I was born in Madhya Pradesh in a place called Shivoni. My grand parents are basically Telugu people, but settled in Madhya Pradesh. But I have to admit that my native place is Anakapally. My parents moved to Anakapally when I was 3 months old. I studied in Anakapally till 10th class. Later on my father is transferred to Kakinada as ITI college lecturer.
My father struggled a lot in his life. He is a rare genius. He is an expert in 14 languages including Sanskrit, Urdu and Persian. He mastered all most all subjects including Commerce, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. He also used to teach the ICWI students.
Since I am the elder son in the family, my father wanted to teach me all the knowledge he learnt. At the age of 9, my father taught me Bhagavatgeeta. I by hearted Bhagavatgeeta at that age. When I was in high school, he taught me calculus and trigonometry. But I had some kind of averseness towards this systematized educational system.
We believe in Joint family system and my father is the only earning member in the family. Hence, for my father the family means not just his wife and sons. The family consists of all the members of my grandfather's offsprings. Hence he has to take care of 15 family members. He is also an eminent homeopathy doctor. He used to struggle on daily basis to earn money to feed us. He got job in aided college at the age of 36. Till then, he was working in unaided colleges.
I would like to elucidate about my way of studying. Since my child hood, I used to spend less time in classroom and more time in library. I read all the Telugu books from back to back. I never prefer reading any books that are not in Telugu. I was a very poor student in English. In Telugu, I used to come first in all the contests like debates. If I attend a debate competition in Telugu, the organizers use to reserve the first prize to me. When I had the number one position in Telugu, I never tried my hand at other languages, which are not my forte. By the age of 15, I read all the books including the works of Viswanatha Satyanarayana. Chandamama magazine is my guru. I learn a lot about Shake Sphere's plays and Arabian Knight's stories. Chandamama helped me to get familiarize with the world literary works.
I used to be eka sandhagrahi when I was a kid. If I listen to anything for once, I used to repeat it. My father made me repeat the entire 100 slokas of Sivananda Lahari when I was a kid. I used to have fascination for films. I used to bunk school to watch films.
What I actually made me of what I am today is my childhood. My father is a great Guru for me. My father always wants me to speak truth. He never tolerates lies. He feels happy if I confess to him that I have made a mistake. My father is a great admirer of Gandhiji. My teacher at elementary school used to watch a film a day. And he is very fond of me, as I was the number one student. I used to bug him to take me along with him for the movies. I went to the film along with master. When I came home late, my father asked me why I was late. I told him that my teacher has taken me to movie. He did not believe it and he beaten me up thoroughly that night. That was the first time my father got angry and beaten me. Next day, my father went to teacher's house, enquired and found out that what I told was truth. He felt very happy about me that I told him truth. Next time onwards, I used to go and tell him that I went to movie whenever I watched one. At the same time, my ego used to get hurt whenever I had to tell him that I had done something wrong. Telling truth has become a way of life for me now. I have discovered a feel of comfort to go along with the truth.
I also learnt to think from the grassroots level on all issues from my father. There are a few preconceived thoughts and opinions that are blindly followed for ages. Let me give you an example. Lots of people in this country use the name of Godsey as opponent of Gandhiji and synonymous to evil. It's a wrong notion. If you keep aside the discussion about Godsey killing Gandhiji is right or wrong, I have not found a more sacrificing fellow than Godsey even in all the purana's and in the world's history. Godsey is a great admirer of Gandhiji. Godsey believed that Gandhiji is trying to appease one particular group at the cost of existence and survival of another group. Godsey knew that the people for whom he is killing would hate him forever. Nobody can do such a sacrifice. He is projected as a greatest villain. Nobody names one's son as Godsey like nobody names his or her son as Ravanasurudu, Duryodhanudu or Keechakudu. But Godsey is not a bad guy like Ravanasurudu, Duryodhanudu or Keechakudu. But nobody ever cared to know or understand what motivation Godsey had behind assassinating a national father figure like Gandhiji. My father taught me rational thinking. His rational thinking used to be very sharp and striking. He used to ask me a question and gave me a time of five days to answer him. He used to ask me very basic questions and ignited me to think logically what could be the real reason behind them. He gave a good statement that artists and scientists are like kids. They get excited and try to do new things every day. But philosophers must control them. A philosopher needs to decide if the work done by scientist is useful to society or not. If is it useful one must implement the works done by scientist. But times have changed now. The people want youngsters as the national leaders. This belongs to Sri Sri philosophy. In an editorial, somebody mentioned that 'Sri Sri Munduku Nadiche Kavi …… Viswanatha Satya Narayana venuka nadiche Maha Kavi'.
I used to feel that I was a great singer. I was under that illusion till I listened to Ghantasala song 'Mukkoti Devatalu .. Okkatainaaru'. Ghantasala sings so effortlessly that his songs appear to be plain and simple. But, when you attempt to sing them on your own, you will flat on the face. I failed to sing that song on my own. Then I realized that I am not a singer and I had lots of limitations.
I was involved with RSS at the age of 11. My disciplined life started since then. I used to hum songs with typical 'la la la' sound. Later on, I started constructing my own words and sing my own songs. When I penned a song, my brother told me that it looks like a poem. As I was an activist in RSS, I used to write patriotic songs.
