Mullapudi Venkata Ramana

Mullapudi Venkata Ramana (June 28, 1931-February 24, 2011) was a Telugu Story & Screenplay Writer. Critics regard him as one of the best Storywriters of contemporary Telugu Film Industry. He was primarily known for his humorous style of writing. He also created a popular cartoon character named Budugu Click to look into! >> Read More... . He was versatile storywriter & could etch both heart-warming & hilarious dialogues with the same ease. He created many memorable characters in the film industry like Radha, Gopalam (Muthyala Muggu) & Tutti (Mister Pellam). Mullapudi Venkata Ramana was born in a middle-class family in a rural area called Dhowleshwaram near Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh. Ramana had two siblings to take care, one elder sister & one younger brother when his father passed away. Ramana was just nine years old when he shifted to Madras (The then Chennai) for a better scope of family improvement. Ramana’s mother Mrs. Adilakshmi sacrificed a lot to bring up her children.

Ramana had shown the magical presence of mind & creativity in the field of Telugu literature & wrote effective & short storylines at ease. During the same period, he got an unconditional friendship bloomed with future star cartoonist & director Bapu. Ramana was at home in story-writing whereas Bapu was good at painting & drawing cartoons. Thus they expanded their talents through collaborations in future that gave us many memorable films. Bapu illustrated Ramana’s first short story Amma Maata Vinakpothe. Stories like Runanandalahiri dealt with the lives of Indians leading their lives fighting with inflation, recession, job insecurities & stagnant society. Their problems were dealt with in a humorous way unlike the problems Sri. Ramana faced in his real life. Katha Ramaneeyam (both parts) was influenced by Ramana’s real life also.

Ramana completed SSLC exam in Madras. After that, he started working as a reporter for the famous newspaper of that time Andhra Patrika in 1953 after going through many struggles in several part-time jobs. There he met many prominent writers of Telugu literature like Nanduri Ramamohana Rao & Surampudi Seetaram. During this time his cartoons for children were published in the name of ‘Budugu’ (little kid) in ‘weekly’ section of the newspaper. ‘Budugu’ became very popular among children for its unique storyline about judging elders from children’s point of view. Critics also praised the witty & knowledgeable side of the cartoon & its aim to make the adults understand the psychology of the children more. Ramana then started writing film reviews in the ‘Cinema Page’ section of the same newspaper.

His detailed, unorthodox & impartial film reviews caught the attention of many contemporary filmmakers like Adurthi Subbarao and Dundi who encouraged him to work in films. Ramana got his first break as story-writer in the 1962 Telugu drama film RakthaSambandam (1960). After that, there was no stopping for writer Ramana. His witty & melodramatic mixture of story telling in Velugu Needalu, Kanney manasulu made those films blockbusters. Some of these films had Superstar Akkineni Nageshwar Rao in lead roles. Soon he became most sought after writer in film industry & Co-produced Sakshi (1967) with childhood friend Bapu that got widespread critical acclaim, especially for its storyline & direction. Their collaborations were in the perfect concord of the subtle artistic style of Bapu & out of the box comedic style of Ramana. It gave us many a landmark films like Radha kalyanam, Vamsa vruksham, Mr. Pellam, Sundarakanda etc. Muthyala Muggu (1975) was one of the path-breaking films in Indian film industry.

It won two national film awards in 1976, including best Telugu feature film. The characters of this movie are relevant today too. It launched iconic villain Ravu Gopal Rao in his debut role. Sampoorna Ramayana (1971) was another landmark film from the duo. Critics hail it as one of the best representation of Epic Ramayana in Telugu film industry. This collaboration enriched the Telugu film industry immensely. Ramana tried hands in Bollywood with Hum Paanch (1980) but if failed to be a success. During 1985-1990 Sri Ramana & Sri Bapu collaborated in making educational television films for children on the request of chief minister Dr. NT Ramarao. Future legendary music director A.R.Rahman provided the background score. Ramana wrote a 3 volume autobiography- Kothi Kommachi, Inkothi Kommachi & Mukkothi Kommachi. The stories of the trilogy keep hopping timelines just like the titles of the books.

Sri Ramana received numerous accolades from Telugu film industry for his excellent & creative work. A.P Government felicitated him with Raghupat Venkaiah Award for his mastery in films in 1986. He also received Honorary Doctorate from Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupati. He was the recipient of the Raja-Lakshmi Literary Award in 1995. However, many contemporary critics expressed their dissatisfaction for not awarding Sri Ramana any Padma Awards. To the utter shock of the Telugu Film Fraternity, Sri Venkata Ramana passed away due to the natural old-age related disease on February 24, 2011, while working for a mythological film Sri Ramarajyam. He has become a cult film personality among Telugu people after his death starting a legacy.