Those who worked in arc lights will never like to leave them till their end. Very rarely do we find a person who can boldly retire with no obvious reason than a personal choice to stay away for oneself! We do find it sometimes, yes, with heroines who get married or who can't resign themselves to be character artistes, but it is seldom that a hero retires by his own will! The only one that comes to anyone's mind after reading this much is 'Natabhushana' Sobhan Babu. As he celebrates his 70th birthday in a few days, TeluguCinema.Com spoke with him at length, over a period of four years during which the interviewer was in touch with him personally, about his life and career and presents it to its readers.
Sri: Please tell us about your childhood, sir!
Sobhan Babu: I was born as Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao on January 14, 1937 in a middle-class family. Born as the eldest son to a farmer Suryanarayana Rao gaaru and housewife Rama Tulasamma, I have three sisters Dhanaranga, Jhansi, and Nirmala, and a brother Sambasiva Rao. As the eldest son of the family, I was aware of the financial problems and other domestic issues and I was a responsible child always...
Sri: Hailing from a small village, how did you get interested in films?
Sobhan Babu: (Laughs) Even I do not know exactly where it all started, but I did my first play while I was still in my native place Chinna Nandigama, and I even completed my high school there. Interestingly though, that stage drama was in English, based on the Greek legend "Damon and Pythias". This story was later adapted on Telugu silver screen, making NTR and ANR heroes...
Sri: Which was the first film you saw, and is there a particular film or incident that inspired you the most?
Sobhan Babu: It was Keelugurram. I remember having gone to a neighboring village, Tiruvuru. However, the films that inspired me the most to become a hero were Pathaalabhairavi, Malleeshwari, and Devadasu, which was when I was a student of Intermediate in Guntur. I watched Malleeshwari 22 times, I remember! I then joined in A.C. College, Guntur for my graduation, where Ramarao gaaru was a student earlier.
In fact, one of the reasons that I found myself admitted in that college was because of this reason, and I even read in newspaper at that time that Ramarao gaaru had acted in plays in the college's open air auditorium! (Laughs) I wanted to become a hero like him too, and thus joined there to start my career like he did! (Laughs again) ...In two years, I did three plays there. One of those plays was "Punarjanma", which made me a bit famous locally as an actor, giving me enough drive to catch a train to Madras!
Sri: How was the struggle? Did you get any offers right away?
Sobhan Babu: (Laughs) Not so easy as it may seem! I joined the Law College there and attended classes in the morning, roamed around studios and producers' offices in the afternoon with an album full of my photos in hand. Ponnuluri Brothers felt that I was good and did a makeup test and screen test, and offered me a small role in the film Daivabalam (1959), which made me even happier since Ramarao gaaru was the hero of the film! It was like a dream come true to me to be able to work alongside of him. The film released on September 17, 1959 but failed at the box-office.
At the same time, I got my second offer, to do a role in Bhakta Sabari; the director of the movie Chitrapu Narayana Rao gaaru liked me and gave me the role of a saintly youth (muni kumaaruDu) in the film. The film was released on July 15, 1960. It became a decent hit and people started knowing me by face...