Whenever I listened to a song, I never used to bother about how good the tune is or how great a voice is. What interests me in any song is the lyric. I liked Hindi songs a lot at that time. I strongly feel Telugu lipi has two languages. One is the language of commutation for regular life and the other one is the language of communication, which has nothing to do with regular life. You might say that even in poems we use the same words, which we talk in regular life. Though we use regular words, they communication more when they are used in poetry. I used to like Sri Sri a lot when I was a kid. At the same time, I had a little complaint about him. He invented free verse. It had good and bad effects. He created a feeling that anybody can write poetry and any written thing can be called poem.
I strongly feel that any poet should possess the following three qualities.
- Bhavana balam: Most of the people possess this. But one has to improve it by 'Abhyasam'.
- Abhyasam: One has to learn and practice. One can't put a Tamarind seed on his head and claim that he is sitting in the shade of Tamarind tree. There a big process of planting that seed and nurturing it and waiting till it grows to become a big tree. There is a systematic method of expressing the inner feelings.
- Laya: There should be some Laya to the poetry or song
After intermediate, I got an offer to study MBBS. I did not even have the financial backing to study MBBS, as our family was a below-middle class one. When I was studying my intermediate, I applied for P & T as a clerk, which needs a qualification of 10th class. But my father had different plans for me. He told that he would make me join MBBS if I could get a seat in the open competition. I procured a rank of 18 among the 3,300 aspirants applied for MBBS through written test. Only 33 sears were allotted to open quota. There were only three Medical colleges in AP. At that time, my father used to spend Rs 300/- (in 1973) on me for my MBBS education and living expenses. Due to meet this extra burden, my father extended his tuition time till 1 am in the night. My father daily schedule used to be hectic. His day starts with tuitions from 6 am to 9 am in the morning. Then attends college as lecturer from 10 am to 5 pm. From 5 pm to 8 pm, he practices as homeopathy doctor. After 8 pm, he had tuitions till 1 am. I worried a lot about his health.
In my college, I used to attend classes from 7 am to 5:30 pm. I am never interested in that kind of systematized continuous study. I used to be a first bench student till I entered my MBBS studies. In MBBS, the first benches are occupied. I had to sit in the last bench. I was not aware at that time that I had an eyesight problem. I did not realize earlier as I used to sit in first bench. But when I started sitting in the last bench, I had difficulty in reading what professor was writing on the board. In addition to this, the professor used to speak in English, which I was poor at. These two factors planted some kind of inferiority complex in me. At that time ragging used to be very mild. The worst and toughest question my seniors asked me when I joined MBBS was to narrate my train journey from Kakinada to Rajahnundry in English.
At that time, I started smoking cigarettes. Everyone used to call us doctors. I used to follow a life style. I used to have meals in the mess and then eat a paan followed by smoking a Gold Flake cigarette. I used to behave as if I was a practicing doctor when I was a student of MBBS. Though I liked the lifestyle as MBBS student, I had inner guilty feeling that I am not learning anything due to above-said reasons. My father was struggling.
At that point of time, I got a job for the P & T department, which I applied long back. The job is given based on my 10th class marks without any interview. I would get Rs 300/- a month if I join that job, which is very exciting for me. It sounded pretty foolish for others in those days. Hoards of people from my places are on my back to fund my studies on the condition that I would marry their daughter later. My problem was that I am not morally entitled to smoke at the cost of my father's sweat and blood. I was fascinated by the idea that I would get Rs 300/- that I can spend at my own will, without depending on anybody. I joined that job as a clerk. To make sure that I wont get tempted again, I took that T.C so that I am not entitled to join MBBS at a later point of time.
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I joined P & T as a clerk and started earning Rs 300/- per month. Even after enjoying luxurious life, I could able to save Rs 50/- per month.
I had a guru and a fatherly figure in RSS. He is 7 years elder to me. He used to like me immensely. Generally, the elders wont like the kid if he is mature beyond his age. They tell that kid not to talk 'pedda matalu'. I used to be such kind of a kid. And my RSS master is the only person who tolerated my maturity level at that age. I used to be called as 'perverted genius' by others in a discouraging manner. My master used to listen to me between 6 pm and 9 pm everyday. He used to answer all my questions patiently. I used to question each and everything at the basic level. The teachers labeled me as 'Undisciplined' and 'Anarchic'.
I also have another encouraging gentleman in the form of my elder maternal uncle. We used to visit his house every summer for holidays. When all others kids were playing, I used get books from library on rent and read them. I used to read at least 5 books a day, which costs my uncle 10 paisa per book. Giving 50 paisa for a kid per day (in 1968) was great amount at that time. But he was very happy with me. My uncle used to proudly tell all the people about me reading books in holidays instead of playing with other kids. He encouraged me a lot.
Both these people (the RSS master and maternal uncle) quarreled with my father not to stop my MBBS studies and they would fund my studies. My father clarified them that he was willing to make me study at any cost, but I was backing out. I assured my father that I would do my graduation and post graduation through Open University and complete my doctorate in studies. Later on, I took 7 years to complete my graduation, just because of pressure and persuasion from my RSS master.
I got my job at the age of 19, when I was an adolescent. It's like living in a world of freedom with ample money to spend. At that time, I started writing songs. I never used to bother things like Charanam and Pallavi. But all my songs used to have systematic Laya. Those songs used to form a deep poetic thought written in an extraordinary syntax.
