Gutha Ramineedu – Iconic filmmaker of Telugu cinema with two National awards

Gutha Ramineedu (1927 – 2009) was an ace filmmaker of Telugu cinema, with two National awards and one Nandi award. His debut film as a director Maa Inti Mahalakshmi (1959) and Palnati Yuddham (1966) won National awards for best regional film in Telugu. His last film as a director Yagnam won Nandi Award for Best Feature Film in 1991. He retired from films after that, and lived in Chennai till his death in 2009. He is known for introducing many popular actors like Haranth and M. Prabhakar to silver screen through his first two films – Maa Inti Mahalakshmi and Chivaraku Migiledi respectively.

Gutha Ramineedu hailed from West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Chataparru was his native village. He joined film industry as an assistant in 1954 and marked his directorial debut with National award winning movie, Maa Inti Mahalakshmi. His second film Chivaraku Migiledi (1960) – remake of Bengali classic Deep Jwele Jaai also earned him critical acclaim, though the movie was not a big hit at box office hit. But this movie helped him to establish as a director in the film industry. In a career spanning to more than three decades, he scripted and directed many iconic movies of Telugu cinema. He is widely regarded as one of the best directors of Telugu cinema.

Gutha Ramineedu – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. Noted film actor Rao Gopal Rao has worked as his assistant in the 1960s and early 1970s.

2. D. Ramanaidu marked his debut as film producer through Anuragam directed by Gutha Ramineedu.

3. He established Andhra Club in Chennai to promote arts – mainly plays, and works related to movies. Many members associated with Andhra Club later went on to become filmmakers and actors.

4. Haranath made a guest appearance as an inpatient of the mental hospital in his second film Chivaraku Migiledi. Haranath was earlier introduced to silver screen in a lead role by the director in his debut flick – Maa Inti Mahalakshmi.

5. The iconic role of nurse (later played Savithri) for Chivaraku Migiledi was initially offered to Jamuna, who played female lead in his debut flick. Due to remuneration issues, things didn’t happen and Savithri readily accepted the role which was hailed as her career best by many critics, and also earned her Rashtrapati Award. Later Waheeda Rehman who reprised the role in Hindi remake (Khamoshi in 1970) after a decade openly admitted that she could not meet the standards set by Savithri.