Harikrishna Mamidi, Director, Department Of Language and Culture (Govt Of Telangana), and Telugu film historian, reveals, вЂњThe popularity of female novelists in the '70s, especially among women and the middle-class, translated into several film adaptations. And then in the '70s, the rise of female novelists like Madireddy Sulochana, Yaddanapudi Sulochana Rani, Arikepudi Koduri Kousalya Devi, D Kameshwari led several filmmakers and producers to adapt their popular novels into films. Several Telugu writers and poets like DV Narasa Raju, Pingali Nagendra Rao, Devulapalli Krishna Sastry, Sri Sri, Dasarathi Krishnamacharyulu used to write dialogues and lyrics for films. Then in the 60s, Chakrapani, a close associate of filmmaker B Nagi Reddy, translated several works of Bengali writers like Sharat Chandra Chatterjee and Rabindranath Tagore which led to adaptations like Devadas, Batasari (adaptation of Sarat Chandra ChatterjeeвЂ™s Bordidi), Thodi Kodallu (ChatterjeeвЂ™s Nishkriti) in Telugu. Bhakta Prahalada, the first Telugu film which released in 1931, was inspired from Sri Bhagavatham, and filmmakers of yore based several mythological films based on epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata.

History is replete with innumerable examples of great writers and having a profound impact on Telugu cinema in its early years. In complete contrast to the current trend, where the bridge between the literary world and cinema is anything but strong, the evolution of Telugu cinema was closely linked with Telugu literature and theatre. All these misconceptions have led people to stay away from literature.вЂќ Not everyone, when it comes to audiences, might be highly educated, but they have seen more life than us. If IвЂ™m rightly educated, my depiction of life might be more refined and insightful. But when you think about it - cinema, as a medium, depicts life. ThereвЂ™s also a certain amount to philistinism because people tend to believe that their (of well-educated filmmakersвЂ™) sensibilities will only appeal to a small set of the audience and the rest of the masses wonвЂ™t understand what they are talking about. Why do Telugu filmmakers often shy away from adapting literature? Mohan Krishna Indraganti says, вЂњThereвЂ™s a strong belief in the film industry that you donвЂ™t need to be educated to make films. Rajamouli has stated, quite a few times, that he was hugely influenced by Amar Chitra Katha as a kid and years later, it all came back to him when he was making the Baahubali series. But then, it gives you the scope to laugh at yourself when you explore the human existence under a magnifying glass,вЂќ he confesses, while elaborating what attracts him to comedy.ДЄpart from IndragantiвЂ™s works, there have been a select few films like Srinivas AvasaralaвЂ™s Oohalu Gusagusalaade (inspired from the French play Cyrano de Bergerac), Trivikram SrinivasвЂ™s A.Aa (loosely based on Yaddanapudi Sulochana RaniвЂ™s novel Meena) which were inspired from literary works of both Telugu and foreign authors however, instances such as these are few and far between, despite quite a few filmmakers like SS Rajamouli, Trivikram Srinivas, Harish Shankar, Koratala Siva going on record about the impact that works like Amar Chitra Katha, and writers and poets like Sri Sri, Vishwanath Satyanarayana, Ayn Rand, Yaddanapudi Sulochana Rani, Veturi, and Sirivennela Sitaramasastry have had on them. HeвЂ™s particularly attracted to the works of English and Irish playwrights like George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, and Sheridan who used humour to critique the cultural norms of the society. It is regarded as a form of penance and Murugan is invoked to destroy all negative traits in oneself.Mohan Krishna Indraganti acknowledges that literature was the foundation on which his dreams to make films was built. On this day, devotees carry large pots of milk on their back as an offering to the warrior god, after preparing for months in advance. The word Thaipusam is a combination of вЂ ThaiвЂ™, which indicates the month the festival falls in, and вЂ PusamвЂ™, the Tamil word for the Pushya star which is at its highest point during the festival. The day on which the spear or vel was gifted to him is celebrated as Thaipusam by Tamilians all over the world. Illustration: Sanjhiya MayekarThe god of war Karttikeya, also known as Murugan in Southern India, wields a celestial spear as a weapon, one that was given to him by his mother, Parvati, so that he could defeat the demon Surapadman.

Amar chitra katha tamil