Friday, September 11, 2020

L.V.Prasad,the legendary face of Indian Cinema.

 



     Akineni Lakshmi Vara Prasada Rao,shortly known as L.V.Prasad is a legendary name in Indian Cinema,on account of his versatile contribution to Hindi,Telugu and Tamil film industries.Born in a traditionally reputed Telugu family,he rose to riches from the blow of bankruptcy encountered by his father.L.V.Prasad was a film celebrity who lived a pretty long life{96 Years}and became a vital part of the richly creative Indian cinema,as a producer, director,actor and cinematograpgher,besides emerging as an eminent business man with his most popular Prasad Studios and Eye Hospital.It was no wonder that he rightly deserved the most prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award.He was also the president of the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce and was vitally involved in the 8th international film festival.
    A large section of the Tamil audience would have got familiarised with this film genius in the film 'Raja Paarvai',along with Kamalahasan and the song "Andhimazhai Pozhikiradhu" in S.P.Balasubramaniyan's silver tongued voice{with S.Janaki and T.V.Gopalakrishnan},will ever be remembered as a rich memento of one of the earliest films of Kamalahasan.This is of course the only Tamil film in which L.V.Prasad has acted, though he had appeared in several Hindi and many Telugu films.
   Tamil cinema singularly owes him a lot for his most aesthetic addition of films,such as Kalyaanam Panni Paar,Rani {starring P.Banumathi and S.Balachandar} Missiamma,  Poongothai,Manohara,Mangaiyar Thilagam,Bhagyavadhi,Iruvar Ullam,Kadan Vaangi Kalyanam and Thaayilaa Pillai.Of these ten films,excluding Rani,five were with Sivaji Ganesan and three with Gemini Ganesan while Thayilla Pillai had Kalyan Kumar as hero.It is interesting to note that L.V.Prasad was assosiated with Mr.M.Karunanidhi,the late chief minister of Tamil Nadu,in the making of the two fabulous films,Manohara and Iruvar Ullam for which the latter wrote the dialogues.With Sivaji Ganesan's reputed acting excellence,these two films became invaluable additions to the archives of Tamil cinema.
   Manohara  was a spectacular  audio glory of fiery dialogues,delivered dalliantly,in the astounding voice of the Chevalier.Almost all the films mentioned here are known for their exsquisite story line and fascinating narration of stories.Missiamma ,Manohara,Mangaiyar Thilakam,Iruvar Ullam and Thaayillaa Pillai will remain for ever in audience memory as wonderful theatre moments valuably spent  in their lives because all were quality based films worthy of great family watch. Interestingly, though L.V.Prasad's mother tongue was Telugu he was a little more closely and vigorously connected with Tamil Cinema.
   The exemplary themes and scripts that L.V.Prasad chose for his narration in celluloid mode reflected his mighty minset.Adoration of womanhood{Mangaiyar Thilakam and Bhagyavadhi} disapproval of the vagaries of adulthood with a note of compassion for those vagaries {Iruvar Ullam}deprivation of maternal love{Thayillaa Pillai}Conjugal imbalances {Missiamma} and the inevitable intricacies involved in matrimony{Kalyanam Panni Paar and Kadan Vaangi Kalyaanam} were some of the life related themes that L.V.Prasad dealt with,imbibing traditional flavour and commitment to the Indian soil.
   All these films were admired for their simple and breezy narrations with a precise focus on the predicament of individuals,in terms of their life routine,as victimised persons in one way or the other.Mangaiyar Thilakam in particular,depicted the noblest trait of selflessness of a woman who married a man with a little younger brother,whom she considered as her son and brought him up to manhood,without thinking of begetting a child of her own.Later when the younger brother got married,the new comer to the family fold became a source of torment for the selfless woman and it was her death which reformed the mindset of the younger brother's wife.Mangaiyar Thilagam could be called one of the grandest tragedies among Tamil films, remembered for the outstanding emotional performance of Padmini,along with S.V.Subbiah,Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan and M.N.Rajam. 
   Excepting Manohara,all the films of L.V.Prasad were family dramas with an adequate mix of sentiments and genuine emotions.Though L.V.Prasad's narration was partly melodramatic,on the whole,it was the sublimity of family emotions,man woman bonding and the cathartic moments of the climax,that made his films last in the memory of the audience as successful cinematic events on the big screen. Manohara was a splendid exposition of the Machiavellian ingredients,forming an inseparable part of the royal routine of kings and kingdoms. It is the fate of royalty that it should be closely surrounded by its back stabbing inner rings,always hanging as the sword of Damocles,either in the form of vamps or villainous lieutenants. In Manohara,it was Vasanthasena the vamp,who schemed to seize the kingdom through her seductive manoeuvres.  
   Besides directing ten films in Tamil L.V.Prasad also produced the most memorable film Idhaya Kamalam starring K.R.Vijaya{in dual roles} and Ravichandran.It was an amazing film that put K.R.Vijaya in a challenging role,at the starting spell of her career and she won the hearts of the audience,on account of her dedicacted performance.L.V.Prasad was a perfect film maker in the sense,that his manner of story telling always remained composed and controlled,to the extent of letting the audience enjoy every piece of his narration,as an event in life and see every character as a person in real life.During the years of cinematic narration,gaining grounds on an exaggerated pattern of narration,L.V.Prasad tried to minimise the thrust of exaggeration in dialogues and character delineation.
  Tamil Cinema would proudly preserve the most significant contribution of this creative veteran carrying charismatic dimensions,so as to make the film industry stand proud and say,'here was a man,who lived for cinema from his early youth,till his passing away,leaving golden memories of his grand shows'.

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