B.N. Reddy – The Pioneer of Artistic Cinema

When “Bhakta Prahlada", the first talkie film, just a drama on celluloid, directed by H.M. Reddy, came out in 1932, one would not imagine that the Telugu cinema could achieve such artistic height as it did with “Malliswari” and “Bangaru Papa” in the 1950s.

A connaisseur of aesthetic films can be proud that Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy, popularly known as B.N. Reddy, was the forerunner of Bapu in making artistic movies.

Reddy, a chartered accountant by profession, came under the influence of H.M. Reddy, a producer and director. But due to some differences, he parted ways with H.M. Reddy and associated himself with Vijaya and Vauhini Production Houses along with his older brother, Bommireddy Nagireddy, K.V. Reddy and Moola Narayana Swamy.

Reddy directed his movies on celluloid like an artist paints beautiful pictures on canvases. His artistic touch is evident in every frame of his celluloid.

"Mallewari" and "Bangaru Papa" were his magnum opus out of eleven pictures he directed. Of course, all his films have their own merit.

Below, I will quote the storylines of a few great movies that he directed: 

In the movie “Malliswari”, Nagaraju (N.T. Rama Rao) and Malliswari (P. Bhanumathi) were cousins and childhood sweethearts. Lured by the jewels and gold ornaments sent by Sri Krishnadevaraya (Govindarajula Subba Rao), the emperor of the Vijayanagar kingdom, Malliswari’s mother sends her daughter to be a chambermaid to the queen. Nagaraju grows into a good sculptor and is unable to bear the separation from Malliswari. So, he goes to the city in search of her. He is caught by the royal guards when he sneaks into the queen’s garden. Nagaraju confesses that he has gone there to meet his cousin Malliswari; he is sentenced to death by decapitation along with Malliswari. But on hearing about the true love story of Nagaraju and Malliswari, the king pardoned them. He also appoints Nagaraju as the chief of the sculptors. Thus the movie ends on a happy note.

The story of the movie "Bangaru Papa" melts one’s heart. Kotayya (S.V. Ranga Rao) is implicated in a case and imprisoned during his wedding. In due course of time, he is released from jail and becomes bent upon taking revenge on the person who sent him to prison But the will of God is inscrutable. He comes across an abandoned female child, Bangaru Papa (Krishna Kumari), on a rainy night. He takes the baby into his arms and rears her up. Now he is a changed man. He gives up his plan of revenge on the villain and returns to his old profession of an ironsmith. Bangaru Papa grows into a beautiful teenage girl and falls in love with Sekhar (Amarnath), the grand son of a zamindar. But the zamindar and his son, Manohar (Jaggaiah), oppose the alliance since Kotayya is just an ironsmith. The zamindaar offers money to Kotayya and asks him to leave Bangaru Papa. But the girl in question refuses to be sold and prepares to sacrifice her love for Sekhar. She is resolved to live with her foster father Kottayya. Then Manohar confesses that Bangaru Papa is his own daughter, born out of wedlock with late Santha (Jamuna). Finally, Bangaru Papa marries Sekhar in a grand wedding ceremony.

This story is an adaptation of George Eliot's “Silos Marner".

In the cinema "Devata", the director beautifully picturises the scene of coercion, where Venu coerces Lakshmi (Kumari) into having sex with him. Venu, seized by irresistible sexual desire, hugs Lakshmi, and the lamp falls down by the accidental touch of his hand. In the next scene, Lakshmi is shown sitting on the platform of a well, sobbing inconsolably.

After some vicissitudes in the wheel of fortune, Venu marries Lakshmi, already with a child through him.

The other movies directed by him were also equally great.

The National Film Awards and the State Government’s Nandi Awards were not in existence in the early 1950s. So, some of his movies could not bag national and regional awards. But his “Bangaru Papa” and "Rangula Ratnam" won the President’s Silver Medals for best feature films in Telugu.

"Malliswari" had won accolades at the Asian Film Festival held in Peking, which was the sole entry from India.

Rangula Ratnam received the Golden Nandi, and "Bangaru Panjaram" the Bronze Nandi, from the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

After "Bangaru Panjaram", he had not directed any movie. He rued the commercialisation of the cinema industry and kept himself away.

He was awarded Padmabhushan in 1974, in recognition of his great work in the movie world.

He directed a total of eleven films during his movie career. Out of them, he directed nine movies for Vijaya-Vahini production houses, and only two movies – "Pujaphalam" and "Rajamakutam" – were the outside productions.

He always used to say "Malliswari" was his favourite picture and wanted to make another movie like it.

But he breathed his last in 1977 without realising his dream.