Stars : Star Interviews : Interview: Singeetam Srinivas Rao

Sri: Some of these films were dubbed in Hindi too, but why is that you didn't make any Hindi film after Phool?

Singeetam: When we wanted to sell Pushpak, we booked the Dimple theatre owned by Rajendra Kumar. The shows were seen by people like Bal Thackeray, Sekhar Kapur, Tarachand Barjatya, and others. Rajendra Kumar heard about it too, saw the film, and he instantly bought the rights for Mumbai. He was so impressed that he wanted to do a Hindi film with me, with his son Kumar Gaurav in the lead, alongside Madhuri Dixit. The film was average at the BO it was a good hit for its music by Anand-Milind. Later, I got offers for four or five films from the Hindi film industry. However, I didn't like the atmosphere, and more importantly the food. I just cannot eat food without rasam. I thus chose to not accept any Hindi films ever since.

Sri: You sang a song or two, like the titles song for Michael Madana Kamaraju, ...and I think you also composed music for a Kannada film, right?

Singeetam: Like I said, I was exposed to music ever since I was a little child. Ilayaraja and L. Vaidyanathan were assistants to the yesteryear music director G.K. Venkatesh. Raja always used to encourage me to compose music for a film. When Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma (1985) was made, I also did music besides directing it. The film was a huge hit and got me several awards in Karnataka.

Sri: That reminds me that most of your Kannada films were with Rajkumar!

Singeetam: My first film Haalu-Jeelu was initially planned with Ananth Nag, but it didn't work out. We then went to Rajkumar gaaru, and the movie was a super hit giving a craze to our combination, and we thus worked for more, and different kinds of, films.

Sri: I heard that even a book was written in Kannada on you!

Singeetam: That's true! The Karnataka Journalist Association published a book on me. It's indeed a rare honor, I should say!

Sri: Coming back to Telugu films now, you did Aditya 369, Bhairava Dweepam and Srikrishnarjuna Vijayam with Balakrishna...

Singeetam: Even before the Hollywood film Back to The Future came, I was inspired by H.G. Wells' Time Machine and wanted to do a film based on time travel. I discussed the idea with S.P. Balasubrahmanyam when we met in a plane once. He was excited, and we approached a couple of producers, but no one came forward. Then S.P.B. himself presented it along with his friend Krishna Prasad. Balakrishna was very happy to do the role of Sreekrishnadevarayulu, which was portrayed appreciably by his legendary father in the past.

Sri: What techniques did you use in the special song on Rambha in Bhairava Dweepam in order to show midgets around her while she Balakrishna and Rambha appears gigantic in proportion. An inspiration from Ron Howards' Willow, I believe!

Singeetam: We didn't have much technology available at our disposal as we do today. We shot the song in two different blue mats. In scenes where Balakrishna or Rambha was dancing, we used small toys in the shape of the dwarfs, the montage of dwarfs was shot in another blue mat and we mixed them both. For Kabir Lal who did all of it, it was definitely a tedious job!

Sri: Tell us more about K.V. Reddy gaaru!

Singeetam: Again, that's enough content for another book! He's a genius... very serious and strict on the sets, not thinking about anything but the film. Once during the shooting of Srikrishnarjuna Yuddhamu, L.V. Prasad, Chakrapani, and Pattabhi were talking and joking aloud somewhere around the sets. He shouted at them saying it was not a fish market and demanded silence! We don't see anyone who's as strict, indeed! Another incident - it was commonplace for famous artistes to see the rushes after shooting a few reels, but Reddy gaaru never allowed such a practice.

Once SVR gaaru called me to talk to Reddy gaaru to let him see the rushes. I went and informed him, he didn't said anything to me, but once SVR gaaru came on the sets, he advised the artiste to not hurry and that he could see it after completing another ten reels... the movie was already half-complete by then! SVR gaaru came back to me and smiled at me saying that he knew Reddy gaaru never changed his ways for anyone! There are several such stories I can talk of about my guru.

Sri: How are the sales for your book "karraaju kathalu" that you published recently?

Singeetam: All the published copies are already sold out and we even went for a second edition! I am now planning to write another book soon.

Sri: Some time ago, you produced the CD Praarthana with 30 devotional hymns and Sloka-s on 23 deities, all rendered by children, with visuals and information on various temples and deities. Do you have more such plans?

Singeetam: I recently brought out a musical album dedicated to Late Sree Saluri Rajeswara Rao gaaru. It was a novel idea where a line from Rajeswara Rao gaari old songs is attached to each of the present songs sung by eminent people like S.P.B., P. Suseela, Rao Bala Saraswati Devi, S. Janaki, etc. and written by Veturi, sirivennala Seetharama Shastry, Vennalakanti, Bhuvanachandra, and others. I also sang one song. Mr. Malladi Satchidananda Murthy produced the album which was titled challa gaalilO... with eight songs - it's my tribute to the great music director that Rajeswara Rao gaaru is.

Sri: What next?

Singeetam: I did a 2-D and 3-D animation film called Ghatothkach in 7 languages, produced by Mr. Vinod Suryadevara of Sun Animatics and Shemaroo Entertainment. This was appreciated worldwide. This was shown in the recent Cairo International Film Festival for Children for which I was invited. Incidentally, the Karnataka government has awarded me the prestigious "Puttanna Kanagal" Award for Lifetime Achievement in Film Direction. Recently, I entered the field of acting by accepting an offer from director Gunasekhar for the film Varudu starring Allu Arjun. I am on the script work of my next film, Traffic Jam and a 3-D animation film Eshan on the lines of Paathala Bhairavi. At the age of 78, Singeetam is still as active as a 20-plus youth, which always astounds me! He is a recipient of several state awards from Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, and Karnataka, but it surprises me why he never got any Padma awards from the Union government, though he's an accomplished writer and film director, who also occasionally dabbled as a lyricist, music director, singer, and now an actor! We wish him all the best and best of luck for his future endeavours too.