Sangeetham Srinivasa Rao is a director who made Telugu cinema to tread the ‘Experimental’ path. He seamlessly blended commercial elements with art and achieved successful results. Even though he has turned 89 today, this genius director is still young at heart.
Sangeetham assisted legendary director KV Reddy for ‘Mayabazaar’. His style of direction doesn’t follow any ‘set-style’ as all his films belong to the experimental genre. Singeetham’s numerous films in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada stand as examples to his vision and creativity.
His ‘Aditya-369’ which is based on the concept of ‘time-travel’ became a sensation way back in 1991. Nobody would dare to shoulder such a radical experiment even now, that too, with a mass hero like Nandamuri Balakrishna. His dialogue-less film ‘Pushpaka Vimanam’ stood as an example for his out-of-the-box thinking and relentless passion towards experimental cinema.
Sangeetham directed ‘Bhairava Dweepam’ with Balakrishna in 1994 and revived the lost interest in folklore films for the audiences. He showcased Balayya in a dwarf getup and entertained audiences. His ‘Vichitra Sodarulu’ was a smashing hit. No one can forget Kamal Hassan’s performance as a dwarf till today. He made ‘Natakireeti’ Rajendra Prasad to transform into a woman’s avatar for his ‘Madam’. His classic ‘Mayuri’ portrayed the life of erstwhile dancer Sudha Chandran.
As a music director
Sangeetham was born in Udayagiri in Nellore district. He learnt music in his childhood and used to watch Hollywood movies. He entered drama under the guidance of Harindranath Chatopadhaya while he was studying at Madras Presidency College. He became an assistant to KV Reddy and debuted into direction with ‘Neeti-Nijayiti’. Though it flopped at the box office, his 1975 film ‘Jamindaru Gari Ammayi’ proved his mettle as a director. He directed several super hit films starring Kamal Hassan alongside movies with other stars.
He even assisted great composer Saluri Rajeswar Rao and went on to compose music for two Kannada films. Sangeetham penned lyrics of ‘Virisinade Vasantha Gaanam’ in ‘Bhairava Dweepam’. He is an absolute producer’s director who never crossed the planned budgets. ‘Manasantha Nuvve’ fame VN Aditya who was an assistant to Sangeetham Srinivasa Rao sent best wishes to his Guru.