Whenever you listen to any line in poetry, you have to understand the feel behind the line than understanding the mere words written. I used to like Malladi Venkata Sastry garu and Devulapalli Venkata Krishna Sastry garu songs a lot. But I was more influenced by the songs of C Narayana Reddy garu. He is extremely good at phrasing the words in a beautiful way (lalithamgaa maatalu podagatam). At the same time, I used to have a small dissatisfaction about his songs. You can't really go beyond that limit in his songs. Take the example of the song 'Telisindile Telisindile .. Nelaraja Nee roopu telisindile'. This song has excellent lyrics. But, one cant travel beyond that. But I still used to get intrigued by him. I was a staunch fan of him.
I worked a year in Rajahmundry then another year in Tadepalligundem. All these days, my RSS master was on my back to complete the degree. He used to apply for my exams and pay fees for me. I have a unique quality in me. I am a perfectionist. I don't venture into anything, unless I have total command on it. I enter only those territories where I can become the emperor. I used to ask my RSS master to send me hoards of books on economics, commerce and politics in which I was doing my degree. My master said that I did not have to read the entire books available on the earth to complete degree. He asked me to follow guides for examinations, as they were enough. My RSS master paid fees for 7 years, but I did not appear for my exams as I felt I did not perfect the subjects.
I never helped my father in monitory aspects when I was working. I used to think that since my father can take care of the entire family, I could serve the society. It was an irresponsible behavior. I used to roam around with lots of change (coins) in my pocket and I used to donate money liberally whenever I came across any beggar. My father used to tell me to help beggars by giving them food, but not to encouraging begging by giving money. He used to appreciate my kindness towards poor people, but at the same time he used to correct the means of doing the things.
In 1975, I was transferred to Kakinada, where my father lives. I stayed there four months with my father. I want to give you another example about my father's way of rational thinking. At that age, I used to be an atheist (naastikudu) and used to argue that there is no God. I used to feel that God is not kind to all human beings. He created so many disparities in the society. That discussion went on for three days with my father. My father told me one thing that the beggars are not leading any inferior or unimaginable life. Be it man or animal or any insect, God has given one basic quality to all. That is the hope for living (Bratuku Teepi). He did not do injustice in that aspect. And that quality is the essential thing that is needed to live on this earth. At that time I did not understand his logic and I used to feel that I have won the argument.
I told that same thing to my brother that my father used to win all the arguments with me, but he lost an argument about God for the first time. It was an inauspicious word from my mouth. I still remember that day. It was Monday, 10th of January. I told my brother that nobody in the world has defeated my father in a logical argument and I defeated him. I was not ware of the fact that my father was expired on the morning of the same day. My father was in Visakapatnam at that time.
It was a sudden demise and we were all shocked. He expired at the age of 40. I was the only person working. My brother was in degree and all my sisters were not married yet. Till that time, I lived an aimless life without sharing any responsibly. Taking over the responsibilities left behind by father is like putting myself (who does not know swimming) in the middle of sea. My real struggle started from that moment.
I took over all the tuition assignments of my father. My brother took over the dispensary and became a part time homeopathy doctor. Students and patients were very much satisfied with our services. There is another important man in my life named Dr. Satyanarayana, who was a friend of my father. He used to encourage me, as he likes my poems a lot. He used to record my songs in his tape recorder. He was 6-footer with a stone face and nobody believes that he has such a great liking towards arts by looking at his appearance. He became a good friend of me. He helped my brother by teaching him homeopathy and allopathic medicine when my brother took over dispensary. I used to get a salary of Rs 700/- at that time and the budget for our family was Rs 1500/-. To meet all those expenses, I used to teach in the spare time.
In that process I got married because I had to marry off my sisters as well in that deal. I wedded a girl of 15 years old who just completed her 8th class. I was 23 year old at that time. She was innocent as she was a kid. She took charge of entire joint family household. She shared all the burdens and responsibilities of me. Then my brother got hold of a job. We, jointly, some how managed the marriages of sisters and studies of brothers.
Then RSS master gave a warning that he would not talk to me again in his life if I don't appear for the exams. Then I went to Anakapally and wrote all the exams for three years at once.
During that period, I got introduced to 'Kala Sahiti Samiti', an organization of art lovers in Kakinada. Those people used to appreciate my songs (those poetic words written with deep philosophical thoughts). Since I don't know perfect grammar, I could not write grammatically correct songs. In those 'sahithi sabhalu' everybody used to tell vachana kavithalu, where as I used to sing by making the table a makeshift drum (daruvesi paadadam). They used to be angry with me, as my song is neither 'vachana kavitha' nor 'lalitha geetam'. 'Lalithaa Geetam' is more of music-based song. If the music is not there, Lalitha Geetam does not have any attraction to it. There is a gentleman called CV Krishna Rao. He likes me a lot. In 1978, he felicitated me with a 'sanmanam'. At that time, I was just 23. At that time, I was not even good at writing perfect samasam.
In those days, the lyrics of C Narayana Reddy garu from the film 'Chelleli Kapuram' inspired me. Even today, I enjoy his songs a lot. I get the happiness of enjoying the nature when I listen to his songs. I also like Athreya garu for his poetic thoughts in the songs.
