Star Interviews
Interview with Saroja Sreesree
By NaChaKi
Apr 29, 2010 - 2:30:45 PM

Saroja Sree Sree in an TV interview

April 30, 2010 marks the centennary of SreeSree, who boldly claimed "ee Sataabdam naadi!" ("This century is mine!"), and deserved it too! It's been nearly a year since I spoke to Smt. Saroja SreeSree, the wife of legendary writer SreeSree, after she came to the USA for TANA 2009. Though I missed meeting her at TANA, I got the phone number of her son Sree Sreerangam Venkataramana, who stays in the USA, from Sree Vanguri Chitten Raju gaaru of Vanguri Foundation of America, Inc. (Incidentally, Sree Chitten Raju was SreeSree's host in Houston when the writer had come to the USA in the early '80s for the last time.) When I called Sree Venkataramana, he was traveling and asked me to call the next day at his home and gave me the landline number to call, and I did. An hour-long conversation ensued, and it was heartening to speak one-to-one with the life partner of a person I consider my "pedaguruvu"! It's unlike a typical interview with a film personality, and is more about the person that changed the face of poetry and popularized social awareness among literateurs than about the contribution of either of the couple to films. (Readers may also note that Smt. Saroja SreeSree was SreeSree's assistant initially in the Writing Department for films and later wrote for several films with him and by herself too. She was an accomplished dialogue writer, dubbing director, and music director!) The excerpts of the same are presented here exclusively to readers of TeluguCinema.Com as a way of commemorating the centennial-celebrating writer.

NaChaKi: You'd written a book about your life with SreeSree gaaru (titled samsaaramlO SreeSree) in three parts. I know it's not easy to summarize 900 pages into a few lines, can you tell us the same in three sentences, as a gist for those who did not read them? This could also present your background to our readers.
Saroja SreeSree: I am surprised that you asked it, after you said you read the books! ...I had written the books literally from the beginning of my life, and then about coming to Madras for my education, completing my studies as music vidwaan, joining SreeSree gaaru as an assistant directly, working with him for 150 films. During that time itself, he trained me and gave me a special place not only as a dialogue writer, but also as a dubbing director and music director too. And later, I married him. We have four children, all married - Manjula, who is an IAS officer; Mangala, an MBA; Venkataramana, named after SreeSree's father Venkataramanayya gaaru and called "Baiju" at home has done his MA in India and completed several degrees later, including an MBA, and is now working as a Manager at Pfizer in Groton, CT (USA); Mala, a lawyer for both Tamilnadu High Court and for Pondicherry government.

NaChaKi: Towards the end of the third part of the book, you'd written that moviemakers seemed to have thought that your career as a film writer also ended with SreeSree and that no one contacted you ever after...
Saroja SreeSree: It's not anyone's fault really. I retired from the field even while SreeSree gaaru was alive, leaving the writing job to him so that I can take care of the family more...

NaChaKi: Oh, I thought you wanted to continue...
Saroja SreeSree: If I want to, I do have offers even now, but I don't like to. I am already old too.

NaChaKi: What's age got to do when you have the talent, anDii!...
Saroja SreeSree: That's true, but I didn't somehow want to concentrate on getting into the field again...

NaChaKi: Most dubbed films back then were from Tamil, but now Hindi and English films are being dubbed somewhat regularly. Do you see yourself interested still?
Saroja SreeSree: Today, the industry wasn't like it was. There are numerous production houses, directors, and projects too, yes! It would only be appropriate if I work for a renowned [production] company, both to them and to me. ...All one needs is a project with some name tagged to it, such as a Rajnikant's film, to get a break.

NaChaKi: Do you follow today's dubbed films? What do you think of the dubbing quality?
Saroja SreeSree: (Smiles) Oh please, this is not a question you should've asked me! I've worked for 150 films with SreeSree gaaru . The respect towards artistes and crew, the discipline, etc. aren't seen much these days. That was mostly the reason for me to retire, as a matter of fact! Dubbing films is now in such a sad state that artistes are ready to work for a sambar or idly parcel! Thus, I'd not even compare with those days! I don't mind admitting that you can find people ready to write for dubbing films even for Rs. 1,116/- or even a ticket at Geeta Cafe! Particularly, when SreeSree gaaru was there... such times and respect wouldn't come again!

