Barely a week after veteran actor Jamuna passed away, the Telugu film industry received yet another sad news of the demise of noted director Sagar aka Vidyasagar Reddy (70). He passed away on February 2, Thursday morning at his house in Chennai after a brief illness.
Born in 1952 near Mangalagiri in Guntur district, Sagar and his parents shifted to Chennai where he had his early education. He entered the film industry as an assistant in the editing department and then went to work as an assistant director with the leading directors. His first commercial venture as a director was Rakasi Loya starring Naresh, Vijayashanti and others in 1983. After its commercial success, he never looked back.
His second directorial movie Daaku starring Bhanuchander established him as a successful director and helped him create a niche in the industry. He went on to direct films that had action, comedy and family-oriented subjects.
Sagar dared to release his small-budget Stuvartpuram Dongalu competing with Chiranjeevi -starrer ‘Stuvartpuram police station’ in a gap of one week in 1990. The film was a success too.
Sagar directed over 40 movies including hits like Ammadonga, Ammanaakodala, Khaidi Brothers, Ramasakkanodu, Osi naa mardala and Public Rowdy among others. He is credited with nurturing talent and encouraging youngsters to take up film direction. Ramasakkanodu went on to bag two Nandi awards. L. B. Sriram bagged the Best Dialogue Writer, while M.S. Narayana walked away with the Best Male Comedian award for the same film in 1999.
Several others directors like Srinu Vaitla, V.V. Vinayak, Nageswar Reddy and Ravi Kumar Chowdary honed their skills under his tutelage. In one of his last interviews with an online portal a few months ago, Sagar praised and appreciated the dedication and commitment of Sreenu Vaitla and V. V. Vinayak.
Taking to Twitter, Srinu Vaitla said: “It is extremely painful to know that my guru Sagar garu is no more. He took care of all his assistants very affectionately and taught them many valuable things. He was a great support for all of us. You will be remembered forever, sir.”
