A humble lone Indian Siris tree is arguably the most photographed tree. It appears in over a 100 Telugu movies that were shot over the past half a decade on the banks of river Godavari.
A century ago, it was planted by a farmer, Singuluri Tatabbai, on the river bank at Kumaradevam village, nearly five km from the iconic Rajamahendravaram-Kovvur bridge.
“In the same spot, where the tree still survives, my grandfather planted three saplings, which were not conserved by the locals. In his fourth attempt, he conserved the sapling for some days and that is still standing by the Godavari,” claims 52-year-old Singuluri Nageswara Rao, grandson of Tatabbai.
At Kumaradevam village alone, nearly twenty 20 old trees collapsed due to the Godavari floods and the expiry of their life expectancy in the past decade.
Film favourite
“Every Telugu actor, including Akkineni Nageswara Rao (ANR), Krishnam Raju to K, Chiranjeevi, visited our village for film shooting at the tree. Every successful Telugu actor and director must have shot a film, in which our village tree is seen”, Mr. Nageswara Rao told The Hindu.
To name a few movies that were shot at Kumaradevam tree are Paadi Pantalu, Trisoolam, Chattamtho Poratam, Siksha and Sootradarulu (ANR).
Submergence
By 2023, scores of old trees of various varieties along the banks of river Godavari fell or died due to various reasons, and a majority of them fell in the submergence area of the Polavaram irrigation project on both sides of the Godavari.
The trees and fishing boats could not be separated in the narratives on the beauty of river Godavari in any format— paintings, films, and writings.
Balu Akkisa, a resident of Polavaram village, says: “Pudipalli on the Devipatnam front of river Godavari is a new case of how the river is missing its link with the old trees. Pudipalli tree has been shot in many movies directed by Vamsi. The village has been rehabilitated and many old trees are facing submergence.”
Senior photographers hailing from the Godavari region said the beauty of Godavari and its trees could only be seen in the movies that were shot in those locations. In the last Godavari Pushkaralu celebrated in 2015, the State government renovated the ghats but did not initiate any plan to conserve the trees.
At Pushkar Ghat, one of the two trees, that serve as shooting spots, died recently. In recent years, the State government did not carry out any drive to plant saplings and maintain the river banks.
