L. V. Prasad Story
Imperial
had to retrench people and Prasad was left jobless. Things had not improved
for him in the past 8 years, but for some acting, a little bit of assistance
in directing and some odd roles. He decided to leave Bombay with his family
to his native place with an intention of raising some funds from known
people and start his own production company. This did not work. One day
when he was desperate, a telegram came from H.M.Reddy to act in Rohini
Pictures Grihalakshmi. He left for Madras and life changed. He made impact
in H.M.Reddys Tenali Ramakrishna and Gharana Dhonga. World War II
was at its peak and the Japanese bombed Madras forcing many to migrate.
H.M.Reddy left for Pune with his family and Prasad had to return to his
native place. He was deeply depressed now since he found himself a misfit
for any job other than cinema. Tantra Subrahmanyam assigned him a job
of a production supervisor and assistant director for the film Kashta
Jeevi which took him to Bombay again. The film was abandoned after
shooting three reels. Prasad was in no mood to leave now and he got a
job as assistant director in a few other films. During this time using
his connections with Prithviraj Kapoor he joined Prithvi Theatres and
satisfied his acting passion. It was during this time that he met Raj
Kapoor, the hero of his first Hindi production 'Sharada'. Though L.V.Prasad
was now comfortable the yearning to achieve greater heights made him restless.
In
1943 he got the opportunity to take on the responsibility of assistant
director for Gruha Pravesham. Due to circumstances he became the director
of the film and then he was also chosen as the hero of the film! Gruha
Pravesham, released in 1946 was one of the finest films of the forties
and went on to become a classic of the period. After this K.S.Prakasha
Rao offered Prasad an important role in Drohi. During this
time Ramabrahmam was facing difficulty in finishing his film Palnatti
Yudhdham due to ill health and he chose Prasad to do justice to
this film. After this in 1949, Prasad directed Mana Desam and introduced
N.T.Rama Rao, later to become a legend in telugu cinema, in a minor role.
In
1950 Vijaya Pictures released their first film Shavukkaru
establishing L.V.Prasad as a great director. N.T.Rama Rao became a hero
in Shavukkaru and Janaki the heroine, climbed to fame to become known
as Shavukkar Janaki. Samsaram released in the same year brought
together the two legends of the telugu film industry as brothers
N.T.Rama Rao and A.Nageswara Rao in a social drama which created records
wherever it was released. The film provided a model for later film makers,
a model and theme relevant and popular amongst film
makers even today. After this success chased him. He directed some memorable
films in the fifties all of them known for their drama and fine humour.
Rani a hindi film took him to Bombay again and after that
Jupiter Films engaged L.V.Prasad to direct their Magnum Opus Manohara
starring the legendary Shivaji Ganesan in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. This
film elevated Shivaji Ganesan to the greatest heights of stardom. In the
mid fifties the industrialist in
L.V.Prasad came into being and he purchased a plot offered by Ranganadhadas
to start building his own studio. The combined pressure of building the
studio and directing films started telling on his health and in 1955 he
suffered from a bout of sciatica. Though he recovered sufficiently, his
decision to return immediately to his duties, against the doctors
advice, resulted in prolonged treatment and diet restrictions till the
end.
But
L.V.Prasad had more goals to achieve. In 1955 he assigned D.Yoganand to
direct his first production Ilavelpu in Telugu under the banner
Lakshmi Productions. L.V.Prasad established Prasad Productions soon after
this in 1956. His second son Ramesh returned from the US after obtaining
his B.E.M.S degree and established Prasad Film Labs in Chennai in 1974.
Prasad Productions made many memorable box office hits including
Milan, Khilona, Sasural and Ek Duuje Ke Liye. L.V.Prasad contributed generously
towards theestablishment of L.V.Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, which
is today, one the foremost eye research institutes in the world. The efforts
started by him in 1956 is today one of the largest infrastructure for
feature film post production in India with facilities and offices in India,
Singapore, Dubai and Hollywood.
During
his lifetime L.V.Prasad held many posts and won many awards. In 1982 came
the crowning glory of his lifetime the Dada Saheb Phalke award
from the Government of India, the highest recognition in Filmdom in India.
|