Cinema is a medium which brings up larger than life elements of a character. A hero is invincible, a heroine is always glamorous, and the locations are dreamy and picture perfect. This happened basically because cinema is aimed at taking the audience into a utopian world where everything is optimistic and things which don’t happen in real life happen there! But there was a parallel revolution in the form of realistic cinema which proved time and again that even they will be equally admired and embraced. Filmmakers like Satyajit Ray and Shantaram are pioneers in this regard. When it comes to Telugu, the realistic approach towards films was mastered by Adurthi Subba Rao who made the epic Mooga Manasulu.
Kala Tapasvi K.Vishwanath happened to be the assistant of Adurthi Subba Rao and learnt the craft of natural characters and of course- ample drama elements. In the midst of gloss and glamour, K.Vishwanath dared to make a middle aged gentleman Somayajulu as the lead hero for his epic film Shankarabharanam. The film also had Manju Bhargavi in a pristine role; incidentally many eyebrows were raised when she was cast for the role because of her glamorous reputation till then! But Shankarabharanam changed her image in entirety!
Characters in Vishwanath’s films are quite laid back, casual and also do not overly project themselves as perfect. They are like those people next door who give back to our taunts, speak the facts and also reflect the social incidents happening of that timeline. Take the example of Mishro’s character in Sagara Sangamam where he is shown as the obsessive filmmaker who wants to bring pep even in a classical number- just the word STEPPULU uttered by the actor shows the sheer brilliance of the director.
Coming to the character Meenakshi played by Bhanupriya in Swarna Kamalam, she is always dreaming of materialistic world and has little interest in dance. Her expressions are mostly conveyed in her power packed eyes throughout the film- right from excitement, passion, sadness and of course separation! Which other director can do it with such minimalistic approach towards filmmaking? It is one and only Vishwanath!
When Sambaiah (Chiranjeevi)’s nephew gets spoiled by his own father (Charan Raj) in Swayan Krushi, the actor displays enormous shades of mental balance in terms of expressions. There is no over drama, breaking of glasses, or violence! It is just suppressed anger which is so channelized that one cannot imagine what would happen if he blasts out! Sheer brilliance of Vishwanath once again!
The scene in Swathi Muthyam where mentally challenged Sivaiah (Kamal Hassan) asks his cousin to serve food, when his grandmother (Nirmala) dies is another example of enormous class and poise. Perhaps no other director other than Vishwanath could handle such pivotal scene with perfection and mastery!
If we continue speaking about Vishwanath’s characters, we will definitely end up mentioning every character crafted by the master!
Telugu360 wishes Kala Tapasvi K.Vishwanath a very happy birthday.
