Bapu (artist)

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Bapu

Bapu
Born Sattiraju Lakshminarayana
December 15, 1933 (1933-12-15) (age 74)
Flag of India Narsapur, India

Sattiraju Lakshmi Narayana, also known as Bapu, was born on December 15, 1933 in Narsapur, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India. He is a filmmaker in the Telugu film industry. He is also a popular artist, painter, cartoonist, and designer. 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.

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[edit] Painting style

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.

[edit] Collaborations with other artists

He 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.

[edit] Movies directed by Bapu

  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. Andhala 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. Bakta Kannappa (Worshipper Kannappa), 1976
  13. Seeta 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. Toorupu Velley Railu(The Train Going East), 1979
  19. Vamsa Vriksham(The Family Tree), 1980
  20. Rajadhi Raju (The King of Kings), 1980
  21. Pandanti Jeevitham, 1980
  22. Kaliyuga Ravanaasurudu (Demon Ravana of Kaliyug), 1980
  23. Hum Paanch (We Five), 1980
  24. Tyagayya (the life of Saint Tyagaraja), 1981
  25. Radha Kalyanam (The Marriage of Radha), 1981
  26. Bezubaan (The Mute), 1981
  27. Krishnavatharam(The Incarnation of Krishna), 1982
  28. Pelleedu Pillalu (The Marriageable Children), 1982
  29. Neethi Devan Mayangugiran (Even the God of Justice Is Confused), 1982
  30. Edi Dharmam Edi Nyayam (What Is Truth? What Is Justice?), 1982
  31. anthri gari Viyyankudu, 1983
  32. Woh Saat Din (Those Seven Days), 1983
  33. Seethamma Setha (The Doings of Seetha), 1984
  34. Mohabbat (The Love), 1985
  35. Pyari Behna (Beloved Sister), 1985
  36. Bullet, 1985
  37. Jackie, 1985
  38. Mera Dharam (My Duty), 1986
  39. Pyaar Ka Sindoor (The Vermilon of Love), 1986
  40. Kalyana Thamboolam (The Betrothal), 1986
  41. Diljala (Heartburn), 1987
  42. Prem Pratigyaa (The Oath of Love), 1989
  43. Pelli Pustakam (The Book of Marriage), 1991
  44. Mr. Pellam (Mr. Wife), 1993
  45. Srinadha Kavi Sarvabhoumudu, 1993
  46. Pelli Koduku, 1994
  47. Pramaatma, 1994
  48. Rambantu(The Servant of Rama), 1996
  49. Radha Gopalam (Radha and Gopalam), 2005.
  50. Sundarakanda, 2008

Bapu's Hindi Movies include Hum Paanch, Bezubaan, Pyari Behna, Mohobbat, Mera Dharam, Diljala, Woh Saath Din and Prem Pratigya.

[edit] Cinematic style

The 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.

[edit] Other works

Bapu designed the collection of saris used in the 1991 movie Pelli Pustakam.

[edit] Awards and acclaim

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.

[edit] External links