Edida: The Master of Classics

Published in The Hans India on March 25, 2012

“Not winning the Dadasaheb Phalke Award does not make a difference to me as I have always got more than I had bargained for. My productions have become the biggest grossers of Telugu industry, have won critic’s appreciation and remain etched in people’s hearts. What more can I ask for?” Edida Nageshwara Rao, the man behind masterpieces like ‘Sankarabharanam’ and ‘Sagara Sangamam’ tells Manju Latha Kalanidhi

Edida: The Master of Classics


“Not winning the Dadasaheb Phalke Award does not make a difference to me as I have always got more than I had bargained for. My productions have become the biggest grossers of Telugu industry, have won critic’s appreciation and remain etched in people’s hearts. What more can I ask for?” says Edida Nageshwara Rao, the man behind masterpieces like ‘Sankarabharanam’ and ‘Sagara Sangamam’

It was a monsoon evening in 1980 in Rome. The scene was at the open-air amphitheatre in the historic city where his production ‘Sankarabharanam’ was being screened for an international audience at a film festival. The movie had almost reached its climax and 18 minutes of the movie was left when there was a heavy downpour.

The 1,200-plus audience’s knee-jerk reaction was to stand up and look for a shelter. Surprisingly, not one moved. They stood spellbound in their seats in perfect silence with only the sound of the rain and the song in the movie dominating the ambience. The movie ended. A wave of applause and claps went up to a deafening crescendo. “After having received that standing ovation from an international audience who did not know a word of Telugu, I think there is nothing more I can ask for,” says Edida Nageshwara Rao, 78, as he recalls about his first blockbuster production directed by Kalatapaswi K Vishwanath.

His nomination for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award has brought him back into the news (veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee won it for 2011) and not winning it hardly matters to him. Just being nominated with the likes of actor Pran is enough to make him happy, he says. His production house Poornodaya Creations has made classics which not only turned out to be blockbusters but also bagged awards from across the world. The filmography itself is impressive - ‘Sankarabharanam’ (1979), ‘Sagara Sangamam’ (1983), ‘Swathi Muthyam’ (1985), ‘Swayamkrushi’ (1987), ‘Sitaara’ (1983), ‘Seethakoka Chiluka’ (1981). Each of the movies invariably dealt with artistes, their struggles, social issues etc.

His house in Film Nagar, Hyderabad, is also named as ‘Sankarabharanam’. The rangolis on the walls speak of his taste. The drawing room is spartan with no LCDs or Home Theatres. His wife Jayalakhsmi personally fetches water to guests and when the gentleman walks in, he is simplicity personified. Like him, his movies also are simple, yet profound.

No hype, publicity stunts, ‘item songs’ or skin show, the movies went on to break collection records, not just in Andhra Pradesh. ‘Sankarabharanam’ ran for two years at Kavita theatre in Kochi (where the dialogues were in Malayalam, but songs were in Telugu); ‘Sagara Sangamam’ ran for 511 days in Mysore. ‘Siri Siri Muvva’ was screened for 275 days at Shubam Talkies in Chennai. Such was the records the movies broke!

The veteran producer who hails from Kakinada started off as a theatre artiste and was known as ‘Natakala Nageshwara Rao’. During his theatre days, he bumped into actors who put him across to director K Vishwanath. The duo worked together to come up with a list of classics that remain unsurpassable even today for its content and collections. The patriarch of the production house – which is now run by his son Sriram – says he is now retired as he has given his best.

So what is the secret of his stupendous success. “My sound judgement. Whether it was about insisting that Vishwanath retain the innocence of Sivayya’s character (Kamal Haasan) in ‘Swathi Muthyam ‘or not letting the main characters die in ‘Seetakoka Chiluka’ (based on inter-caste love), I prevailed on major decisions and it paid off.

Vishwanath was tempted to make Kamal’s character as a smart one, but I thought it would kill the charm of the movie. Although the original of ‘Seetakoka Chiluka’ in Tamil has the Christian girl and Hindu boy dying at the end and sacrificing their love, I wanted it to have a happy ending when I produced it in Telugu. It was the time when inter-religious marriages were catching up and I wanted to send the right and responsible signal to the society.”

He clarifies that he made each movie with the primary idea of making money. “Obviously it involved huge stakes. However, I never compromised on my values, principles or ethics to make a hit production,” he says.

What does he think about today’s movies not getting any awards in the National level? “Firstly, are there any movies that the producers themselves are confident of?” he asks. He also won the Special Jury award for 2010. “The award came as an afterthought after my nomination for Dadasaheb came by. It is ridiculous and I am embarrassed that the state government thought of it after the national award nomination happened. These awards are based on a jury’s opinion. I would have won if there was a ballet, not the opinion of a biased few,” he added.

Any mistakes he made in his illustrious career? The only movie in which he was not involved personally – but produced it anyway – was ‘Swara Kalpana’ made by Vamsi. “It was the only flop in my career and for obvious reasons.”