Bapu (artist)
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| Born | Sattiraju Lakshminarayana December 15, 1933  Narsapur, India |
Sattiraju Lakshmi Narayana, also known as Bapu, was born on December 15, 1933 in Narsapur, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India. He is a filmmaker in the Telugu film industry. He is also a popular artist, painter, cartoonist, and designer. In 1955, he graduated from the University of Madras with a degree in law. Bapu worked as a political cartoonist for the newspaper Andhra Patrika in 1955.
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[edit] Painting style
Bapu introduced a painting style of simple bright colors. His unique style consisted of economy of strokes, freehand drawing and a lack of background clutter.
His paintings focus on Hindu mythological characters, and he has painted the Hindu epic Ramayana as a pictorial story. His character portrayals, such as Shiva, Bhima, Duryodhana, look distinctly male with wide chests, large jaws and large biceps; while Krishna and Rama are more feminine in build. All his female characters have doe eyes, a waist-hip ratio of 0.7, voluptuous breasts, long hair and a sharp nose. The phrase Bapu Bomma ("Bapu's painting") has become synonymous with a beautiful Telugu girl. Another character called Rendu Jadala Seetha ("Seetha with two plaits") became a synonym for any girl wearing her hair in two plaits.
Bapu has also introduced a new style of cursive writing in Telugu. The font is his own handwriting and reflects the same simplicity as his art.
[edit] Collaborations with other artists
He worked with Satyam Sankaramanchi and drew 101 pictures for each of the stories in Amaravati Kathalu. Bapu is one-half of the Bapu-Ramana (Mullapudi Venkata Ramana) pair that made movies in Telugu cinema. Ramana provided an able foil, providing script and dialogue to suit Bapu's visuals. Bapu collaborated with Ramana to give life to Ramana's character Budugu in the form of pictures. Through his movies he brought to focus renowned artists such as Ravu Gopal Rao, Rajendra Prasad and Aamani.
[edit] Movies directed by Bapu
- Saakshi (The Witness), 1967
- Bangaru Pichika (The Golden Bird), 1968
- Buddhimanthudu (The Good Boy), 1969
- Inti Gowravam (Honour of the House), 1970
- Balaraju Katha (The Story of Balaraju), 1970
- Sampoorna Ramayanam (The Complete Ramayana), 1971
- Andhala Ramudu(The Handsome Rama), 1973
- Sri Ramanjaneya Yuddham (The War between Rama and Hanuman), 1974
- Muthyala Muggu, 1975
- Seetha Kalyanam (The Wedding of Sita), 1976
- Sri Rajeswari Vilas Coffee Club, 1976
- Bakta Kannappa (Worshipper Kannappa), 1976
- Seeta Swayamvar, 1976
- Sneham (Friendship), 1977
- Manavoori Pandavulu(Pandavas of Our Village), 1978
- Gorantha Deepam(The Flickering Lamp), 1978
- Anokha Shivbhakt, 1978
- Toorupu Velley Railu(The Train Going East), 1979
- Vamsa Vriksham(The Family Tree), 1980
- Rajadhi Raju (The King of Kings), 1980
- Pandanti Jeevitham, 1980
- Kaliyuga Ravanaasurudu (Demon Ravana of Kaliyug), 1980
- Hum Paanch (We Five), 1980
- Tyagayya (the life of Saint Tyagaraja), 1981
- Radha Kalyanam (The Marriage of Radha), 1981
- Bezubaan (The Mute), 1981
- Krishnavatharam(The Incarnation of Krishna), 1982
- Pelleedu Pillalu (The Marriageable Children), 1982
- Neethi Devan Mayangugiran (Even the God of Justice Is Confused), 1982
- Edi Dharmam Edi Nyayam (What Is Truth? What Is Justice?), 1982
- anthri gari Viyyankudu, 1983
- Woh Saat Din (Those Seven Days), 1983
- Seethamma Setha (The Doings of Seetha), 1984
- Mohabbat (The Love), 1985
- Pyari Behna (Beloved Sister), 1985
- Bullet, 1985
- Jackie, 1985
- Mera Dharam (My Duty), 1986
- Pyaar Ka Sindoor (The Vermilon of Love), 1986
- Kalyana Thamboolam (The Betrothal), 1986
- Diljala (Heartburn), 1987
- Prem Pratigyaa (The Oath of Love), 1989
- Pelli Pustakam (The Book of Marriage), 1991
- Mr. Pellam (Mr. Wife), 1993
- Srinadha Kavi Sarvabhoumudu, 1993
- Pelli Koduku, 1994
- Pramaatma, 1994
- Rambantu(The Servant of Rama), 1996
- Radha Gopalam (Radha and Gopalam), 2005.
- Sundarakanda, 2008
Bapu's Hindi Movies include Hum Paanch, Bezubaan, Pyari Behna, Mohobbat, Mera Dharam, Diljala, Woh Saath Din and Prem Pratigya.
[edit] Cinematic style
The most notable achievement in Bapu's movie making is his success in capturing the nativity of the Telugu people and translating it into visuals. His movies center on realistic family issues and relationships, however his recurring theme is magic realism, with vignettes of mythological characters aiding in the narration.
Most of his movies have a female protagonist; a breakaway style from the formulaic movies that relegate female lead characters to song and dance numbers. His penchant for preserving the Telugu nativity in his movies can be seen in the choice of artists, especially the dusky female leads and weak villains.
[edit] Other works
Bapu designed the collection of saris used in the 1991 movie Pelli Pustakam.
[edit] Awards and acclaim
Bapu was awarded the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award by the State Government of Andhra Pradesh for his "outstanding contribution to Telugu cinema" in 1986. He shared the award with his partner, Mullapudi Venkata Ramana.
Bapu was conferred with the prestigious Raja-Lakshmi Award in 1982 from Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation, Chennai.
The Telugu literary work Koonalamma Patalu ("Poems of the common folk") says the following in praise of Bapu:
- కొంటె బొమ్మల బాపు KonTe Bommala Bapu,
- కొన్ని తరముల సేపు Konni Tharamula Sepu,
- గుండె ఊయలలూపు Gunde OOyala-loopu,
- ఓ కూనలమ్మ O Koonalammaa.
meaning, Bapu's paintings sway the heart for generations.
[edit] External links
- Bapu's official website, and a complete art gallery
- Bapu Art Gallery
- bapuartcollection.com Bapu Website with an extensive art collection representing most of his artwork
- Bapu (artist) at the Internet Movie Database