I was watching 'Siri Siri Muvva' film at that time. A song was coming which has lyrics like 'Odupunna Pilupu ….. Odigunna Pulupu .. Oka Gonthulola Palikenu … Adi ye ragama ani ninnu adigenu …… Adi Maa Voori Koyilamma .. Adi adige ninnu kusalamamma!'. I was so much overwhelmed with the lyrics that I clapped very loudly in the theater where everybody was watching the film silently. Everybody turned around and looked at me. For the first time, I found a Telugu song that completely overwhelmed me. That time, I did not even know the name of Veturi Sundara Rama Murthy garu. I liked all the songs in that film. From that day onwards, I followed each and every song of Veturi garu. Veturi garu has done so many experiments in the first 10 years. He gave a new dimension to Telugu film song. All the lyric writers in Telugu Cinema till then used to treat cinema song as a different entity. All those writers used to have other avenues to exhibit their talents.
I would like to elucidate about Telugu cinema here. It evolved from Telugu drama. Even today, Telugu cinema has not reached to the level of a complete visual media. In cinema, there should be fewer dialogues and more visuals. But in Telugu cinema today, the dialogues dominate the visuals.
Telugu Cinema is not a platform for music, poetry or singing competition. No movie viewer thinks that he is going for a kavitha samavesam, Sobha Naidu nrutyam or Mangalampally Bala Murali Krishna kacheri. Telugu cinema just imitates music, poetry and singing. The music in films is not real music. The singing in films is not real singing. The songs in cinema are not real songs. I used to treat poetry as poetry even if I am watching films. After so much of searching, I found one person who talks only poetry. Even in film like 'Adavi Ramudu', Veturi garu wrote a song 'Koyilamma pelliki .. konantha sandadi'.
Every songwriter has got this poetry inside him or her. I take Devulapalli Krishna Sastry as an exception, as he never wrote songs for films. Producers used to take all his famous poems and keep them in their films without changing even a single word. Devulapalli garu never wrote songs for films. A cinema songwriter has to write a song to suit the heart of the role. At the same time, one should also keep the poetic style of writing intact. Athreya garu is one lyric writer who served the duel purpose by obtaining the alchemy. Veturi garu also succeeded in striking the balance like Athreya garu. Veturi garu is the first full time Telugu songwriter who erased all the limits of Telugu songs. Veturi garu is my hero in that aspect.
I had a pen name of 'Bharani' and I used to write stories and poems. Most of my stories used to get published in 'Andhra Prabha'. I also used to write for stage plays. I used to write a new song every month. And all the Sahiti Sabhalu (Literary Meeting) used to start with my song. The people, who do not like me, named me as 'maddelu kottukune vaadu' and 'daruvu vesukune vaadu'.
By that time I have written around 200 songs. All those songs were written to exploit my basic philosophical outlook. I was not a duet writer as well. I was a romanticist. Romanticism does not mean anything related to sex or adolescence. It's about 'bhava kavitvam'. We have imported this kind of poetry from England. Keats used to write it.
At this outset I want to tell about vachana kavitvam. All those poets, who were said to be intellectuals, used to meet and appreciate each other works. They applied 'I scratch your back and you scratch my back' technique. These poets have hijacked the poetic aspect of human life. Whenever there is 'kavi sammelanam', ordinary people used to think that kavi sammelanam is not meant for common man. Bala Gangadhar Tilak quoted that 'poetry is an alchemy. It is to be felt before it is to be understood'.
As I was working in P & T, my officer asked me to write a 'burra katha' on Telephone. I told him that it's a silly effort to write a poem on Telephone. A lyricist has already told a beautiful poem on Telephone in the song 'Boochadamma boochaadu .. bulli pettelo vunnaadu'.
My boss wanted me to do the parody of Girija Kalyanam 'Yakshaganam', which goes like 'Adogadugo vachenu Graham Bellu!'. It sounded pretty cheap to me. I told him that I wouldn't degrade my standards. Then my boss told me that he is retiring in the year that followed and he wanted to please our GM with my song. Then I made a deal with him that he should transfer me to the telephone exchange. I wrote the song on Telephone in one night. That song covers the birth of human being, then the evolution of language, the necessity for communication, how communication is being hampered by the time and distance, then the invention of telephone. A part of the song goes like this (listen audio bit here)
During that time, my novelist friend Akella garu jumped into movie field. At that time, Sankarabharanam was released and it was a sensational hit. They conducted 'digvijaya yatralu' for the film. That time Akella garu told me that the film unit is coming to Kakinada and the public function would be held in Surya Kala Mandir, Kakinada. Akella garu asked me to write a song to welcome the unit of 'Sankarabharanam'.
I never wrote any song on either event or on an individual person. As I was in a pretty bad situation financially, my friends used to encourage me for the new means of earning money. I told Akellagaru that I would not write a song for Sankarabharanam team, though I like the film a lot. They scolded me that I am an arrogant and strong-headed guy.
Suddenly an idea stuck, when I came back to my house after arguing with Akella garu.
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K Vishwanath garu has taken the ragam of 'Sankarabharanam' and conceived it as the Snake ornament of Shiva for the film 'Sankarabharanam', which is an excellent idea. When the commercial wave was ruling the industry, making a different and traditionally rich film like 'Sankarabharanam' by spending lakhs of money was a huge risk.
When there was no rains on earth, sixty thousands of 'sagara putrulu' (men of ocean) requested Ganga (goddess of water) to come on to earth to give them some water. Then Goddess Ganga told them that the earth could not afford the speed at which the water of Ganga flows. Then they requested God Shiva to control to flow of Ganga and send water to earth. Then Lord Shiva used his 'Jhata Jhooti' and controlled and converted the water into Mandakini and sent it to earth.
