February 2, 1980, is considered a landmark day in Indian cinema, Telugu cinema specifically. Sankarabharanam, directed by K. Vishwanath, released that day, and scripted history at the box office, sending several records tumbling. Who would have thought that 43 years later, the same date would be marked as a ‘dark day’ in Indian cinema! The legendary maker of Sankarabharanam passed away late on Thursday night, and a pall of gloom settled on the film industry.
Association with Poornodaya
Poornodaya Movie Creations headed by producer Edida Nageswara Rao was a production house with a 100 per cent success record! They made around 10 films, and all were superhits. Of these, Vishwanath directed seven – Siri Siri Muvva (1976), Sankarabharanam (1980), Sagara Sangamam (1983), Swati Muthyam (1986), Swayamkrushi (1987), Swarnakamalam (1989) and Aapadbandhavudu (1992).
Although Vishwanath made his directorial debut with Aatma Gowravam (1965), and subsequently made close to 15 films, achieving super success levels, it was Siri Siri Muvva (1976), produced by the late Edida Nageswara Rao, that catapulted him into the big league! The film won two National Awards!
“It was Vishwanath garu who named our banner Poornodaya when we were searching for a nice name,” recalls Nageswara Rao’s son Edida Sreeram. He gives us the back story of Siri Siri Muvva: “My father came to the industry wanting to be an actor. He acted in one of Vishwanath garu’s directorials, Neramu Siksha (1973). My father loved Vishwanath garu’s work and wanted to produce a film with him. When he expressed interest in working with Vishwanath garu, the latter said that he had a musical story, and that’s how Siri Siri Muvva happened.”
That musical drama was just the beginning of many more milestone films.
Sankarabharanam opened to empty theatres
Sankarabharanam is numbered among the all-time classics of Indian cinema. In fact, it can be considered the first pan-India film. However, it achieved this status only after a lot of drama. Edida Sreeram reveals that Vishwanath had warned his father Nageswara Rao before starting the film that things could go wrong.
“Several top production houses had rejected the Sankarabharanam script on the grounds that it lacked masala, and that the protagonist was not a youngster but an older person. When my father expressed interest in producing the film, believing in Vishwanath’s directorial skills, he cautioned my father about the high risk involved. But my father went ahead and produced it,” recalls Sreeram.
Apparently, around 100 previews were screened for distributors. Everyone who saw the film appreciated the content but no one came forward to buy or release it. Eventually, Lakshmi Films released it.
“When my father and Vishwanath garu came to Hyderabad from Chennai to see the crowd reactions, much to their shock, the theatres were empty. The film’s dry spell continued for almost a week. Yet, both of them believed that the film would do well. Unbelievably, there was a huge turnaround and the film became a historic blockbuster,” reveals Sreeram, adding that it became the first Telugu film in the US to release on a 35mm screen.
No bound scripts
Legends, they say, always break rules! Vishwanath never subscribed to the belief that filmmakers should have a bound script before starting a shoot. Senior screenwriter Thotapally Sainath, who has worked for over 100 films, collaborated with Vishwanath for eight superhit movies. He says the director always believed in the flow of thought and never restricted it to a book. “When Vishwanath garu sent me to narrate the Swayam Krushi script to Chiranjeevi garu, he told me not to reveal the complete script to him so that he would be free to make various changes in it. He would never reveal the complete script to actors,” shares Sainath.
Sainath, who was beside the legendary filmmaker on the sets all the time for all his films, also shares that the director was a master at improvisation. “One day I asked him ‘Why can’t you come with a bound script’? He replied, ‘When I have a brother like you to help with conversations why do I need a bound script?’”
“He would always ask me when I would become director, but that never happened,” Sainath adds.
Vishwanath was a foodie. At outdoor shootings in villages, he would binge on local cuisine. “He would ask me not to tell his wife because he was a diabetic and his wife was controlling his diet,” says Sainath.
In fact, Sainath spoke to Vishwanath over the phone only five days ago.
“Strangely, he thanked me for all my contributions to yesteryear films,” he shares.
A decade ago, legendary director K Balachander felicitated K Vishwanath in Chennai. Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan were also present on that occasion. Honouring his family’s wishes, Rajini requested Vishwanath to direct him. The filmmaker agreed, but the film never happened.
Lunch for Chiranjeevi
When Vishwanath was directing Chiranjeevi in Aapadbandhavudu, the director learnt that the actor had not made arrangements for lunch one day. Vishwanath was informed that Chiru was OK with skipping lunch. But he didn’t accept that. “Vishwanath garu said he didn’t like to think of me feeling starved on his film sets. He personally sent me lunch and told me that it was seasoned with love. I worked with several directors but have never seen someone like him. He was a father figure to me,” recalls Chiranjeevi.
Swati Muthyam – A long time in the making
Amongst Vishwanath's directorials, Swati Muthyam took the longest time for script discussions. The director took over 18 months to complete the script - and the reason was the protagonist, Kamal Haasan. The actor’s earlier release Sakalakala Vallavan (1982) in Tamil, was a commercial blockbuster. But in Swati Muthyam, Kamal had to play an innocent orphan with a brain injury resulting in low IQ. So Vishwanath took time to come up with a convincing script. Filming wise too, it was the director’s costliest film.
Swati Muthyam became the first Telugu film to be India’s official Oscar entry! The film ran for 510 days in Bengaluru’s Majestic Theatre, a record.
Closet choreographer
Remember Kamal Haasan’s iconic dance moves from the famous song Suvvi Suvvi in Swati Muthyam? Apparently, it was Vishwanath who choreographed those steps. Reportedly, Vishwanath performed the steps, and Kamal followed suit. Those steps went on to become signature moves for all the simpletons of that era of films.
Another mark of Vishwanath was that he wore khakhis while shooting, to convey that he was one among the workers.
‘He taught me a lot’
“K. Vishwanath Ji taught me so much when I worked with him on the sets of Eeshwar. The entire experience was like being in a temple. I am really fortunate to have learnt so much from him. For Eeshwar, I gave up things like flirting with girls for 15 days before the filming started and of course kept that up right throughout the shooting,” says Anil Kapoor.
Explaining, he says, “Vishwanath ji felt that there was a tiredness in the eyes of everyone living in what was then called Bombay, and that some people’s eyes even reflected some corruption. Eeshwar was very childlike and selfless in his love. To get the kind of innocence I had to exercise self-discipline. I did feel that I should have got a lot of awards for Eeshwar.”
