Telugu cinema lovers can never erase the beautiful memories of the classic film ‘Lava Kusa’ from their heads. It stands timeless among a myriad of classics. Even today, audiences slip into devotional trance when “Vinudu Vinudu Ramayana Gaadha’ plays. Apart from NTR and Anjali’s memorable performances, actors Nagaraju and Naga Subrahmanyam who played Lava and Kusa characters respectively became extremely popular. It was the first color film in Telugu released in 1963 under the direction of C Pullaiah and CS Rao. Ghantasala and KV Mahadevan composed music.
Nagaraju who played the character of ‘Lava’ died in the early hours today. He and Naga Subrahmanyam who played ‘Kusa’ in the film remained close friends even after 57 years of the movie’s release. An interesting fact about ‘Lava Kusa’ is that it took five years to complete the filming due to various hassles.
Actors by chance
Naga Subrahmanyam who played ‘Kusa’ was born in Amalapuram. He was trained in the art of rendering ‘Burra Katha’ by his father and started performing at the age of eight. Director C Pulliah attended one of his performances and gave him Kusa’s character in the film after getting impressed with his ‘Burra Katha’ skills at the age of eleven.
Lava’s character was played by Nagaraju in the film. His father AV Subba Rao was an accomplished actor who starred in films like ‘Keelugurram’, ‘Palleturi Pilla’ and ‘Pedda Manushulu’. Nagaraju was spotted by veteran actor Chittoor Nagaiah who casted him in Lord Rama’s role in ‘Bhakta Ramadasu’ movie. Nagaraju went on to act in another two films before he was chosen to play ‘Lava’ by his father’s friend, director C Pullaiah.
It is interesting to note that the roles of ‘Lava’ and ‘Kusa’ were given to Nagaraju and Naga Subrahmanyam based on their behaviour. Lava’s character which is supposed to be active was given to Nagaraju and Kusa’s character suited Subrahmanyam’s calm demeanour. They were trained for two hours daily for six months by Vempati Pedda Satyam and China Satyam in dance, archery and dialogue delivery. Subrahmanyam went on to star in ‘Seetaramakalyanam’, ‘Venkateswara Mahatyam’ and ‘Velugu Needalu’ after ‘Lava Kusa’.
Nagaraju played the role of ‘Kapila Maharshi’ in the serial ‘Gomatha Vaibhavam’ produced by Paripoornananda Swamy. Nagaraju and Subrahmanyam didn’t meet for a while after ‘Lava Kusa’ released, but after a chance meeting in Amalapuram, they have remained close friends until Nagaraju’s death. Subrahmanyam settled in Amalapuram as a tailor and has three sons while Nagaraju settled in Gandhi Nagar, Hyderabad. He is survived by three daughters.
Nagaraju died today due to his ill health. He is in fact younger than Subrahmanyam but was suffering with health ailments for a long time. This would be a major loss for Subrahmanyam as they lived as brothers all through the life. May his soul rest in peace.
