(I)
The twenty first century saw a flood of non Telugu actors in Telugu films. Most of them are character actors. It was not a surprise when the imports are actresses especially heroines. Just for the glamour quotient or for the mythical crazy combination or of course the word professional, they are professional compared to Telugu girls (the discussion is for another day), is thrown at.
The 1990s was the last decade when Telugu character artists dominated the Telugu film landscape. Kota Srinivasa Rao is last of such species. Now a days the only assured Telugu quotient in Telugu films is comedy actors.
Why speak of this thing as if it’s a very new phenomenon? Isn’t it happening for a long time? Most of the Villains are imported. Character artists like Sayaji Shinde, Mukhesh Rishi, Pradeep Rawat and the like. They came into light as Villains. Unknown quantities. To give a couple of shivers down the spines. But there’s a catch. After a couple of powerful roles, they are relegated to one of the numerous Villains or a run of the mill father.
Late in the first decade, hope glimmered in the form of Rao Ramesh, son of legendary Rao Gopala Rao. The ease with which he portrays typical characters, his dialogue delivery made a mark. And he was embraced with both hands by many filmmakers.
What next? Who’s next? Natural acting (an oxymoron), subtlety in expression, fresh energy are the need of the hour. The youth revolution of early 2000s brought many traits to the fore, over the top family relations. But that didn’t change the landscape of Telugu filmmaking the way it was expected. The phenomenon died away as quickly as it rose.
There’s a change in the air right now. Many Avant garde filmmakers brimming with new ideas and modern filmmaking methods are steadily coming up the ladder. Some of them started the traditional way and others the natural route. Short film making.
The advent of digital cameras and internet and smartphones made it somewhat easy for youngsters to make films. With thousands of such filmmakers, there’s always a chance that some of them to be recognised by the mainstream industry and countable number of short film makers got chances and more than half of them grabbed the opportunities with both hands.
That leads to fresh talent and one such talent is Mr. Kedar Shankar.
(II)
Kedar Shankar is not new to films. The multifaceted artist started his career by ghostwriting the national award winning film, Ankuram (1993) starring some of the best acting talents of India, Revathi and Om Puri.
Then he went on to work for the same director for Aravind Swamy’s Mounam (1995). Considering the craze for Aravind Swamy post Roja, this was one of the biggest projects.
Next came the chance to work for the film, Surya Putrulu (1997) of Mamooty. This was an impressive thing to have in resume.
(III)
Apart from his mainstream film commitments, Kedar Shankar was an active member of Sumadhura Kalaniketan of Vijayawada.
During this phase, Kedar Shankar directed two government sponsored films. 1. Pragathi Bharatam and 2. Sada Mee Sevalo
The feather in his capturing this phase was Modati Adugu, a film about Midday Meal.
(IV)
ng with Eenadu Television’s daily Serial, ‘Adade Adharam’. The role of Lawyer Chandrasekhar got him applause and proved him to be a versatile artist. With the negative shade character, he became a household name and chances started to flow.
After that, Sikharam and Pellinati Pramanaalu (Zee Telugu) showed him in other sort of roles.
(V)
Finally, he got a chance to prove his worth in films. Village lo Vinayakudu, Saikiran Adivi, one of the much anticipated films during the 2000s was his first. He acted as second brother of Rao Ramesh.
Then came a series of smaller characters in films like Varudu (Allu Arjun/Gunasekhar), Leader (Shekhar Kammula), Ala Ela, Nuvvu Ala Nenu Ila, Ghajini (Aamir Khan/A. R. Murugadoss), Jagannatakam, Eerojullo, an unreleased film in the form of Mandodari, and Kerintha. Apart from Eerojullo and Ghajini, none of the films did any good for his career as an actor.
Things doesn’t go in the same vein forever be it in a better way or worse. He got the opportunity to portray the father character of the protagonist in the runaway hit, Pelli Choopulu. Hailed as path breaking/Pathmaking film Pelli Choopulu created ripples among movie public. Overwhelming positive buzz even before its release was seen as a great sign for a small budget film made mostly with many unknown and little known artists, mostly Telanganaites. The film strikes gold right from the matinee on the first day and positive word of mouth helped it became a 20 crores film by the time of this writing.
(VI)
The film Pelli Choopulu is a pleasant surprise. I was alerted about his connection with that film, tagged in Facebook posts and I followed the movements now and then. But then when I watched it in the theatre, there was that man. The man who, merely three weeks ago, talked to me for more than one hour, discussed so many things, narrated me an excellent adaptation of an epic film, offered me coffee, shook my hands and booked a cab for my urgent journey. The hero’s father.
I didn’t know more surprises awaiting me. I closely observed every move of his, expression and dialogue delivery. He wasn’t acting. He was there, speaking to other characters just like he did when we were together, moving just like when I first saw him. The same tinging voice. He didn’t act. He just lived through the character.
My reaction was,
Where the hell this man is all these days! From where did the filmmaker plucked him?
This is not because he’s an acquaintance of mine or he is a friend’s father. It’s not just me who talked about him. Most of the reviews talked about the three father characters in the film.
Critics of high repute like Idlebrain’s Jeevi (Kedar Shankar comes up with nice performance as a frustrated father. The combination scenes between father (Kedar) and son (Vijay) worked really well because of the frustration and confusion portrayed by the respective characters), Sikander gave special applaud.
Some didn’t even know the name, Kedar Shankar. He was an unknown gem, unearthed in this film.
The subtlety of expression, dialogue delivery, he’s a boon to the present generation filmmakers.
I heard someone saying in the theatre, here’s another Rao Ramesh.
Yes. I agree.
With new generation of filmmakers and equally talented fresher artists like Kedar Shankar, good days finally seems to be ahead for Telugu Cinema. I’m sure this is not a false dawn like it was in the year, 2000
॥
GitacharYa SSC 