NaChaKi: SreeSree, who had a lot of command over the sounding of words to an extent of being called Sabda brahma , maintained a table of corresponding words for dubbing from Tamil to Telugu, you mentioned in your book, exemplifying with a short table of words. Do you think such care is seen in today's dubbed films in terms of language, meaning, and lip synchronization?
Saroja SreeSree: No, no, that wasn't the case. He's titled "akshara lakshaadhipati", "maaTala kOTeeSwaruDu"! I could write a book for each of your questions really! SreeSree was the pioneer of dubbing films. [The first dubbing film in Telugu, Aahuti of 1950, was also the debut film for SreeSree as a lyricist. - Ed.] Commemorating such a veteran, there's even a Dubbing Artistes Colony named after SreeSree near Kodambakkam in Chennai! Messrs Savitri, Bhanumati, SVR, Ramana Reddy, Jaggayya, Padmanabham, Rajababu, etc. worked with him...

NaChaKi: As I speak to you, I notice an interesting phenomenon: anuvaada brahma Rajasri gaaru and his son Sudhakar, Vennelakanti [Rajeswara Rao] gaaru and his son Shashank, and even you and SreeSree gaaru were from the same family. Do you think there's a reason for dubbing being a "family profession", or is it just too coincidental?
Saroja SreeSree: Rajasri gaaru always wrote very well, and definitely deserved to be referred to as "next to SreeSree" as a dubbing film writer! But, I wouldn't agree that SreeSree's was a profession. No poet was well-off financially, you know that too, and SreeSree was no exception. In the beginning, he accepted dubbing films solely to make ends meet for his family, but later there were a deluge of dubbing films as his work got recognition naturally! SreeSree was the only dubbing film writer to have a remuneration of up to Rs. 20,000/- back then, starting his career at Rs, 5,000/-. Since he had a large family, and these dubbing films were coming to him by themselves, and since I was also of help to him, writing for dubbing films helped us meet our family needs. It was only because they came by themselves that he chose to write for dubbing films but the films he worked were hits, running for 10 weeks or even 100 days! Thus, it's not really a profession that he "took up". I can say this because I used to accompany him to song recordings even for straight films... [which was more like what his profession in films was].

NaChaKi: Now that you mention songs, what do you think is tougher - dubbing songs or dubbing dialogues?
Saroja SreeSree: We had certain "tracks" for dubbing, and you know SreeSree - lip synchronization is perfect to the last syllable! With experienced singers like S.P.B. or P. Susheela, a song would be recorded in half an hour! But, the situation with dialogues is much different. Films like Madurai Veeran, Nadodi Mannan, and Chakravarti Thirumagan were lengthy films. We have to cut the dialogue tracks into loops, and lengthy films can have 200-250 loops. You can guess which is tougher.

NaChaKi: Usually people think dubbing songs is difficult than dialogues...
Saroja SreeSree: In fact, if you refer to writing, songs are tougher to write with the lip synchronization having same meaning, but SreeSree was excellent there! Being the first dubbing writer, he's like a guru for all those who wrote and who's currently writing for dubbing films!

NaChaKi: You brought out a series of books on SreeSree paaTalu. Do you also plan bringing out his dialogues for dubbing/straight films?
Saroja SreeSree: I do have ideas, but there's a lot of work to do. Seven books [of songs] are released till now. The first two titles were chosen by him - "paaDavOyi bhaarateeyuDaa!" and "teluguveera, lEvaraa!" - but he passed away before the project was finished. I completed them, and compiled the next five myself - "aruNa pataakam", "ukku piDikili", "khabaDdaar, sanghaSatruvulaaraa! ", "viSaalaandhralO prajaaraajyam" ...well, well, there are at least ten more books that I could compile really! ...I do have all the content in my mind, but I need to put it on paper. ...Many readers want to read of SreeSree's life and works but not all can afford to buy and read all the books available in the market. Thus, I am right now compiling a 150-page content including brief history of his life together with excerpts of his exemplary works, and other trivia that he compiled, with titles such as "SreeSree uvaacha", "SreeSree nuDi", "SreeSree Jokes", "SreeSree saametalu" and so on.

NaChaKi: Some works of SreeSree, which are part of SreeSree saahitii sarvasvam, Dr. Miriyala Ramakrishna's Ph.D. thesis on SreeSree's works, etc. are not available in the market of late. Are you pushing the idea of reprinting such books or making them available through the official website run by your son Sreerangam Venkataramana, www.mahakavisrisri.com ?
Saroja SreeSree: I am not connected to other publications and books. However, my son was also reminding me of the same thing - to take even a copy of this interview from you in order to publish it in the website. My son plans to update the website considerably...

