Telugu film legends were feted at 100 years of Indian cinema

Chennai: Information and Public Relations minister DK Aruna inaugurated an evening to mark Telugu cinema's contribution to the 100 years of Indian cinema here on Sunday.

She formally lighted the lamp amidst the presence of several legends from Telugu film industry. Aruna who represented the State government recalled the services of Telugu industry in the last several decades.

The celebrations got a touch of Telugu film industry with the presence of eminent persons like D Rama Naidu, K Viswanath, Jamuna, Ravu Balasaraswati, Balakrishna, Krishnam Raju, Geetanjali, Kaikala Satyanarayana, Vani Sree, K Balachander, Rajendra Prasasd and Jayasudha. Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao too was present.

The celebrations organized by the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce on the second day were dedicated to Telugu film industry. The celebrations were launched on Saturday by Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa. Three hours long cultural show depicting the journey of Telugu film industry captured the attention of the audience.

Film legends honoured at Indian cinema centenary fete Singers such as L R Eswari, M S Rajeshwari and Jamuna Rani with music-violinist M. Ramasubramaniam and singer-composer Illayaraja were awarded too.

Renowned producers such as Saravanan of AVM group, Venkat Ram Reddy of Vijaya productions, Ramesh Prasad of Prasad lab & studios and R B Chaudhary were also conferred the award. Technicians such as Suresh (Anand Pictures Circuit), Jawahar (Delight Theatres, Coimbatore), Pulamaipithan (Lyricist), Aroor Das (Writer), N S Varma and Babu (Cinematographers), R. Vittal (Editor) and Sundaram (Choreographer) were awarded.

Delivering the presidential address, Jayalalithaa looked back at her own days as an actress. "When I was an actress, celebrating 100 days run of a film at the box-office was considered a rare achievement.

Today, we are celebrating the centenary year of Indian cinema, and it is indeed a very special moment," she said. Jayalalithaa was one of the reigning stars of yesteryear. She made her cinematic debut at the age of 15. She even remembered some of the biggest contributors to Indian cinema.

The list includes names such as M G Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesh, Gemini Ganeshan, N T Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Relangi, S V Ranga Rao, Gumadi Venkateswara Rao, Prem Nazir, Satyan, Rajkumar, Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, Raj Kapoor, Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Naushad, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Naushad, Asha Bhonsle, Lata Mangeshkar, T M Soundarajan, P B Srinivas, Vishwanathan-Ramamurthy and Ghantasala among many more.
C Kalyan, president, South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce extended his gratitude to the chief minister.

"This event wouldn't have been possible without the support and guidance of our chief minister," he added. The evening was dedicated for the celebration of Tamil industry. Actors such as Vikram, Ajith Kumar, Vijay, Dhanush and many more were present.