Bapu (artist)
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| BAPU | |
|---|---|
| Birth Name | Sattiraju Lakshminarayana |
| Also known as | Bapu |
Sattiraju Lakshmi Narayana, also known as Bapu was born on 14th of December in 1933 in Narsapur, West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh. He is one of the very few truly original filmmakers in the Telugu film industry and is the popular half of the Bapu-Ramana (Mullapudi Venkata Ramana) pair that made movies that went on to define subtlety in Telugu cinema. He graduated as a lawyer from University of Madras in 1955. He joined as political cartoonist for the newspaper Andhra Patrika in 1955. He later went on to become a designer, movie director and a popular painter.
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[edit] Painting Style
Bapu introduced a painting that uses simple bright colours which are easy on the eye. His unique style of economy of strokes, freehand drawing and non-usage of background clutter made the paintings simple, beautiful and popular. He specializes in Hindu mythological characters and has painted the Hindu epic Ramayana as a pictorial story. In his paintings, characters like Shiva, Bhima, Duryodhana look distinctly male with wide chests, bigger jaws and large biceps, while Krishna and Rama are rather more feminine in build. All his female characters (including the Hindu goddesses) have doe-like eyes, a waist-hip ratio of 0.7, voluptuous breasts, long hair and a sharp nose. In fact, 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") later became a synonym for any girl wearing two plaits.
Bapu has also introduced a new cursive writing in Telugu. This font is his own handwriting and reflects the same simplicity he exhibits in his art.
[edit] Collaborations with other artists
He worked with Satyam Sankaramanchi and drew a hundred and one pictures for each of the stories in Amaravati Kathalu. He collaborated with comic writer Mullapudi Venkata Ramana and gave life to Mullapudi's characters Budugu and his family in the form of pictures. Bapu Art available online at http://bapubomma.com and http://bapuart.com
[edit] Movies and Characteristic Style
Bapu has directed movies like Saakshi (Witness),Buddhimanthudu, Muthyala Muggu, Manavoori Pandavulu, Sampoorna Ramayanam (The Complete Ramayana), Seetha Kalyanam, Sri Ramanjaneya Yuddham, Krishnavatharam, Sri Rajeswari Vilas Coffee Club, Toorupu Velley Railu, Andhala Ramudu, Gorantha Deepam, Vamsa Vriksham,Manthri gari Viyyankudu (with Chiranjeevi), Pelli Pustakam (The Book of Marriage), Mr.Pellam (Mr.Wife), Tyagayya (a biopic on the life of Saint Tyagaraja) and Pelli Koduku, Srinadha Kavi Sarvabhoumudu, Rambantu, Radha Gopalam (Radha and Gopalam). Ramana provided an able foil, providing script/dialogue that suited Bapu's visuals and this celebrated friendship and professional association gave Telugu filmdom many classics and helped unearth great artistes such as Ravu Gopal Rao, or get the best out those such as Rajendra Prasad, Aamani etc.
[edit] Style
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. His movies deal with very real familial troubles and relationships but most movies have a recurring theme of magic realism, with vignettes of mythological characters aiding in the narration.
Most of his movies have a female protagonist and this was and remains a breakaway style from the formulaic movies that relegate female lead characters in movies to song and dance numbers. His penchant for preserving the telugu nativity in his movies can be seen in the choice of artistes, especially the dusky female leads and very un-intimidating villains, which is uncommon in the industry. The pace is relatively slow, the humor spontaneous and innocent and the visuals captivating.
Apart from Telugu movies Bapu also directed a few Hindi Movies such as Hum Paanch, Bezubaan, Pyari Behna, Mohobbat, Mera Dharam, Diljala, Woh Saath Din and Prem Pratigya.
[edit] Other works
Bapu is said to have designed some saris too. The collection of saris used in the 1991 movie Pelli Pustakam were designed by Bapu.Bapu has directed Mantrigari viyyankudu with chiranjeevi
[edit] Awards and Acclaim
Bapu was awarded the Raghupathy Venkaiah award by the State Government of Andhra Pradesh for his outstanding contribution to Telugu cinema in 1986. He shared the award along with his soul-mate Mullapudi Venkata Ramana. Bapu was conferred with the prestigious Raja-Lakshmi Award in the year 1982 from Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation, Chennai.
Another popular work in Telugu Koonalamma Padalu (Poems from Everyday People) has the following in praise of Bapu:
Konte Bommala Bapu
Konni Tharamula Sepu
Gunde OOyala-loopu
O Koonalammaa
(Bapu's paitings sway the hearts for generations)
[edit] External links
== *http://www.bapubomma.com , The official website of Mr.Bapu for a complete art gallery
- http://www.bapuart.com Bapu Art Gallery From Impressions the Art Promoters ==
