Posted: Updated – Tue, 11/15/22, 10:49AM
Krishna garu is soft-spoken, extremely gentleman, and never speaks ill of anyone.
Hyderabad: No one can replace Krishna Garu. As a film journalist with ties to the Telugu film industry, I often hear a lot of gossip about stars and their tantrums. But not about Krishna Garu. He’s a gentleman through and through. In late 80’s when my senior colleague and senior film critic PSR Anjaneya Sastry garu from Andhra Prabha made an appointment with Krishna garu to interview him, I went with him. In our conversation with Krishna garu, he candidly admits that he doesn’t have a movie in hand and no one has offered him a movie offer!
Anjaneya Sastry Garu was taken aback by his comment, saying, “You are a great actor and known for helping many people in the film industry. If you ask, the producers will queue up for your call sheet.” To this, Krishna Garu said, “Too bad! You know the film industry. It’s important to be successful here. No one wants to do a film with me. When I go out, some of the producers I’ve helped try to run away from me.” ’” In this case, he spoke about his quarrel with singer SPB. “When Baru came to me and said he was packing because he didn’t have any work to go back to Nellore, it was me who promised him that he would be my singer in all my films. When one of my films Ballou refused to sing for my film when a producer couldn’t pay him. Gratitude is the missing word in the film industry’s lexicon.”
We had fights with NTR, ANR fans when we were kids. But fans of ANR and NTR are also fans of Krishna Garu. Even those who were against Krishnagaru would call him Krishnagaru even in the heated discussions about Telugu heroes at the time.
Krishna garu is a soft-spoken, gentleman who never speaks ill of anyone. He is such a gentleman that when he was planning a remake of Devadasu, the original producer of the movie Devadasu DL Narayana came to him and offered him the rights to the original at a reasonable price. That way he doesn’t have to worry about releasing the original when the new Devadasu comes out. But Krishna garu refused and ANR bought the rights and released the old classic on the same day the new Devadasu was released, which led to the failure of the new Devadasu. DL Narayana planned to make a film about Alluri Seetha Ramaraju with a top hero in mind and produced the entire script. He offered the same to Krishnagaru. But instead of accepting the script, Krishnagaru asked his writer Maharati to write an entirely new one.
He always helps people in the industry. He purposely offered some roles for his newcomer in Tene Manasulu Ram Mohan. He also has a special place for those from Tenali. He has helped a lot of people from Tenali get a foothold in the film industry.
Krishna garu knows his limitations as an actor, and he openly admits them. However, he has withstood the power of NTR, ANR and Shobhan babu, creating a space for himself that no one has yet filled. While ANR and NTR have some dedicated filmmakers to cast them in films, Krishna Garu doesn’t. A fighter at heart, he created his own Banner Padmalaya and made it one of the pillars of the film industry.
A mature actor, Krishna Garu accepted a weak role in Sri Rajeswari Vilas Coffee Club. He even had a docile role in Bapu’s Sakshi. He took the risk of experimenting, which no one would dare to do. He made the first 70mm motion picture film. He established Padmalaya Studios. His films were also known as Minimum Guaranteed at the time. When some films failed, he helped producers make another film with him, giving out his phone bill for free, and sometimes even helping producers financially.
Maybe some actors are more successful than Krishna Garu and earn more money than Krishna garu. There may be several movie celebrities who have created a niche for themselves. But no one can replace Krishna Garu. After all, Krishna Garu is Krishna Garu.
VJM