I wrote a song titled 'Gangadharam'. I used the above story and compared it to the Telugu cinema world where there is no kaLa (Art) in our films. When the people of Andhra requested the Gods to give them films with good artistic values, he responded to them in the form of Edida Nageswara Rao (producer) and K Viswanath (director).
When I went to the abhinandana sabha, the unit has not arrived. The police were wielding their sticks at innumerous people trying to enter the auditorium. I got inside it. A volunteer has asked me to stand at a corner and told that he would call me to the podium when my chance comes. I was very much irritated by his gesture. I told him that I was not giving them (the Sankarabharanam unit and the crowds) the chance of listening to my Gangadharam and came out of the auditorium.
But that song has become famous through my friends. They used to make me sing that 'Gangadharam' and recorded it on 100's of cassettes and floated them around. After two years, K Viswanath garu happened to listen to that song. One of my cousins learnt that song and sung it as a 'Swagata Geetam' (welcome song) when K Viswanath garu attended some function. K Viswanath came to know that the song was written by a writer called Bharani (Bharani was my pen name). K Viswanath wanted to use that song. Hence he wanted my details for permission. But my cousin told that Viswanath garu can use the song and he would convey the news to me. K Viswanath got 'Gangadharam' shortened to suit the movie lyrical style. They shot the song in Kakinada on Bala Krishna for the film 'Janani Janmabhoomi' and I was not aware of it. One of my friends told me that Gangadharam song was used in K Viswanath garu's film.
I had some kind of allergy towards the films. I never tried to meet any movie celebrities when they came to Kakinada. The only movie celebrity I tried to meet was Jandhyala garu. When I went to his house, somebody told me that Jandhyala garu was working on the upstairs and asked me to wait for him. I returned back without meeting Jandhyala garu.
K Viswanath has sent me a letter that he used my song and asked me to give the permission. I replied to him that the song was written for him. And it reached him after two years in strange circumstances and I was glad that Viswanath garu used that song. I also mentioned that I don't want any remuneration. But I wanted the name credit for that song.
When the audiocassette was released, I bought 30 cassettes. Strangely the cassette did not have that song as it was recorded after audio the release. When we the film watched on the screen, the name 'Chemburi Seetarama Sastry (Bharani)' along with Veturi Sundara Rama Murthy appeared in titles with bold letters in both Telugu and English. It was thrilling experience for me to see my name along with my hero's name 'Veturi Sundara Rama Murthy'. But the song is pretty bad when we listened to it.
On the insistence of RSS Master, I went to Madras to meet K Viswanath. At that time, he was directing the Hindi version of Sankarabharanam. K Viswanath is a serious man when he is at work. He wears khakhi dress and is very disciplined. I did not have any hesitation, fear or reverence at that time. In addition to it, I had the headstrongness. So I did not follow any protocols. I went straight on to the stage where shooting was going on and met him. He asked me who I was. I told him that my name is Seeta Rama Sastry. He asked me 'So what?' (Ante?). Then I told my pen name is 'Bharani'. Again he asked me 'So what?' (Ante?). I told him that I was the person who written 'Gangadharam'. He asked the editor Krishna that how come this gentleman is so small-framed and young person. He expected me to be a 60-year old man and have a 6-feet personality for the kind of language I used in Gangadharam. He made me sit there talked to me for a minute and treated me with respect and courtesy. Then he went to the stage to do his work. I sat there for sometime, but I had to catch my train back to AP. So I rushed to the stage again and told him that I was in a hurry and left that place. Viswanath told me that he would be busy when stays at Madras. He asked me to meet him in Anakapally when he comes there for the shooting of 'Swaty Muthyam'.
We (myself and RSS master) went to Anakapally all the way from Rajahmundry to meet Viswanath. He asked us to meet again on Tuesday. When we went on Tuesday, they vacated the place and gone back to Madras. I was very disappointed, as they did not have the minimum courtesy to intimate me about change in their schedule. It does not really matter to them how a middleclass man suffer to travel from Rajahmundry to Anakappally. They live in their own world.
During the making of 'Swati Muthyam', there was some misunderstanding between Veturi and K Viswanath. C Narayana Reddy garu wrote all the songs for that film. My friends recommended my name to K Viswanath garu as lyric writer. I sent all my songs in registered post to K Viswanath so that he can evaluate me. I got a reply that my songs were rejected. I was very angry with the field why it is treating my songs like that.
So I continued my studies and I applied for MA. Becoming a lecturer in any college was my life aim at that time. Though I was a pretty well known teacher in our circles, I am not a qualified man to become a lecturer because of my degree. The parents who send their kids to me have two complaints. The first one is that students who come to me do not want to attend any other teacher at a later point of time. The second one is that the students fail to secure pass marks in examinations as I teach them the real knowledge but not the answers to questions they get in examination. Working as a lecturer in Visakhapatnam by staying in the Andhra University lecturer's quarters was my dream. I had very less time to finish MA, as in the future a GO (Government Order) is expected which would say that Lecturer should have at least PhD as the prerequisite. I did not write the first year examination, as I did not master the entire syllabus. I read one drama of Shakespeare. That was not enough. I told my RSS master that I would give both exams in the second year. That was in 1984. I have written my final year exams. And in ten days, I had to write first year exams.
