Bapu (director)

Bapu
Bapu when conferred with the "Viswa Vikhyata Darsaka Maharshi" award in 2014
Born
Sattiraju Lakshminarayana

(1933-12-15)15 December 1933
Narasapuram, Madras Presidency, British India
(now in Andhra Pradesh, India)
Died31 August 2014(2014-08-31) (aged 80)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Alma materUniversity of Madras
SpouseBhagyavathi
AwardsPadma Shri (2013)
Websitebapuartcollection.com

Sattiraju Lakshminarayana (15 December 1933 – 31 August 2014), known professionally as Bapu, was an Indian film director, painter, illustrator, cartoonist, screenwriter, music artist, and designer known for his works in Telugu cinema, and Hindi cinema.[1] In 2013, he was awarded the Padma Shri, for his contribution to Indian art and cinema.[2] He has garnered two National Honors, two National Film Awards, seven state Nandi Awards, two Filmfare Awards South, a Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, and a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South.

Bapu's directorial venture Sakshi (1967) was showcased at Tashkent International film festival in 1968.[3] Seeta Kalyanam (1976) was screened at the BFI London Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, San Reno and Denver International Film Festivals in 1978, and is part of the course at the British Film Institute.[4] Tyagayya (1981) and Pelli Pustakam (1991) were premiered at the Indian Panorama of the International Film Festival of India.[5] Bapu's 2011 film, Sri Rama Rajyam, had a special screening at International Film Festival of India on 28 November 2011.[6]

In 1996, he appeared in the Doordarshan Documentary Eminent Cartoonists of India, and was awarded Lifetime Achievement from Indian Institute of Cartoonists in 2001. He gained international recognition through his art works viz., Bapu Bomma, The Navarasas, and the Indian Dances etc., which were held at the National Film Theatre, London, in 1978 and at the innumerable Telugu Conferences in the United States.[7] He has worked as a graphic artist for J Walter Thomson, Efficient Publicities and F. D. Stewarts, Chennai.[8]

In 1964, he was a delegate at the UNESCO sponsored seminar in Bangalore on Children's Books. The same year, he gave demonstrations for the training course programme on book illustrations and cover designs sponsored by UNESCO in Chennai. In the 1960s he has served as art Consultant for Ford Foundation sponsored The Southern Language Book Trust. He has designed and illustrated several books for leading publishers in South India out of which, five received Government Awards. He has also done the same for innumerable works drawn from Puranas and folklore.[8]

  1. ^ "Balakrishna to act in Bapu's mythological film – Oneindia Entertainment". Entertainment.oneindia.in. 29 September 2010. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  2. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  3. ^ Mullapudi leaves behind enduring legacy, The Hindu, 5 March 2011; retrieved 25 January 2013.
  4. ^ "Preview: Epic comes full circle". The Hindu. 12 November 2011. Archived from the original on 14 November 2011.
  5. ^ "Directorate of Film Festival" (PDF). Iffi.nic.in. 26 May 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 May 2011.
  6. ^ "Sri Rama Rajyam at IFFI". Archived from the original on 27 November 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Deccan Chronicle (27 November 2011).
  7. ^ Bapu art works, Nutan Prasad, secretary – Ravindra Bharathi cultural center, Hyderabad
  8. ^ a b Shivpprasadh, S. (21 February 2013). "Portrait of an artist". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013 – via www.thehindu.com.