NaChaKi: Some people criticize SreeSree saying he wrote about poverty and unfed mouths but he was always in an inebriated state with expensive liquors. It pains to even ask this question as a fan of his, but what's your take on it?
Saroja SreeSree: He explained it in every book, whenever possible! He had certain principles. He never drunk when doing any work, including writing lyrics, dialogues, poetry, supervising song-recording, ...literally any work! People have been constantly slinging mud still... I'll tell you something else here. I sold 30 tula-s of gold (approx. 300 g), borrowed loans up to fifteen to twenty thousand rupees, and at least one family member used to stay with SreeSree gaaru round the clock when he was admitted in the Madras General Hospital as a moribund patient. Even now, I hear fresh rumors each time that SreeSree was orphaned at the time of death and no one cared for him! I don't know what sadistic pleasure people get with such publicity! And, you know what the reality was like? 12 lakh rupees was collected in the name of "SreeSree's family that was in a needy situation", and it's been 25 years but I haven't seen even 12 paise of that money! I really want to clarify this through this interview. Publish this surely, please! ...This is not something that started today, in fact! Even when SreeSree gaaru was alive and working busily, he used to write the dialogues and songs, and I used to take care of coordinating with artistes to dub the voices in dialogues and playback and so on, sometimes even for straight films. At such a time, rumors were floating around that SreeSree never wrote anything and only I did, trying to stop offers coming to us, but who can stop the unstoppable SreeSree!

NaChaKi: If I remember correctly, you mention somewhere in your autobiographical books that some producers used to give just a bottle of liquor to SreeSree as remuneration sometimes...
Saroja SreeSree: A very apt question! SreeSree's life before and after my entry were different. At the time I entered, even some big production houses - it's not apt to take names now - used to do these kind of things with him and get away with it. Even before our marriage, I used to fight with such people, asking them to give money - even if it's a nominal amount - since I was an assistant and he needs to pay me too, and thus paying in anything else other than currency doesn't help any bit!

NaChaKi: Do you think the mahaakavi rose higher to become a film writer or stepped down?
Saroja SreeSree: Like I've been telling, he had taken up actually lowly jobs to support his family - he worked as an editor, he worked in the military, and even as a proofreader! Finally, he could find continuous earning through films! He was ruling the roost [as a dubbing film writer] for 12 years without a hitch! ...He also considered something else: the much-wide reach of films compared to a book - a film reaches lakhs of people, literally! And, he definitely noted that his voice and his message is heard more through films than any other medium. Thus, films are not a level-up or level-down! You know the name he made even as a film writer, I feel!

NaChaKi: Even as a young boy, I felt that "kunjara yUdhambu dOma kuttuka jocchen" could be an apt description for his entry into films. I now seemed to have got the answer, which is more or less what I felt!
Saroja SreeSree: Indeed, that's an appropriate comparison! Even a mahaakavi has to live... like anyone else, for himself and for his family!

NaChaKi: What does a dubbing director really do?
Saroja SreeSree: It was something SreeSree started too, since dubbing started with him. The job is about telling artistes how and when they should do what in terms of dubbing. ...At the age of seven, I used to sing harikatha-s of the legendary "harikathaa pitaamaha" Aadibhatla Narayanadasu - Rukmini Kalyanam was my favorite - and even recite Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavatam, Bhagavadgita, and so on. Thus, I was trained as a child about appropriate emphasis in pronouncing words. When SreeSree noticed that in me, he was impressed and trained me some more to be a dubbing director for films. It's an important job, since there'd be hundreds of bits (loops) like I told you...

NaChaKi: How come we don't find any dubbing directors or dialogue directors today?
Saroja SreeSree: Why, artistes don't like to be guided today. They claim that they can tell the dialogue themselves, altering the writer's dialogues as may be natural/intuitive for them. Dubbing writers were regarded only until the time of Anisetti gaaru or Rajasri gaaru. Even when I worked, if I couldn't change a dialogue in any loop, that loop was dubbed only after SreeSree gaaru came by and corrected it! Now, the writer's job is done when (s)he hands over the script - it's all up to the artistes later!

