I am a thoroughbred Bangalorean. All my childhood and schooling happened in Chamarajpete, where my family has lived for the longest of time. I studied in Ashoka Shishuvihara and did my high school in Bangalore High School.
My late uncle Sudheendra was a film PRO. I had just finished my SSLC and he was working on the Ambareesh starrer Olavina Udugore in 1985. Since I had vacation and nothing much to do, I got into the car that had come to pick my uncle and went with him to the sets. After a taste of the glamour of the film industry, I decided never to go back to studies. My parents were unhappy with my decision. ‘What can you earn there? Please continue your studies..,’ they insisted, but I was not to listen. When my father passed away, they offered me his job at Amco Batteries, but I was too enamoured by the tinsel town to take it up. In the later years, when I met learned people I felt I too should have studied.
In 1977, my uncle Sudheendra started his PRO company, Raghavendra Chitravani. Since I showed interest in his work, he began to train me. We would attend film shootings and stage by stage submit reports to the newspapers.
My uncle used to write very well and his handwriting was superb. Everyone used to appreciate him for it. He insisted that I should write neatly too, and without spelling mistakes etc. I used to keep carbon sheets and make multiple copies. I would cycle to all the newspapers and handover these press releases to them. From cycle, I slowly graduated to a second hand TVS and then to a luna. It was not an easy job, particularly if you wanted to earn a good name. My uncle was very particular about conduct – he used to say be respectful to everyone, and always told us to be punctual. After the news appeared in the papers we would hand over the cuttings to the producers, assist them in press conference – everything.
Those days were different – top people in the industry, Siddalingiah, Veeraswamy, M.P. Shankar and others showered us with affection. They would treat us like their family members. On several occasions we have had invitations to their homes, and similarly they have come home too. Now, producers call us, ‘Can you come to hotel Atria? Let’s discuss the matter,’ they say. They tell us about their film, ask us about fee, a bit of bargaining happens and our relationship ends there. Everything is now very commercial. One cannot blame anyone, times have changed, city has changed, human relationships will naturally change.
On the occasion of 25 years of Raghavendra Chitravani, my uncle instituted two awards, one for a film journalist and the other for a producer. But over the years, so many important people in the industry have joined hands with us and today we give away 11 awards every year. We did PR for 175 films out of the 200 films Vishnuvardhan acted. He instituted an award in his brother-in-laws name. The others who are giving awards through Raghavendra Chitravani are Jayamala, Dr. Rajkumar, MS Ramaiah, and B. Suresh.
When my uncle started, he was the only PRO. Now there are 5-6 of us. Today, we have the support of technology and our work is far easier. My brother and uncle’s son assist me. We continue to be the number 1 PROs. All big production houses come to us. I am very happy that old timers know and value us. We have worked very hard for our reputation, but a lot of credit must go to the film industry and the media which has constantly supported us.
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