At that point of time, I got a call from Akella garu to come to Madras and see K Viswanath. I was not willing to go to Madras as Viswanath garu rejected my work couple of times when I sent my songs through registered post and through RSS master. I told my RSS master that the people in movie field are very unreliable. I had exams in 10 days and my lectureship was insured. I told my RSS master that even if Viswanath gives me a song for the film, it would take a year for the film to be released. Then the song should become a hit and appreciated by all. Then only I would get a chance to write for other films. There is so much of risk involved in this process for which I could not forego my academic year. After a night of heated discussions, my RSS master gave me Rs 400/- and thrown me into the Mail to Madras.
When I went and met Viswanath garu, he greeted me. He invited me inside and told me that he read all my songs and they are rebel and left-oriented songs just like the songs written by all other young writers. Then I understood that he has not read any of my songs as all my songs were different and none of them were left-oriented. I realized that he bluffed me.
He told me that he would narrate the story of the film. As I was a new writer, he told he would not give any tune or situation to write a song. He narrated me the entire story of Sirivennela and asked me to write a song. He did not put any restriction on the language too. The hero of the film is an uneducated man. He listens to songs somewhere and repeats them on his flute. After listening to that flute songs it should impress the people (on the screen) in such a way that they would asks him what were the lyrics for that song. After listening to lyrics, their expectations should be met. That was the objective given to me to write a song.
I was just 30 years old at that time and I had lots of energy and enthusiasm. Writing a song was like a child's play for me. I went to Akella gari house and wrote 15 versions of the song. He liked the entire 15 versions when I sang them for him. Since, I did not have expertise in dividing the song in to Charanam and Pallavi with exact length, Viswanath picked up a line from each version. He liked 'Vidhata talapuna …' line a lot. Suddenly an idea stuck me. I told him that I would narrate him a song linking to a line, which he liked. I sang the 'Viranchinai ….'. After I sang that song, K Viswanath got very much excited and told me that the song was excellent. Then I told him that this was the song, which I sent to him through registered post, which was thoroughly rejected. Then he went inside and verified the same and realized that I sent the same song.
He asked me to shorten the song to suit the filmy style. He approved the song. Meantime, Bala Subramanyam garu came to that place. Viswanath asked me to sing Gangadharam for Balu. After listening to Gangadharam, Bala Subramanyam came and hugged me and told that he wanted to sing songs like 'Gangadharam'. It was like a divine blessing for me. Then we went to KV Mahadevan garu. He started making tune out of the song. After composing half of the tune, KV Mahadevan told that the length of two 'Charanams' was not equal. I went into kitchen and counted 'guruvulu' and 'laghuvulu' in the first charanam and reconstructed the second Charanam to match the length of the first one.
K Viswanath is very much impressed with my song. So he declared that no other lyric writer is going to share the lyrics for Sirivennela film and I would be writing all the songs. A co director of Viswanath named Nanduri Vijay told me that Viswanath has not given such kind of compliment to anybody else before.
It does takes 6 - 7 months for completion of Sirivennela. I though I could continue my job till Sirivennela film is released. After the first song was recorded, I came back to Anakapally and joined my old job. With in 10 days, I got a call that A Kodandarami Reddy garu wanted me to meet him. He asked me to write a song for Chiranjeevi's Veta. Chakravarthy garu suggested me to write a song without any tune. When I went back to them with 25 versions on the next day. They were astonished. Chakravarthy garu told me that I had very good flow of language and I would become very popular soon. Then Chakravarthy garu gave me a tune and asked me to write a song. Then I wrote the song 'O Lady Koona' for Veta. From then onwards, I was made busy with offers coming in my way. Before the release of Sirivennela, ten of my films were released.
After the sensational hit of the song 'Vidhata talapuna', people started offering me to write duets for their films. I did not know how to write a duet song. I was asked to write a duet for Krishna (hero) and Radha (heroine). I wrote a lyric that starts with 'Nee Raajasaaniki Naarajanam …'. The music director for that film was Satyam garu. Satyam Garu did not like the lyrics. The director called me up and told the same thing. I got very angry. I told them that why should the music director has any problem if director and producer of the film okays the song. I told them that I am not going to write lyrics, as I am not satisfied with the music director. I lost 20 films with that kind of attitude.
Then Vijaya Bapineedu garu has called me and asked me to write a song for 'Maga Dheerudu'. He explained me the situation that Chiranjeevi goes through lots of trouble and his relatives put him into the jail. He gave me a Hindi tune. I wrote 80 versions for it. He was stunned. He did not see anybody giving 80 versions for a song. Veturi is much more faster than me when it come to writing lyrics. But he doesn't write more than two versions. But the language I used in it was very strong one. It goes like this ….. (listen to audio clip)
After listening to lyrics, Vijaya Bapineedu garu got scared of me. He gave me Rs 1,116/- and told good-bye. And he did not call me again so far to write in any of his films. I did not know how to write a film song yet. I used to get angry about why directors do not like my songs. Later on someone else wrote that song with simple lyrics. Then I understood that the directors want me to write songs in that style.
I did not understand the commercial concept of film songs, till the film Ladies Tailor came in my way. Then I went to a music shop, paid him Rs 4000/- and asked him to give me all the audiocassettes with junk duets. Then I studied those songs and got hold of the commercial way of writing lyrics.
