Ravuri Bharadvāja (1927 – 18 October 2013) was a Jnanpith award winning Telugu novelist, short-story writer, poet and critic. He wrote 37 collections of short stories, seventeen novels, four play-lets, and five radio plays. He also contributed profusely to children's literature. Paakudu Raallu, a graphic account of life behind the screen in film industry, is considered his magnum opus. Jeevana Samaram is another of his popular works.
He could not study beyond class 7 but earned fame through his short stories, poetry and critical reviews. He had done several odd jobs but later worked in weeklies and also in All India Radio.
He received honorary doctorates, a Central Sahitya Akademi award and ultimately the Jnanpith award. He was only the third Telugu writer to be honoured with the country's highest literary award. He was awarded the 48th Jnanpith award for the year 2012 which was announced on 17 April 2013 for his work Paakudu Raallu.
Ravuri died at Care Hospital in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad on October 18, 2013.
మద్రాసులో ముడున్నరేళ్ళు 'చిత్రసీమ' సినిమా పత్రికలో పనిచేస్తూ సినిమా తారల భేటీలెన్నో దిద్దాను. రిపోర్టర్లతో ఉన్న సాహిత్యంతో వారి ద్వారా తెలుసుకున్న వివరాలు నేను స్వయంగా తెలుసుకున్నవి గుదిగుచ్చి ఒక కధ రాశాను. మంచి స్పందన రావడంతో 'మాయాజలతారు' నవలను రాశాను. దీనికే పాకుడు రాళ్లు పేరు మార్చారు శీలా వీర్రాజు. నాకు ఇష్టమైన నవల ఇది. రాజకీయం,సినిమా మహా సముద్రం లాంటివి. ఎంతరాసిన తక్కువే. ...... రావూరి భరద్వాజ
Pakudu Rallu (slippery stones) is Ravuri's novel that got him the Jnanpith Award, the main theme is about the dark shades of the Telugu Film Industry half a decade ago. This is a simple narrative and the story continue as characters talking with each other over everyday life situations.
The entire novel revolves around the character Manjari and how she became a top Telugu film heroine from an orphan drama artist named Mangamma. Manjari is a semi fictional charector based on some real incidents. Ravuri touched many points about the society,top heroes and their egos,casting couch(Quid Pro Quo ?) , caste centered politics, how the top artists suppress chances for new talent, relationship between film industry and journalism etc.
Looks like even after 60 years most of the things are not changed in Telugu Film Industry, Manjari-like characters still exists and those top hero’s sons and grandsons are top heroes now :) I have enjoyed reading this novel and recommend to anyone interested in reading a Telugu Novel.
ఈ నవల చదివిన తరువాత పాత సినిమాల మీద ఆ రోజుల గురించి వివిధ ఇంటర్వ్యూ లలో ప్రముఖులు చెప్పిన విషయాలు అన్నీ అబద్ధాలేన అనిపిస్తున్నాయి. నవలలో పాత్రలే కాదు, ఆ రోజుల్లో జరిగినవన్నీ అద్భుతమైన ఘట్టాలు అనుకున్న వాళ్ళు కూడా జారిపడతారు ఈ పాకుడు రాళ్ళు తాకితే :D
This book shows the reality of the life of artists in not just Tollywood but all around the world. Though the book is written long back, The kind of situations that artists of today face, didn't change much. It completely changed my way of watching movies. I will quote one line from this book itself to summarise everything that I learned from this book "The greatest tragedy in life isn't about not having the money, It is not being loved"
This is the story of the rags to riches heroine in the film industry. A great portrayal of relationships in the film industry. Would have loved the book more had the author killed the heroine.
"The greatest tragedy in life isn't about not having the money, It is not being loved"
This is an amazing book that narrates story of a woman who becomes a star in stage drama in mid 1900s and her meteoric rise into cinemas over years. Although the actor's personal life gets ruined in the process and she does anything to get to her dream of becoming star actress competing with greats of her industry, author doesn't offer a judgement on the same and narrates the events transpiring without judging any of her actions. Narration is poignant and Ravuri sir writes prose with such beauty as poetry. Amazing work and must read for anyone with interest in telugu literature.
This book explores the movie industry and casting couch incidents through the story of an actress. Each character has multiple layers to it. If we know the incidents happened in telugu film industry during 1950's and 1960' it is easy to identify who exactly the writer is talking about. I think the main character in the story Manjari is not a single actress but she represents many actresses during that time. It is chilling to read the journey of this actress from rags to riches. A must read !!
One of the masterpiece in Telugu literature, honoured by highest literary award in India " JNANA PITH" If you start the book, the style of writing brought you to end of the book, such a magnificent, attractive style of writing. It's a about the life story of normal person reaches to mighty heights by her hardwork and finally ends life ...
Is it just me, who saw actress, "Savitri" and some other filmy personalities in this story. A good one, but not a great one in my opinion, from the literary aspects? Or maybe I am not qualified to judge.
A field - roles - inspirations - trails - falls - politics - growth - deadly mistakes - sudden fall.....not so easy to say like this in phrases....you will live like a main role.