KS RAMA RAO: MAKING MAGIC IN MOTION by Mihir Srivastava

I was having breakfast in the canteen of the Film Nagar Cultural Centre (FNCC) with my friend Chandra Shaker Reddy when K S Rama Rao, aka KSR, walked in.  All stood up and greeted him​ as he slowly walked across the hall towards our table at the far end. KSR is one of the most respected producer of Telugu films and happens to be the president of FNCC and this is his fourth term.

Chandra Shaker introduced him to me. ‘I don’t know Hindi,’ he said. I retorted in the same tone, ‘I don’t know Telugu.’ A pause ensued, long enough to hear the chirping of birds.  ‘But we can talk in English,’ I held out an olive branch.

KSR smiled, made himself comfortable on a chair across the table from me, we were face to face. A congenial conversation followed, some things were said and some remained unsaid. I get to understand in the first few minutes of our interaction, he understands people, their motivations. almost intuitively. "We will meet again," he said as he got up to leave, and added in an affirmative tone, ‘many times in the future.’

A couple of months later, I had a chance encounter with KSR in a newly opened café at FNCC–is the best cultural center in the city of Hyderabad. ‘I’m very busy for the next couple of months, till January 2,” he said. “But I’m here to see you,” I insisted. We exchanged glances. “Are you staying here,” he asked. I nodded a yes.  "We will meet in the evening today," he said after pondering for a while. We finally met the next morning at the same café and had a good, long conversation. He poured his heart out.

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KSR is happy, forward looking, busy, doesn’t harbour negative thoughts, and just wants to be positively engaged in something creative. He is in a good space and it was refreshing to meet him, a young man of 81 years.

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KSR left his hometown, Vijayawada, to go to Chennai to learn film making, at the age of 21, sixty years ago. His father ran a popular textile store, but he had other ideas. He learned a lot in Chennai, enough to start planning his own ventures, and shifted to Hyderabad and started a company, Creative Commercials in 1973, initially for  radio advertising business, before transitioning to film production ten years later.  Audio advertising, I thought, was a good choice, given his voice has a strong baritone. I tried to imagine how he would sound on a radio. 

KSR was good at what he was trying to do. His first few films as a producer, dubbing Tamil movies into Telugu, were Erra Gulabilu (1978) followed by Mouna Geetham (1980) and Tik Tik Tik (1981) a year later. Soon he came of age, an avid scholar of Telugu literature, its influence was increasingly seen in his cinema as the years went by. 

A visionary producer, he created a core team. Chiranjeevi was his hero, who would attain unparalleled stardom, it was KSR who bestowed him the title of  the ‘Mega Star’. Apart from Chiranjeevi, the team included writer Yandamuri Veerendranath, director A. Kodandarami Reddy, cinematographer Lok Singh and music director Ilaiyaraaj. They made an enviable team that made many great movies together. KSR also produced a Hindi film Criminal directed by Mahesh Bhatt with the lead cast of Nagarjuna, Manisha Koirala and Ramya Krishna.

Despite his phenomenal success, KSR is untouched by the fanfare of the film industry and works hard to this day. He describes it as a ‘struggle’. Perhaps, this constant struggle is part and parcel of the fast-changing Tollywood, has kept him young and wanting. “I do it for my family, we are used to living a certain way, and that should not change with the changing times,” he’s candid. This may seem a simple aspiration, to maintain the status quo, but given where he has reached, and how much he has achieved, one of the most revered producers in the country, it calls for concerted efforts.

KSR is humbled by his success and is down to earth. A very forthright, intuitive man, who wouldn’t shy away from calling a spade a spade. This is something he's acutely aware of, but can’t do much about it for he's been wired this way from his childhood.  He has lost some good friends, who perhaps, didn’t want to be told certain things, and he understands why they feel this way, and understands himself as well. He is sad, but there’s no regret. 

There’s constant struggle, he emphasises, but in a positive way. So is his only son Alexander Vallabha, who wanted to be a hero, and he launched him, but was not a success. “Perhaps, he’s not a hero material,” he says, without mincing words. KSR has accepted various facts of life, and never contested them, or contextualised them. So be it! “We have no delusion,” he says, speaking about his family and adds, “we’re pragmatic people.”

KSR is not happy with the unbridled commercialisation of the Telugu film industry. ‘I used to make movies till the time it cost a hundred crores,’ he says. Now the budget exceeds more than six hundred crores, the lead actor alone charges 150 crores. ‘Their salary is a major part of the cost,’ he explains.

“There was a time when movies were made to entertain the masses, poor people, their paying capacity was kept in mind by legendary actors like NT Rama Rao," he explains. There was a larger objective, not just money making. That era is gone. The government also has made it easier, now a movie ticket costs at least Rs. 500, he expresses concern.

When ​KSR was a student, he grew up watching movies, without denting his pocket, for as a ticket would cost 20 paisa, the most expensive balcony ticket could be had for Rs 2. He has made many representations about it to the government but this trend is unlikely to change.

Telugu film industry is a flourishing one, very good with technical aspects, and as you would have guessed by now, the richest stars are from the state. The Konidela–Allu family dominates the industry. And true to the tradition, legendary actors and their families do well in politics.

NTR’s son-in-law, Chandrababu Naidu, is the fourth time chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, his deputy, Kalyan, is the younger brother of Chiranjeevi. The reel and real life in this part of the country have a strong connection. NTR’s grandson NT Rama Rao Junior  is a sensation, one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has been featured in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2012.

KSR has been involved with FNCC since its inception nearly 45 years ago.  He wants to make a film academy here, increase the pool of talent, train and bring in new blood, but is for now stalled in want of support from his peers. He wants the academy not just here, but in Vijayawada too, and has not given up the idea, and I won’t be surprised if he realises his dreams in the years to come—will be his legacy to the Telugu film industry.

KSR is happy, forward looking, busy, doesn’t harbour negative thoughts, and just wants to be positively engaged in something creative. He is in a good space and it was refreshing to meet him, a young man of 81 years.

KSR is excited about a mega event he’s organising at FNCC for the mega start, his friend Chiranjeevi, who’s turning 70. ‘I live on the goodwill of my friends, they support me, always,’ he says. We shook hands for a long time before he hurried for another meeting.