Mohan Krishna's mother gave this book to me as a gift when I visited her many years ago to know about publishing in Telugu. Its a bio of film star and multi faceted personality Bhanumathi - writer, dancer, singer, actor and much more.
Bhanumathi started acting when she was 15 years old in a film called 'Vara Vikrayam'. She followed that up with several films in which she both acted and sang. As a rebel she married Ramakrishna who was an AD in one of the films she acted in despite some opposition at home. Several films with top heroes of her time ANR, NTR and others made her a household name. 'Malliswari' in 1951 became a huge hit and catapulted her into the heights of stardom.
As a writer (which was her first love) her stories 'Attagari Kathalu' (stories about my mother in law) were serialised in magazines and even adapted to TV on Doordarshan (Saas Bahu Kahaniyan in Hindi). She was awarded Sahitya Akademi awards, Doctorates from several Universities, Padmashri. Another story 'Naalo Nenu' was also published serially and won her acclaim. I was very impressed to know of her love for writing and how prolific she was.
Her film career spanned from 1939 to 1993 - in which she acted in about 60 films which included major hits like 'Laila Majnu', 'Malliswari', 'Vipranarayana', 'Aggi Ramudu', 'Tenali Ramakrishna', 'Palnati Yuddham' etc.
These facts apart Bhanumathi was a force, a personality you could not ignore, even on the screen. Her tone, sharpness, the fire and intelligence in her eyes, easily made her stand out. You see her once, you will never forget her. I have seen many more heroines of that era and after and forgot the names of so many, but her name remains etched as is her tone, her manner from the couple of movies I watched. Now, that's something.
The writing is crisp, saying so much in a few words, capturing the essence so well in a book of just 88 pages. Thank you ma'am. My Telugu reading continues and I am surprised at how many I am reading these days.
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