I got Nandi award for Sirivennela song. Viswanath asked me to write 'Siva Thandavam' for Sruthi Layalu film. As I told you, I can't do any work unless I perfect that subject. Hence I bought the bulky book of Natya Sastram and read the entire book and got command over it. I learnt 10 times of what I had learnt in my 30 years after joining the film industry. Whenever I faced any challenging situations I used buy all related books and understand the subject. I got Nandi award for that film too. In the next year also, I got another Nandi award (three Nandi awards as best lyric writer for three consecutive years at the time of debut).
Even after that I faced to dilemma of leaving film industry as I had two major problems. The first one is that I had to live up to Veturi gari speed if writing lyrics to stand in the industry. I don't have even 1% of speed possessed by Veturi garu. Nobody can imitate Veturi garu. I too never tried to imitate him.
Second problem is that I can write thousands of versions for a song, if needed. But I can't change even a single word in the song if the director wants me to. There is a logical inter-link to the words used and meaning those words give out. Even in my tragedy songs, there is a sound of optimism and rays of hope. I do not accept that there is 'vishadam' in our life. Vishadam is just the interpretation of our feeling. You can view it positively too. Even if there is darkness everywhere, you can close you eyes are have beautiful dreams. It is all in our hands how we interpret situations. I wrote a song for Chiranjeevi garu in Hitler film, which goes like 'kaneellake kanneelloche …..'
The film ladies tailor is a turning point for my lyrics. Ram Gopal Varma was thoroughly influenced by the song 'sahasam naa padham … rajas am naa radham'. He came to know that I wrote that song. He came to me one day.------------------------------------
Ram Gopal Varma wanted me to write lyrics using conversational language for his films. He did not want me to use any bookish language. When I was pondering over the technique of writing lyrics in natural conversational Telugu, I came across a mentor. He is none other than Sri Kosaraju garu. Though Athreya garu writes lyrics with simple Telugu, you can see that he uses the style of bookish Telugu at times. Sri Kosaraju garu wrote lyrics like 'Ayyayyo Jebulo Dabbulu Poyene' etc. I have taken Sri Kosaraju garu as an inspiration and wrote lyrics for Ram Gopal Varma's films.
As I told you earlier, when I was a kid I did not bother to learn English and channeled all my energies to mastering Telugu. I don't prefer to converse in English, as I don't know the difference between 'have' and 'had' or present tense or past tense. If I speak in English, people would laugh at my sentence construction and I can't take that humiliation
Likewise, whenever I watched films, before entering the film industry, I used to laugh at most of the lyrics in the films. After entering the industry, I developed a strong conviction that I should never ever write such kind of lyrics, which would become laughing stocks. I wrote even the most sensuous (srungara) lyrics in Telugu like 'Sangaminchu Angaanga Madanudi Simhasanam' in a decent manner. I made sure that everybody in the family could listen to my lyrics and enjoy them without getting offended.
An underlying poetry is always an inherent part of all my songs. One of the main hurdles I faced when I entered the film industry was that the producers and directors did not accept poetry in lyrics. They treated poetry like AIDS. Whenever, they saw something poetic in lyrics, they would immediately remove it. In a bid to retain poetry in my lyrics, I used to always induce it in an obscure manner into all my lyrics. But now, because of my seniority and acceptance of my work by public, producers are willing to accept poetry in my lyrics.
On an average I used to write 20 versions for each song. There were some instances where I even wrote 150 versions for a song. The only problem with my writings is that I cannot write lyrics in a jet speed manner and I have a marvelous competitor in form of Veturi garu who is extremely fast at penning lyrics. To compensate that, I used to ask the producers to give me the concept and context of the song in the evening so that I could write the lyrics at night and give them to the producers by the following morning. I usually don't sleep at nights. I start my work at 8 pm in the night and continue till 8 am in the morning.
If I ponder over my past, I still wonder how I ended up being a lyricist. As a kid, I wrote good stories and essays. Each essay ran into 100 to 150 pages. Those essays represented the philosophical thoughts and rationale objectives I had as a kid. From a thought-provoking writer to a movie lyricist I have come a long way. Even now, whenever I get a chance I strive my best to come up with thought-provoking lyrics in songs like 'Chilaka ye todu leka' (Subhalagnam) and 'Niggadeesi agudu' (Gaayam).
Nowadays, the standard of Telugu lyrics is degrading. In the future, I fear, a time would come where the entire lyrics would revolve around 30 - 40 stock words. But I want to preserve the tradition of writing lyrically rich songs. Hence, I have decided to write 'Sivoham', just to make sure that I exploit all my knowledge in literature and to preserve my style of writing. My final aim is to write 1000 songs on Lord Shiva. 'Sivoham' is all about symbolizing the way of Indian living though Lord Shiva. I completed 354 songs so far and released a book titled 'Siva Tarpanam'.
Lyrics in the songs of recent films cannot be termed as lyrics. They are just an array of words weaved into a song to satisfy the tunes of music directors. The music director gives a tune along with his 'tana tanana' kind of humming and the lyricists replace that 'tana tanana' humming with suitable words. Hence words have become a part of orchestra just like any other musical instrument. The perspective of writing lyrics these days has taken the form of joining words irrespective of whether they make sense or not. In an attempt to write lyrics to as many songs as possible in as little time as feasible, lyricists are least bothered if they are conveying the true emotions of the characters or not.
