For 50 years, N. Gopalakrishna has breathed only movies. From being a 20-year-old, who dreamt of becoming a hero to writing a book - Pioneers of Indian Cinema launched recently, N. Gopalakrishna has always been enchanted by the magic of cinema. The book Pioneers of Indian Cinema is a window to the birth of cinema in India and the luminaries who have dedicated their lives to its growth. “Our cinema industry irrespective of the language has a glorious history. This book is a tribute to the film world and an attempt to project it for the generations to come,” says ‘Lakshmanarekha' Gopalakrishna.
Glance around the book and each chapter takes you back to an age of innocence when cinema in India was at its nascent stages. From the birth of the talkie and landmarks in Indian cinema to legends of south Indian cinema to a chapter about Phalke, father of the Indian feature film, the book makes for an interesting read. Another noticeable feature is that Gopalakrishna has not restricted to just Telugu film industry as there are chapters on Assamese, Odia, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam cinema.
There are few chapters which are compilations. “It was so inspiring to read about Dada Sahab Phalke. His love for the cinema is remarkable. Today, making movies is an easy affair. We work in digital mode and spend crores. Should we not remember the pioneers who worked relentlessly and made all this happen for us?” asks Gopalakrishna.
As a youngster, Gopalakrishna acted in dramas donning female characters in his hometown. He went to Madras wanting to act in movies to be a hero. “That didn't happen and I ended up being an assistant director working for ace directors like V. Madhusudhan Rao and K. Vishwanath,” he recollects. In '75, he got an opportunity to direct a film Lakshmanarekha .
“I selected Jayasudha, who was new at that time. Gummadi, who was playing the main character, was not happy with the choice,” he says. However, the movie brought in accolades and he became popular as ‘Lakshmanarekha' Gopalakrishna. He was a director for 10 films and strongly believes that films should be made with a social commitment. He also did a few documentaries, out of which Freedom Park won a Nandi for the year 2010.
Priced at Rs. 250, Pioneers of Indian Cinema is available at Visalandhra, Prajasakti and Novodaya book stores. Contact: 2703 7088.
