The Baahubali fever fails to subside and the box-office records continue to tumble.
Meanwhile, with the visual grandeur and VFX conjured in Baahubali 2 , not to mention the sound design, it is not a bad idea to revisit some Telugu classics that could be remade for the younger audiences. The reason for this is, long before the worlds of Harry Potter and the LOTR took cinema audiences by storm, Telugu movie-makers had been tinkering with magical horses (thestrals, remember?), form-changing demons, and horcruxes (a wicked magician’s life preserved in an undetectable artefact – the beauty of the rich Telugu cinema legacy)
Gulebakavali Katha (1962, directed by NT Ramarao) Filmed many a time, the Arabian Nights-inspired tale is a cult classic in Telugu cinema. It has a strong heroine in Jamuna, a characteristic of Telugu movies we seemed to have lost over the years. The valiant but abandoned son of a king sets himself in the quest for a magical flower that would cure his father, the king, of his blindness. Game of dices, magical ponds and scheming army-chiefs keep the story tantalising right through.
Pathala Bhairavi (1951, directed by Kadiri Venkata Reddy) A flying Maya Mahal, a goddess that asks for a human sacrifice in return for great powers, a love tale, and a wicked magician called Nepala Mantrikudu and we have a movie that spins a yarn of esoteric spells and old-world allure.
The OST in Indian movies is an intrinsic factor too as the movie proved.
Bhakta Prahlada (1967, directed by Chitrapu Narayana Rao) The epic tale of how a young boy shows admirable devotion for Vishnu, his father Hiranyakasipu’s arch-rival and survives innumerable attempts by his father to get him killed is part of Hindu mythology’s most popular narrations. The scope for great visuals notwithstanding, the tale itself has a moral or two for the next generation.
Keelu Gurram (1949, directed by Raja Saheb of Mirzapur ): Deserted by her husband — who is enchanted by his demon-in- disguise second wife — a queen gives birth to a valiant hero who flies a mechanical horse, rescues a princess, finds the demons’ lives safeguarded as bugs in a faraway place to thwart them and reunites his parents. Even in 1949, this three-hour long movie was edge-of- the-seat. Imagine what it could morph into with present VFX skills.
Mayabazar: (1957, directed by Kadiri Venkata Reddy) Considered as one of the 100 all-time great movies produced in India, Mayabazar takes some creative licence with the characters of Mahabharata. Nevertheless, witty screenplay, an adorable Ghatotkacha — the son of Hidimbi and Bhimasena — and a love-struck couple, Abhimanyu and Sasirekha, give us a charming movie with magic spells and charades.
Jagadeka Veeruni Katha (1961, directed by Kadiri Venkata Reddy): NTR enlivens the screen in this Indian tale that reminds one of the Labours of Hercules . He has to pass Indra’s tests and is banished from his kingdom unless he returns with four wives. The story is sprinkled with amoral kings, divine intervention, colossal sets and camera wizardry; but, 50 years hence, it could take audiences on a fantasy tale never experienced before.
Dana Veera Soora Karna (1977, directed by NT Ramarao) NTR played three pivotal roles in this movie that somersaulted him into the echelons of cinematic immortality.
The tale that sees Mahabharata from Karna’s eyes is an artwork that could be the basis for the modern Mahabharata that many filmmakers are eyeing to remake with modern VFX. The scale is grand; the potential for sets, war-scenes, songs, strategies infinite.
Bhairava Dweepam: (1994, directed by Singeetam Sreenivasa Rao) The fantasy drama was sensational in all its elements — a wizard looking for immortality, a mother who has a flower that reflects her son’s well-being, a beautiful princess, flying beds and horses, creepy dungeons, mischievous elves, two-headed dragons and even a song that incorporates Lilliputians. There are classical tunes too. Twenty-three years hence, it may be a story we would love to revisit on a grand canvas!
Jagadeeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari: (1990, directed by K Raghavendra Rao) The fantasy drama turned Chiranjeevi and Sridevi into cult favourites.
A brave but honest man in search of an Ayurvedic cure in the Himalayas (to cure his young ward) finds a ring that belongs to a celestial damsel. She follows him for that ring, time running out on her immortality but falls in love with him. As always, there is a wicked sorcerer and the ultimate dilemma — love or immortality — that make the story fascinating.
Aditya 369 ( 1991, directed by Singeetam Sreenivasa Rao) Probably, Indian cinema’s best time-travel movie, Aditya 369 is almost nostalgic in the way it portrays the Vijayanagar empire and then compares it with the waste that is the planet after the Third World War.
If ever there was an age for cinematic time-travellers, this is the one and the 1991 sci-fi film is a brilliant template!
