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Sattriraju Lakshmi Narayana, also known as Bapu was born on 14th of December in 1933 in Narsapur, West Godavari, and Andhra Pradesh. He graduated as a lawyer from University of Madras in 1955. He joined as political cartoonist for the newspaper Andhra Patrika in 1955. He later went on to become a designer, movie director and a popular painter.
Painting Style

Bapu introduced a painting that uses simple bright colours, which are easy on the eye. His unique style of economy of strokes, freehand drawing and non-usage of background clutter made the paintings simple, beautiful and popular. He specializes in Hindu mythological characters and has painted the Hindu epic Ramayana as a pictorial story. In his paintings, characters like Shiva, Bhima, Duryodhana look distinctly male with wide chests, bigger jaws and large biceps, while Krishna and Rama are rather more feminine in build. All his female characters (including the Hindu goddesses) have doe-like eyes, a waist-hip ratio of 0.7, voluptuous breasts, long hair and a sharp nose. In fact, the phrase [Bapu Bomma] (Bapu's painting) has become synonymous with a beautiful girl in Telugu. Another character called Rendu Jadala Seetha ("Seetha with two plaits") later became a synonym for any girl wearing two plaits. Bapu has also introduced a new cursive writing in Telugu, which is probably the only alternative to the more traditional print font in Telugu.
Collaborations with other artists

He worked with Satyam Sankaramanchi and drew a hundered and one picture for each of the stories in Amaravati Kathalu. He collaborated with comic writer Mullapudi Venkata Ramana and gave life to Mullapudi's characters Budugu and his family in the Movies Bapu has directed movies like Saakshi (Witness), Muthyala Muggu, Mana Voori Pandavulu, Sampoorna Ramayanam (The Complete Ramayana), Seetha Kalyanam, Sri Ramanjaneya Yuddham, Krihnavatharam, Sri Rajeswari Vilas Coffee Club, Toorupu Velley Railu, Andhala Ramudu, Gorantha Deepam, Vamsa Vriksham, Pelli Pustakam (The Book of Marriage), Mr.Pellam (Mr.Wife), Tyagayya (a biopic on the life of Saint Tyagaraja) and Pelli Koduku, Srinadha Kavi Sarvabhoumudu, Rambantu, Radha Gopalam (Radha and Gopalam). Apart from Telugu movies Bapu also directed a few Hindi Movies such as Hum Paanch, Bezubaan, Pyari Behna, Mohobbat, Mera Dharam, Diljala and Prem Pratigya.
Other works

Bapu is said to have designed some saris too. Bapu designed the collection of saris used in the 1991 movie Pelli Pustakam.

Awards and Acclaim

Bapu was awarded the Raghupathy Venkaiah award by the State Government of Andhra Pradesh for his outstanding contribution to Telugu cinema in 1986. He shared the award along with his soul mate Mullapudi Venkata Ramana. Another popular work in Telugu Koonalamma Padalu (Poems from Everyday People) has the following in praise of Bapu:
Konte Bommala Bapu Konni Tharamula Sepu Gunde OOyala-loopu O Koonalammaa (Bapu's paitings sway the hearts for generations)

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27-Aug-07 9:35 PM