For star couple Krishna and Vijayanirmala, it was a stroll down the memory lane. They recounted how they were roped in to act by ace director Bapu’s for his first film Sakshi , and how shooting for it in Pulidindi village, they ended up getting married.
The inaugural of ‘Bapu’s Film Festival’, organised by the Hyderabad Film Club on the occasion of the director-artist’s 81 birth anniversary here on Monday, provided a platform for both Krishna and Vijayanirmala to pay their tributes to Bapu.
“I learnt so much working with him, and in a way, my close observations of his style helped me in film-making at a later stage,” Vijayanirmala said. She had acted in Bapu’s first three films and his working on shot division a day before shootings, had been an inspiration, she said.
Krishna fondly spoke of his experiences of working with the legendary filmmaker. “For Sakshi , he shot almost entirely outdoor on locations, and in natural environs, which was unheard of in those days.” Bapu’s calibre was such that he won critical acclaim for his very first film, which went to the International Film Festival at Tashkent, he said.
Prasad Film Laboratories MD A. Ramesh Prasad described Bapu’s films as a repertoire of talent from which filmmakers could learn a lot. “His contributions to cinema have been extraordinary and he left us a great asset,” he said.
Advisor to the Telangana Government K.V. Ramanachari, film actor Sumanth and others participated in the inaugural of the film festival, which started with the screening of Sakshi . The film festival is on at Prasad Labs, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad till December 21.
