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CHITTOOR V. NAGAIAH A MONOGRAPH K. N. T. Sastry i - • , ‘/,, WmMiM t 1 s; I BLICATIONS DIVISI Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Public.Resource.Org 4 https://archive.org/details/chittoorvnagaiahOOsast CHITTOOR V. NAGAIAH A Monograph CHITTOOR V. NAGAIAH A Monograph K. N. T. Sastry PUBLICATIONS DIVISION MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING GOVERNMENT OF INDIA 2000 (Saka 1922) © National Film Archive of India ISBN : 81-230-0817-1 Price : Rs. 110.00 Published by The Director, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, Patiala House, New Delhi - 110 001 SALES EMPORIA • PUBLICATIONS DIVISION •Patiala House, Tilak Marg, New Delhi - 110 001 •Super Bazar, Connaught Circus, New Delhi - 110 051 •Hall No. 196, Old Secretariat, Delhi - 110054 •Commerce House, Currimbhoy Road, Ballard Pier, Mumbai - 400 038 •8, Esplanade East, Calcutta-700069 •Rajaji Bhawan, Basant Nagar, Chennai - 600090 •Press Road, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 001 • State Archaeological Museum Building, Public Gardens, Hyderabad - 500004 •1st Floor, F Wing, Kendriya Sadan, Koramangala, Bangalore - 560 034 •Bihar State Co-operative Bank Building, Ashoka Rajpath, Patna - 800 004 •27/6, Ram Mohan Roy Marg, Lucknow - 226 001 •Naojan Road, Ujan Bazar, Guwahati - 781 001 •Ambica Complex, 1st Floor, Paldi, Ahmedabad - 380 007 SALES COUNTERS : •C/o PIB, C.G.O. Complex. ‘A’ Wing, A.B. Road, Indore (M.P.) •C/o PIB, 80, Malviya Nagar, Bhopal - 462003 (M.P.) •C/o PIB, B-7, Bhawani Singh Marg, Jaipur - 302 001 (Rajasthan) Printed at : Tara Art Press, New Delhi-110002 Ph. 3318626, 3319686 Preface This is a study of Chittoor V. Nagaiah. Myriad are the facets of his personality. An actor, film-maker, music composer, singer — he was verily a cultural soldier who assiduously protected tradition, in the formative years of south Indian cinema. This concern for a cultural atavism was strengthened by his humanistic demeanour which consistently rejected commercial stances. The following pages will attempt to recreate the times which were instrumental in inculcating the traits of struggle and sacrifice, perseverance and perfection in Nagaiah. It was only when I got wholly immersed in tracing the history of this great artiste, my inadequacies came to the fore. Here indeed was a great soul, whose commitment to humanistic approach was no less significant than his avowed artistic stances. Eveiy plea for help met an answer. Every detail in his films was carefully crafted. It was this personality that I was looking into. The various aspects that came out during the course of my research would, in fact, make many volumes of reading material. Yet, within the limitations that I set to myself, I have tried to do justice to the life of the artiste. First hand knowledge of the personality, by the sheer accident of contemporaneity is likely to make a study, at times, subjective in its analysis. Alienated from the culture of those 'good old days', a new generation looking at it, with awe, is likely to be spared of this trauma. I belong to this new generation. We live in the long rainbow of fast fading colours. Memories haunt us. Memories of Nagaiah... I vividly recall my grand-father raving about the song, Pavanaguna Rama. I remember how tears rolled down my cheeks when I saw the travails of Nagaiah as Gumasta, in a touring talkie. I was ten years old then. But by that time, Nagaiah had not only entrenched in the annals of Telugu cinema for over a decade and a half, he was already preparing to slowly fade into history. It was then to that age, an age which saw the star Nagaiah reign supreme, that I had to delve. It is an acknowledged fact that Nagaiah's songs took music to the threshold of common man. This aspect of his personality warranted a special study. It was my good fortune that due to the opportunity provided by this work, I peeped into the world of yesteryears' music, and have brought out a separate chapter on Nagaiah's music. Over 300 films in Telugu, Tamil, and a few in Kannada and Hindi was a breathtaking spectrum. Nagaiah's greatest achievement, however, was Thyagayya — an analysis of which throws light on the film producer, actor, music composer and director: Nagaiah. Endaro Mahanbhavulu (many are the great souls) — rhymes a Thyagaraya Kirtana — an all time favourite of