971) #'' Andala Ramudu'' (1973) #'' Sri Ramanjaneya Yuddham'' (1974) #'' Mutyala Muggu'' (1975) #'' Sita Kalyanam'' (1976) #''Sri Rajeswari Vilas Coffee Club'' (1976) #'' Bhakta Kannappa'' (1976) #''Sneham'' (1977) #'' Mana Voori Pandavulu'' (1978) #'' Gorantha Deepam'' (1978) #'' Toorpu Velle Railu'' (1979) #'' Vamsa Vruksham'' (1980) #''Rajadhi Raju'' (1980) #''Pandanti Jeevitam'' (1980) #''Kaliyuga Ravanaasurudu'' (1980) #'' Hum Paanch''* (1980) #'' Tyagayya'' (1981) #'' Radha Kalyanam'' (1981) #'' Bezubaan''* (1982) #''Krishnaavataram'' (1982) #'' Pelleedu Pillalu'' (1982) #'' Neethi Devan Mayakkam'' (1982) #'' Edi Dharmam Edi Nyayam?'' (1982) #'' Mantri Gari Viyyankudu'' (1983) #'' Woh Saat Din''* (1983) #''

Seethamma Pelli ''Seethamma Pelli'' () is a 1984 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Bapu. A remake of the 1978 Tamil film ''Mullum Malarum'', it stars Mohan Babu, Murali Mohan, Mucherla Aruna and Revathi in her Telugu film debut. The film was releas ...

'' (1984) #'' Mohabbat''* (1985) #''

''* (1985) #''

Bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...

'' (1985) #''Kalyana Tamboolam'' (1986) #'' Mera Dharam''* (1986) #''

''* (1987) #'' Prem Pratigyaa''* (1989) #'' Pelli Pustakam'' (1991) #'' Mr. Pellam'' (1993) #'' Srinatha Kavi Sarvabhowmudu (1993) #''Pelli Koduku'' (1994) #'' Paramaatma''* (1994) #'' Rambantu'' (1996) #''

Radha Gopalam ''Radha Gopalam'' () is a 2005 Telugu-language film which stars Srikanth and Sneha; it is based on the Hollywood movie ''Adam's Rib''. This film was directed by Bapu, with music by Mani Sharma and lyrics penned by Veturi, Jonnavittula, Mulla ...

'' (2005) #'' Sundarakanda'' (2008) #''

'' (2011) Those marked as * are Hindi films

Bibliography

# Ramayanam, co-written with Ramana. This book was published in Telugu, English and French languages. # Maha Bharatam, co-written with Ramana # Bapu Ramaneeyam, co-written with Ramana # Koti Kommachi, along co-written Ramana # (Im)Koti Kommachi, co-written with Ramana # Kosaru Kommachi, Bapu Ramaneeyam along with Ramana # Bapu Cartoonulu -1 # Bapu Cartoonulu -2 # Bommalu Geeyandi # Budugu, co-written with Ramana

References

External links

bapuartcollection.com
Bapu's Official Website with an extensive art collection *
Bapu: A Multifaceted Artist
- an article on Bapu {{DEFAULTSORT:Bapu 2014 deaths University of Madras alumni Telugu film directors Nandi Award winners 1933 births Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Rashtrapati Award Indian cartoonists Filmfare Awards South winners Hindi-language film directors Indian male screenwriters People from West Godavari district Writers from Andhra Pradesh Film directors from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian composers Indian male songwriters 20th-century Indian film directors 21st-century Indian film directors 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Hindi screenwriters Telugu screenwriters Indian male painters Painters from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian painters 21st-century Indian painters Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian male writers 21st-century Indian male writers 20th-century male musicians 20th-century Indian male artists 21st-century Indian male artists