PC Reddy shared a unique rapport with the two best actresses that Telugu cinema can arguably boast about, Bhanumati and Savitri. He says, while Bhanumati’s exterior hid an affectionate inner self, it was her attitude that both a strength and a weakness also including that her son’s personal life was troubled. On the other side in the interview to Telugu360.com, he talks of an instance where Savitri puked on the sets of Vichitra Dampatyam. That and a lot more in this blog..

Part – 1 about NTR, ANR and Shobhan babu

Bhanumati: I saw Swarga Seema in Chennai. She and the man Lingamurthy who played her father acted very well. We discussed how well she sang her songs. She talks very affectionately to the people she likes. I met her at Bharani studios and was introduced to her as a student from Nellore who had come to see her. Immediately she started conversing with me in Nellore dialect. She acted in LV Prasad’s Missamma, bagged the title character and was replaced after 5 days. Savitri who was originally supposed to do Jamuna’s role (sister) was promoted as Missamma and Jamuna came in Savitri’s place as the sister. It must have been some ego problem, as by nature she is arrogant. Whatever she thinks must and should happen. When I came as an assistant director, I worked for Anthasthulu. Bhanumati and ANR’s film song Dhulapara Bulloda was shot in Sarathi Studios. I didn’t remind her of my meeting with her in Bharani. She stayed at Sarathi overnight, refused staying in a star hotel, opposite the Assembly. ‘Why spend unnecessarily?’, she told the producer despite knowing that another actor Jaggaiah stayed there. She was co-operative that way. That day she didn’t turn up for shoot on time. A rat had bitten her foot and I went for the doctor. Dr Satyanarayana was her relative and gave first aid and injection. We thought she wouldn’t work that day but she joined the shoot saying, ‘What a small rat would do?’ and ‘Why one should stop work on account of it?’. When I was an assistant director, I had gone to her house once more with Atreya’s dialogues and she was in her Puja. I saw her husband cum director Ramakrishna. He hardly talks and even when he does, he answers in monosyllables while she would talk endlessly. I wished him and sought his blessings. She intervened and joked, “He speaks very little, seeing the amount of talking I do, he lost his voice.” Later, I had plans to direct and wanted her as the heroine. She would invite us, me and my wife personally for Bommalakoluvu. She had a big bungalow and an estate in Ooty, where she would send her car and invite us for lunch.

Arrogant yes she is, but affectionate to those whom she liked. She wasn’t very busy as she was selective about her work. She would give filter coffee and asked me to direct a film for Bharani Studios one day. She added that she doesn’t have the energy and her husband is not quite keeping well. She also said that I had it in me to direct for Bharani Studios and I directed Attagaru Zindabad with Kalyan Chakravarthy as the hero. The film wasn’t a great success. Meanwhile, I got a few more offers. I asked her if I can take up that offer as this current film offer from Bharani Studios came suddenly. She asked me to go ahead and direct both. If there were clashes of dates, she said she would direct it. One occasion I told her, she directed a larger portion and I don’t deserve my name in the credits. But she gave me the credit, that I had directed it, giving the tag, Chandrasekhar Reddy B.A. The greatness about her is that she said, “If you give me the permission I will direct.” Especially when the studio and the film belonged to her, she offered the chance to direct. When I had date problems, she offered help and sought permission for that.

Bhanumati and her husband were wealthy and in a position to loan money to big artistes and. Many would crave to be a part of films made by Bharani Studios. Ramakrishna Garu was a soft man and would never hurt anyone. Those days, only Bharani and Vijaya were the popular studios. The directors focussed on talent and expressions and never worried about the physicality of heroines. The heroines weren’t health conscious and would eat well, perhaps on par with men. Since they were heroines, they would be pampered, eat and feed others. There was no concept of dieting or exercise. The directors would focus the cameras only on their eyes and lips. If people wanted to see a women’s figure, they would rope in Jyothilakshmi or some characters who would do vamp roles. Her son Bharani was a doctor. She sensed he was falling in love and summoned him to India. She even went to the USA and returned with tears and narrated how her son was cleaning his rest room. She said,”What was the necessity for him to do when he had such wealth, studios everything he wanted in life?”

Being a vegetarian, she wouldn’t eat everywhere. She forcibly married him to someone, but after a few days he divorced her and left. She finally got to know that he was already married to someone else in USA. Bharani was a nice man, as good as his father and a great doctor. Bhanumathi sent the newly wed girl away with a heavy heart and a lot of wealth.

Savithri: She did a lot of films for Jagapati Pictures. I directed her for Vichitra Dampatyam. She was a rich woman then and would come in a big car. She was highest paid actress then and had a huge Tamil market. I don’t remember any artiste asking for a hike in remuneration. The producer would hike their pay based on the success. Once when Bhanumati was highest paid, they paid KV Reddy, the director, one lakh for making Patala Bhairavi in Hindi. Those days, one lakh was a great figure to discuss about. The film would wind up in 30 lakhs maximum. She would drink, but be balanced. Once on the sets, she got drunk and threw up on me. After that she went and cleaned herself and asked her assistant to get one of the shirts meant for the hero. Next day, she bought a short and gave it to me and would keep joking, asking me on what happened to it. A very affectionate lady, she would cook, bring it to the sets and share. Only Savitri and SV Ranga Rao got addicted and spoilt their health. Rest of them were disciplined. Later, she stopped working and refused to work despite directors telling that they had written the role for her. Whatever it is, we remember her glory more than anything else.

Contd…