Star Profiles
Yoganand was born on April 16, 1922 in Madras. Yoganand's father Venkata Das was an estate manager under Nawaab Raza Ali Khan of Machilipatnam. Both Venkata Das and his wife Lakshmi Bai were great Sanskrit pundits and Venkata Das was also a good singer and played the percussion instrument mRdangam. Venkata Das had five children but only three of them survived. The eldest one, Koteswara Rao, worked as a Sound Engineer in Gemini and Bharani Studios. A daughter was the second child, and Yoganand was the youngest. D. Subbayya gaaru, a businessman who sold watches and photography equipment in Machilipatnam, adopted Yoganand when the latter lost his mother at the tender age of five. Due to his adopted father's business, Yoganand was exposed to photography and became an expert photographer eventually. Yoganand was interested in playing and directing dramas. He became close to Tungala Chalapathi Rao and Yadavalli Nageswara Rao at that time. After 15 years in Machilipatnam, Yoganand went to Bangalore to get trained in Radiology, and he went to Madras in 1939 to join his father in looking after the estate. Knowing of his photography skills, Gemini Studios offered him a job. Though he was interested to work with Gemini, the payment terms were not up to his satisfaction and also his father was not really happy that his son wanted to join films. Thus, he couldn't accept the offer; Yoganand joined films only after his father's death. After his father's death, Yoganand joined Jiten Benarjee of Newtone Studios, a noted cameraman of that time. Later, he also worked with another popular cameraman of the time, Rehman. In 1943, he joined as an editor, upon the recommendation of Gudavalli Rambhramam, with Manikyam who was working for the film Maayalokam - that was his first paid job! He also worked as an assistant director to Gudavalli at that time. After Maayalokam, comedian Lanka Satyam started the film Bhakta Tulasidas and asked Yoganand to join his troupe. They made the film in Salem and so Yoganand went along and worked for the next three years there as an assistant director for Tamil and Telugu films, while also working as an editor also for some films. He came back to Madras in 1949 and joined the story department of Chittoor V. Nagayya's Renuka Productions. He worked along with the Lingamurthy in the story department. Lingamurthy then got an offer to direct the film Samsaaram, and Yoganand was taken as his assistant for the film. But, due to certain reasons, Lingamurthy came out of the project, and L.V. Prasad replaced him as the film's director. However, Yoganand had known L.V. Prasad already, and so he was still retained in the project. Eventually, the film gave a fresh image to ANR and was the first biggest hit for ANR in social films. © Copyright by Telugucinema.com
NTR, T.V. Raju, and Yoganand were roommates in Madras when NTR was debuting with Mana Desam. After working with Yoganand for both Samsaaram and Ammalakkalu, NTR offered him the second film in his N.A.T. Productions banner Thodu Dongalu (April 15, 1954). The film's story was also provided by Yoganand. The film was completed in just 21 days in a shoestring budget. Though the film was not a commercial success, it got many awards, including a merit certificate from the President of India and an award in China Film Festival. NTR gave him a second chance in his banner with the film Jayasimha which became a blockbuster. Yoganand directed NTR in a total of 15 films: Ammalakkalu / Marumagal (12.03.1953), Thodu Dongalu (15.04.1954), Vijayagowri (30.06.1955), Jayasimha (21.10.1955), Sri Gowri Maahaatmyam (05.10.1956), Vacchina Kodalu Nacchindi (16.10.1959), Ummadi Kutumbam (20.04.1967, was selected to be screened in Moscow Film Festival, 1968), Thikka Sankarayya (29.03.1968), Baghdad Gajadonga (24.10.1968, produced by Yoganand and NTR together, on Padma Gauri Productions - average at BO), Kodalu Diddina Kaapuram (21.10.1970), Dabbuku Lokam Daasoham (12.02.1973), Vaade Veedu (18.10.1973), Kathanayakuni Katha (21.02.1973), Vemulavada Bheemakavi (08.01.1974), Simham Navvindi (03.03.1983). Incidentally, Yoganand's first and last films were with NTR as hero! Yoganand made 5 films with ANR: Ilavelpu (21.06.1956, produced by his guru L.V. Prasad, later remade in Hindi too). Pelli Sandadi (17.12.1959), Kanna Koothuru / Engal Selvi (08.07.1960) Mooga Nomu (19.02. 1969, for AVM Productions) and Jai Jawan (26.02.1970, for Annapurna Pictures). Yoganand made 12 films in all in Tamil: Marumagal, Anbu Engai, Madhurai Veeran, Parthiban Kanavu, Kaverian Kanavan, Parisu, Pasamam Neshamam were among his popular films. He was awarded with the prestigious Kalaimamani Award by the Tamilnadu govt. in 1981. Yoganand's last Tamil film was Charitra Nayagan, a remake of NTR's Chandashasanudu (which was also directed by NTR in Telugu). He even got an offer to direct a Sinhalese film, for which he went to Sri Lanka to learn about the lifestyle and customs of the Lankans before he attempted to direct a film, titled Sundara Sirinda, there. Yoganand worked as the Director for Films in Film Division Corporation (FDC) when NTR was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Yoganand passed away at an age of 84, on his November 23, 2006.
© Copyright by Telugucinema.com
|
