Dasari Narayana Rao - A Profile

Hyderabad: Legandry director Dasari Narayana Rao passed away at KIMS Hospital in the city on Tuesday. He was 75.

Born on May 4, 1942 into an ordinary family in Palacole, Dasari grew amid problems, challenges and vicissitudes. Time was when his parents couldn’t even afford to pay his school fee. From there, he grew on to spawn a school of directors. Time was when he worked as a clerk for a monthly salary of just one rupee. From there, he groomed the careers of scores of directors and artistes. He chucked his government job to enter films and braved many slights and challenges in the process. He reached a pinnacle of his career to reach a level where he could make and unmake heroes.

His cine sojourn began with Tatha Manavadu. He is the only director to score 12 consecutive silver jubilees. The heights he scaled, the history he made, the awards he won are legion. He perhaps is the only director who gave hits to both fathers and their sons. He also penned dialogues for over 250 films and wrote many a hit lyric.

Make small films and score big hits was his dictum. He brought a respect and craze to the very word Director. He is the first director whose images adorned the cinema publicity posters along with the heroes. He directed over 150 films and produced 53 films. He holds the Guinness record for directing most films.

His films spoke of social justice and equal rights for all. He stood for the underdog and his films were trend setters. He gave actors like Mohan Babu, Murali Mohan and R Narayana Murthy, directors like Kodi Ramakrishna and Relangi Narasimha Rao. He made Sridevi, Jayasudha and Jayaprada super stars. He is respectfully addressed as Guruvu Garu in the film industry. He also forayed into politics and journalism and carved a niche for himself in these realms too. He was a union minister and brought out Udayam daily, which was a huge journalistic sensation.

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