As I told you earlier, the language of lyrics and the language we speak belong to two different spaces though they appear similar because of the usage of same words. Nowadays, producers want us to change certain words in the songs and replace them with catchy words. They should realize that a song does not mean compilation of thoughts. A song is a lyrical thought that conveys a feeling.
Veturi garu brought a revolutionary change in Telugu Lyrics just like the way Sri Sri garu brought a revolution in Telugu literature. I am an extension of Veturi garu. I am not a pioneer. Veturi garu is the trendsetter and I am just a follower of his trend. But most of the people disagree with me on this statement.
If you observe the Hindi songs of early 70's, all of them have in-depth philosophical thought. During those days, Telugu cinema had dry songs. After the arrival of Veturi garu, good lyrics came into existence in Telugu film industry. On the contrary, there is not a single song that has excellent poetry after 70's in the Hindi field. There might be a couple of songs here and there but not a bunch of them. Nowadays hindi songs are filled with a few stock words like 'Maine Dil Diya', 'Chain Khogaya', 'Neend Khogaya', 'Pagal Hogaya', 'Deewana Hoyaga' etc. This might anger a few people belonging to Hindi film industry, but I can confidently say that the standard of lyrics these days is much better in Telugu than in Hindi. But there is one good quality in Hindi songs. Right from the beginning, they avoided vulgarity in their lyrics, which is not the same in Telugu. The Srugaram of Hindi song is very much related to Dil (Heart). All Hindi songs have lyrics like 'Main Tujh pe mar jaaonga', 'Main Mar Gayi' etc. I don't understand how death comes in love. Again, it has something to deal with Urdu tradition. In Telugu, Srugaram lingers more on body. But, Srugaram is not related to the body alone. There is chemistry between body and mind. One has to understand that chemistry to write Srungara song in Telugu.
I make sure that I inject my personal philosophical experiences into all my lyrics. If you write a song with beautiful words without really experiencing it, it would become an exhibition of your knowledge in Telugu thereby not serving the main purpose. People appreciate my lyrics because somewhere the listeners can relate their own experiences to the lyrics. That's where the success of lyric writer lies. For me, life is a school and time is a teacher. By academic knowledge, you just gain information and not the experience. Experience has to precipitate in the form of the feeling. If you can convert that precipitated feeling of experience as a song, it is bound to touch the hearts of the listeners. Sri Sri garu once said 'Naa Paata Jaati Janulu Paadukone Geetam Kaavali'. It means that when somebody sings that song, they should forget that it's written by Sri Sri garu. They should sing it as if it's their own song.
Checkout our Telugu Samethalu (idioms). Each Sametha is like a bullet in a gun. When it comes out, it does with a force that leaves its impact. Each Sametha is a totality of an excellent poem. Can you tell me who wrote those Samethalu? Nobody knows about that! But they are all very dear to us. When you write something that is very near to the life of a common man, he would adapt it in no time. This is the secret of success of Sirivennela Seetarama Sastry. Why do people accept me? I am no way superior to any body among my contemporaries or elders. There is a touch of reality in my songs. Somebody or the other would identify themselves with the feelings in my lyrics.
'Nuvvemi chesaavu neram
Ninnekkada antindi paapam, chinabokuma!
Cheyutanandinchu sayam
Yenaadu chesindi sangham, gamaninchuma!!'
After listening to these lyrics [from the movie Pellichesukundam], every person will immediately identify himself with those lines. He would start questioning himself - 'did the society help me when I was in trouble?'
'Nigga deesi adugu ee sigguleni jananni'
When I acted in that scene [in the movie Gaayam] and pointed my fingers towards the audience, nobody felt offended thinking that why is this person referring me as 'sigguleni janam' (shameless people). Everybody, in his or her heart, knows that we are like that. Whatever might be the reason, none of us are take the responsibility for the happenings in the society. Everybody appreciated me for those lyrics. Nobody cursed me.
'Ye Charitra Nerchukundi Pachhani Paatham
Ye kshananna marchukundi chichula maargam
Rama Baanam aarpinda Ravana Kaastam
Krishna Geeta aapinda Nitya Kurukshetram'
Above words don't just form a simple poetry. They are the facts of life.
'Sthreela Tanuvulone Seelamunnadante
Purusha sparsatone Toligipovunante
Illala dehalalo Seelame Vundadanaa
Bhartannavadevvadu Purushude Kaadana?'
In the above sentences [from the song 'Nuvvemi Chesaavu neram' of Pellichesukundam], 'Seelam' is nothing but 'Gunam'.
People are accepting my lyrics, as there is 'Satya Sparsa' (Touch of Truth) in my writings. That's the reason why I study life a lot. I don't really have respect for scholars who amass knowledge without imparting it to anybody. If you take 100 years as the lifetime of a human being, in this time a person has to understand and relate himself to the society. Millions of intellectuals have born prior to us. What happened to the information and knowledge gathered by them after their death? What is the contribution they have made to the society and to their life? What is the use of gathering all that information if it's not useful to the people of future generations? What are we doing to our kids now? We are making every child a robot. Robot also has enormous information. The real knowledge that is useful to a person would be taught by time and life. The knowledge learnt through books is not useful. That's what I have written in the song 'Bodi Chaduvulu Waste' (in Manasichhi Choodu).
1 comment:
sir please intimate the address where the books written by sirivennala
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