As many writers and film personalities belonging to 60’s and 70’s, Dasari Narayana Rao too came from the Telugu Theatre to Film Industry to see if his talent and passion can earn him the glory that he desire. As he always wanted to look after the people around him and a naturally good orator, he found himself voicing concerns of many from his young age. When many used to think about playing mythological dramas, Dasari took to social dramas and made his forte. His strength always has been his writing and never stopped bettering himself by reading books from different languages. He started off as part of a small poor family, gave up on school and then returned with a vengeance to secure a government job for himself. As many encouraged him to bite the pie of passion, he took the then, Madras (Chennai) train and started working with his friends who turned as producers for the first time.
As a writer, he worked for Mohammad Bin Thuglaq, starring Nagabhushanam, Krishnam Raju and landed the political satire very well. As an assistant writer and writer, he continued his work. But he got ridiculed when wanted to make his debut as an actor by makeup artists and there he decided to become a director and an actor too. Slowly, he gained confidence of producers as one of the budding writers and tried to make Thatha – Manavadu. As he did not want to go back on his word to comedian Raja Babu, he left many lucrative offers for his script.
Finally, he got SVR on board and Vijaya Nirmala too. The industry was surprised to see such a bold attempt by a debut director and he completed the entire shoot in 20 days. Even SVR who used to be fully under the influence of alcohol during the big shoots too, decided to keep himself sober for the role. With each and every one member of the cast delivering great performances, Thatha Manavadu became a huge sensation in the audience. Still, the songs like ‘Adi Mangala Budha’, ‘Anubhandam Aatmeeyata’ are regarded as classics and thus started a phenomenon called, Dasari Narayana Rao.
His movies became a great mark of social reforms and discussed many issues. He never said, No to any producer and even worked on three to four films at a time. He never cared for a bound script except for few films and even big actors like Krishna, Sobhan Babu used to wait for him to complete his script and if couldn’t he used to ask them to walk in front of the Camera and actors used to oblige. But the director never let that happen in front of stalwarts like NTR and ANR. A self admitted big fan of ANR, made more movies with his favourite actor. With NTR he only had three opportunities and two times, he made movies like Sardar Paparayudu and Bobbili Puli. With ANR he experimented with films like Devadasu Malli Puttadu, Dampatulu, Bahudurapu Batasari and MeghaSandesam. He also delivered hits like Edanthasthula Meda, Yuvaraju and an all-time blockbuster like Premabhishekham.
After making movies with many stars, the actor in him came to life with MLA Edukondalu, Panakalu- Parvathalu, Constable Venkatasami, Bangaru Kutumbam and many more. He also revolutionised Telugu Cinema by making women centric movies like Balipeetam, Sivaranjani, Kalyani and many more. He ventured into Hindi films as well and made many movies like Jyothi Bane Jwala, Swarg Narak, Pyasa Sawaan and many more. Even with next generation heros like Venkatesh, Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna and Balakrishna, he made Two Town Rowdy, Lankeswarudu, Majnu and Parama Veera Chakra.
In a long career of 45 years, he made 151 films as director and producer 53 films. Also acted in more than 100 films. He is known for being the first star director of Telugu Cinema and his presence made many producers and technicians to be respectful of each other. He always stood for giving respect and taking respect, never ever stayed at a place he is not welcome and never invited anyone who had a bad opinion on him. But if a person was in need of any sort of help, he used to be there for them despite of differences and issues. Due to this, he is regarded and respected by all. He is the first person to create unions for all the crafts in the filmmaking and head the Director’s Association for more years than any.
He always regarded script as the biggest hero and gave respect to stars as much required. Even though egos would clash his presence at the sets used to ease the situation as he got the respect as the Captain of the Ship from everyone. If he decided to launch someone, he created characters for them and even increased their parts. He enjoyed good competition with K. Raghavendra Rao at box office but never let commercial cinema to take over his penchant for socially relevant subjects. As a multi-faceted talented person he handled A to Z departments in his films and tried to make films in limited budgets through out his career.
His style of filmmaking depended on more on writing than directorial Brilliance. Still, when he decided to try something out of his comfort zone, he won National Award for MeghaSandesam. Many mocked his dialogue style but he landed the punches, theatres used to go on a frenzy. That’s the reason he had his own fan clubs and till he decided to take up other jobs as politician he never failed miserably at box office. But once he turned into full time politician, he lost his flare with pen and that showed in his later films.
A limca record holder, A revolutionary thought provoking filmmaker, A man who fought for rights of many Industry workers, A man who believed in story more than anything, A man who voiced his opinion devoid of any fear, Dasari Narayana Rao is truly a man who lived his life to the fullest extent. He commanded respect and remained a true inspiration for many youngsters.