NaChaKi: When you mentioned the mythology, I am tempted to ask: SreeSree gaaru doesn't seem like an atheist to me. What do you really think?
Saroja SreeSree: He used to say that there's no God, in a way, but he did acknowledge that there's a power that no one can see or identify! He did emphasize that Human being is no different from God! For anything to be done, it's the human being that should work, and no God will come relieve anyone of the work - that's what he advocated. It's not about theism or atheism, in my humble opinion. The gist of his opinion is reflected in the song in gaandhaari garvabhangam. [The song goes manushyuDila mahaanubhaavuDE...] ...Several people twisted his opinions to suit their interests but we cannot question individuals or groups - SreeSree belongs to the world! They own them as much as I do...

NaChaKi: Why should you not write a ready-reckoner or even a guide book yourself to help dubbing writers?
Saroja SreeSree: I could... However, I could be cursed if I write all the experiences of the past. During my initial days, until about half a dozen projects that is, I was looked down because I was a woman and some people didn't care to listen to me. I somehow got a foothold and could give enough confidence to producers to invest crores in films because I was sure to take care of the film even if SreeSree gaaru didn't sign up to work! ...During the time I write such a ready-reckoner, I could be compiling SreeSree's rare works and make them accessible to people widely. I thus didn't really consider writing such books...

NaChaKi: When you said people didn't heed to you because you were a lady, I felt this: there are many lady writers in the literary field at any given time. Why is it that then I cannot think of many lady writers in the film industry excepting you or a couple of others?
Saroja SreeSree: That's only because women were not given any opportunities. There are several politics here! ...These days, when artistes want to do everything by themselves, there's no chance that women writers can be particularly offered opportunities!

NaChaKi: What plans do you have for the centennary celebrations of SreeSree gaaru?
Saroja SreeSree: New copies of samsaaramlO SreeSree need to be published as the existing copies in the market are sold out. I've just given photographs and more content to the Vishalandhra Publications for the same. ...SreeSree had the dream of building something called "nireeSwara aaSramam" and living there in his old age. I want to approach the A.P. Government requesting land for the same, and for "SreeSree Library"... I like Tirupathi as a literary abode, Vishakhapatnam is the town SreeSree was born, and Hyderabad is the capital of the state. It's an important project that should be realized somewhere, somehow. I'd be grateful if you can publish this information so that more people can learn about this ambition of SreeSree.

NaChaKi: SreeSree's verses were used in several films starting with Kalachakram (1940) 10 years before he entered the filmdom as a writer until the recent lyric in Tagore (2003) that went on to win a National Award for Best Lyricist. Was it always with his/your consent that such occurrences happened? Did SreeSree gaaru receive any royalty in such cases?
Saroja SreeSree: I was in the USA at that time (in 2003). I am not sure if they tried to contact me and couldn't reach me as I was out of country, or if they never tried to contact me. In fact, I knew of the song too when I was in the USA only, when an acquaintance from India called and told me. Even in other cases, forget royalty... I don't even know many instances where his verses were used. Like I said, SreeSree is the world's own and I don't mind people using them. However, it'd only make us happy to know of such things first-hand...

NaChaKi: I vaguely remember from "pra-ja" ("praSnalu-javaabulu", SreeSree's compilation of his answers to readers' questions in various magazines and interviews) that SreeSree mentions about the film Aakali Rajyam, which runs nearly entirely based on SreeSree's verses...
Saroja SreeSree: We were in London at that time, but they contacted us and let us know that they were going to use his verses! In the Tamil version of the film, they used verses of Bharatiyar. In Telugu, apparently several names came up, but writer Ganesh Patro said no one except SreeSree would be apt, and on par with Bharatiyar, and thus they went ahead and took some verses ...but they informed us first and even invited for a special screening after we went to India! "SreeSree's mahaaprasthaanam verses seems to be applicable today. In fact, he used to say that even back then - that youth of coming generations will be able to live up to what he dreams", Smt. Saroja SreeSree said during our conversation. "Isn't that why he could righteously claim this century was his", I felt. I was happy to have spoken to her, though I could never speak to SreeSree himself, and I thank her for very patiently spending over an hour on the phone, late in the night! TeluguCinema.Com wishes that "SreeSree Library" and the likes can be dreams that can be realized.

Interview by NaChaKi
Acknowledgments: Sree Sreerangam Venkataramana (Jr. SreeSree), Sree Vanguri Chitten Raju