Part 3

Continued from Part 2
....and then there were those ones that withstood the onslaught on time, growing in grace with each passing year; the ones that could be proudly proclaimed as true treasures of telugu filmdom. From the period beginning in the late 70s till the late 80s, Jandhyala involved himself with a great number of artistic masterpieces, lending his voice to the combined cause of culture, tradition and values, while dabbling in the commercial medium simultaneously. Whereas the commercial medium gave him the much needed success (and not to mention fortune), Jandhyala's fame as a writer beyond par grew chiefly because of his association with these artistic pieces. In here, there is no scope to elevate any character at the cost of the other, there are no situations to take unnecessary dramatic licenses, there could be no separate comedy tracks to provide relief to the audience, there would no character that rises above the story. Despite all these limitations, Jandhyala's words shine through, making the characters speak exactly and completely in tune with the situations, generating whatever little and subtle comedy within its own limited scope possible, causing them, in all, to be more sensible, intelligent and human. In his association with K.Viswanath in such seminal pieces like Siri Siri Muvva, Seetamalakshmi, Subhodayam, Sankarabharanam, Saptapadi, Subhalekha, Sagara Sangamam, and finally Aapadbandhavudu, Jandhyala made all of Viswanath's characters his own, imparting them the speak that truly justified their characters. When Sankara Sastry advices Daasu "aakalaesina baabu amma ani okalaa anTaaDu, nidra lO ulikki paDi laechina paapaDu amma ani okalaa anTaaDu, okkokka anubhootiki okkokka nirdusTamaina naadam undi. prayOgaala paeriTa aa amruta tulyamaina sangeetam apabhramSam chaeyaku daasu", the words indeed reflect the genuine pain and concern that Sastry reserves for the current state of traditional music.

"mrutilOna mugisinaa, chitilOna ragilinaa, kadataeripOnidee madhurAnubandham, yeda veeDipOnidee mamatAnurAgam", explains the relationship in a few words that exists between Balu, a drunkard dancer and Raghu, his loyal friend, a scribe. Continuing to explain the quality of Raghu's penmanship, Jandhyala uses - "panchaedryiyAlnae kaadu, prapanchAnni rAyila nilipaevADu rushi, rAyilA paDi unna prapanchAnni ahalyalaa malichae vaaDu manishi". Viswanath could not have asked for a better character representation than the few words that Jandhyala used to describe Sarat Babu's character. Later the same character, embarrassed by the benevolence of Jayaprada, when enquired about their status quo at a local nature clinic, quips, "rOgam paerutO daaniki, daani moguDu hOdaalO naaku, baanae maryaadalu jarugutunnaayanDi". Typical middle-class mentality, which would not accept anything, including charity, without putting it down first! The choice of words that are chosen for any scene should not only move the purpose of the scene forward, but also should be careful enough to be mindful about the characters' dispositions (sthiti gatulu). Madhava is a village cow-herder (Aapadbandhavudu). To come to aid in times of his master's financial distress, he arranges to buy the works of his master without his knowledge, through a third party. After the deal is made, anxious to hand-over the money, Madhava slips "aa bayaanaa aedO tondaragaa ippinchanDi". Again, an interesting choice of word "bayana" - the term that is generally used in trading circles, coming out of a person, who deals in animal trade on a regular basis. That the master immediately becomes resentful of that word, which lacks the sensitivity while dealing with works of literature, sets up the next scene. It is when a writer develops an ear for the character's speak and becomes mindful of his social context, that his words start sounding more authentic, genuine and heart-felt.

Sentiment is a tough emotion to write dialogues to. It is a fine-walk on a thread-bare situation. A couple of notches up, the sentiment plays out flat and phony, not to mention loud and distracting. Played sufficiently toned-down, the emotion barely even registers. These dialogues often decide the true mettle of the writer, capable of testing whether he captures the true pulse of the scene. Madhava, a childhood friend of Sankara Sastry, has been on the constant look-out for a match for Sarada, Sastry's only daughter. After rejecting many prospective alliances, much to the vexation of Madhava, Sastry finally agrees to this match, an alliance with a local school teacher. On the eve of their meeting, Sarada fumbles through her song, and incurs her father's wrath, which eventually snowballs into a calamity, causing the alliance to fall through. Madhava could not believe what just happened. His frustration and furious anger at Sastry, for rejecting the alliance because the groom could not get a few answers in traditional music correct, slowly gathers momentum. Observe how Jandhyala breathes fire into the words to flare up the situation - "avasaram laeduraa, neekaedee avasaram laedu, kaanee Saradaku peLLi avasaram, oka peLLtODu avasaram, oka neeDa avaSaram. ae sangeeta visdwaasuDikO kaTTabeTTi daani gontu enduku kOstaavu raa! nuvvanubhavinchae sukham chalakanaa? Sangeeta saamraaTTuvu, SankaraabharaNam lO DiTTavi, ganDapenDaeram toDiginchukunna vaaDivi, ivaaLaa evaDanna kacchaeriki pilichi okka roopaayi istunnaaDuraa? Subhramaina baTTa kaTTi ennaeLLaiyindi raa! santruptigaa mooDu pooTalu bhOmchaesi yennaeLLaiyyindiraa? pOnee Saradakannaa oka ravikela guDDa ayinaa konipeTTagalugu tunnaavaa? Inka neekendukuraa ee kanchi garuDa saeva? prajalaki nee sangeetam akkarlaenappuDu, aa sangeetam neeku kooDu guDDa peTTlaenappuDu, endukuraa neekinkaa aa vyAmOham?....."

Madhava's monlogue isn't just at Sankara Sastry for sticking to his guns, it is also aimed at the apathy of the current generation for paying a deaf ear to the traditions of the native land, too caught up in the fancy of the borrowed culture, ignoring the arts and the artistes that have been the very definition of them. The words carry a lot of raw anger, the words carry a great deal of frustration, the words carry a veiled warning, the words, in effect, carry a message. If a writer were to use just a petty confrontation situation as a pretext to vent his ire on a generation, forgetting its own roots, and still convey the original message effectively, he is said to add a "level", a "subtext" and a "social commentary" to the ongoing proceedings on the screen. And it talks volumes of the capability of the writer to perform such feat in a such strict director's medium - the cinema.

Continued in the next part

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