Akkineni Laxmi Vara Prasada Rao | |
|---|---|
 Prasad on a 2006stamp of India | |
| Born | (1907-01-17)17 January 1907 |
| Died | 22 June 1994(1994-06-22) (aged 87) |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, director, producer, businessman |
| Years active | 1930–1990 |
| Children | 2, Late A. Anand Rao andRamesh Prasad |
| Relatives | A. Sreekar Prasad (nephew) |
| Awards | Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1982) |
Akkineni Laxmi Vara Prasada Rao (17 January 1907 – 22 June 1994), known professionally asL. V. Prasad, was an Indian film director, producer, actor, and businessman. He was one of the pioneers of Indian cinema and is the recipient of theDadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest Award for films in India. In 1980, he was awarded theRaghupathi Venkaiah Award, for his contribution toTelugu cinema.
He foundedPrasads Group in 1956, which include thePrasad Art Pictures,Prasad Studios, Prasad's IMAX andL. V. Prasad Eye Institute.[1] He was elected as the President of TheSouth Indian Film Chamber of Commerce for the year 1982–83. The Government of India released a Commemorative postage stamp in his memory in 2006.[2]
Prasad also had the unique distinction of acting in the firsttalkies of three different languages ofIndian cinema;Alam Ara (Hindi),Bhakta Prahlada (Telugu) andKalidas (a Tamil and Telugu bilingual film).[3]
Akkineni Lakshmi Vara Prasada Rao was born on 17 January 1907 in the remote village ofSomavarappadu, inEluru Taluk in West Godavari district,Andhra Pradesh, the second son to Akkineni Sriramulu and Akkineni Basavamma. The family was into agriculture and Prasad was a pampered child, very intelligent, but never interested in studies.[4]
At the age of 17 in 1924, he married his maternal uncle's daughter, Soundarya Manoharamma. Soon they had a baby girl. Prasad's father had mounting debts and declaredinsolvency, at which point Prasad looked to a cinema career.
L. V. Prasad worked as an errand boy for Venus Film Company. He then joined India Pictures as an errand boy, where Akthar Nawaz cast him in a bit-part in the silent filmStar of the East. In 1931, he acted in India's first "talkie",Alam Ara, recruited through Venus Film Company. Other minor roles followed. These films were made by Imperial Films, through which he metH. M. Reddy. Reddy gave Prasad a small role inKalidas, the first Tamil and Telugu bilingual "talkie", and subsequently inBhakta Prahlada, the first Telugu "talkie". It was around this time that Prasad made contact with his family and then returned home to visit them. He then returned to Bombay with his wife and daughter, where his sons, Anand and Ramesh, were born.[5][6]
Prasad by chance got a role as an assistant director inKamar-Al–Zaman, directed byAli Shah. This was also the time that his name was shortened from Akkineni Lakshmi Vara Prasad Rao to L. V. Prasad, this being a consequence of a clerk finding the name too long to use. The shortened name stuck with him thereafter. Tantra Subrahmanyam assigned him a job of a production supervisor and assistant director for the filmKashta Jeevi, which took him to Bombay again. The film was abandoned after shooting three reels. Prasad was in no mood to leave now and he got a job as assistant director in a few other films. During this time, using his connections withPrithviraj Kapoor, he joinedPrithvi Theatres and satisfied his acting passion. It was during this time that he metRaj Kapoor, the hero of his first Hindi productionSharada.[7]
In 1943, he got the opportunity to take on the responsibility of assistant director forGruha Pravesam. Due to circumstances, he became the director of the film and then he was also chosen as the lead actor of the film.Gruha Pravesam, released in 1946 was one of the finest films of the forties and went on to become a classic of the period. After this, K. S. Prakasa Rao offered Prasad an important role inDrohi. During this time, Ramabrahmam was facing difficulty in finishing his filmPalnati Yudham due to ill health and he chose Prasad to do justice to this film. After this in 1949, Prasad directedMana Desam and introducedN. T. Rama Rao, later to become a legend in Telugu cinema, in a minor role.[8]
In 1950Vijaya Pictures released their first filmShavukaru, establishing L. V. Prasad as a director.Samsaram, released in the same year, brought together the two people who would become notable actors in theTelugu film industry as brothers – N. T. Rama Rao andAkkineni Nageswara Rao in a social drama which created records wherever it was released. The film provided a model for later filmmakers, a model and theme relevant and popular amongst film makers even today. After this, success chased him. He directed some memorable films in the fifties all of them known for their drama and fine humour.Rani a Hindi film took him to Bombay again and after that Jupiter Films engaged L. V. Prasad to direct their magnum opusManohara (1954), starring the legendarySivaji Ganesan in Tamil and dub it in Telugu and Hindi.[9]
But L. V. Prasad had more goals to achieve. In 1955, he assignedD. Yoganand to direct his first productionIlavelpu in Telugu under the banner Lakshmi Productions. L. V. Prasad established Prasad Productions, soon after this in 1956. His second son Ramesh returned from the United States after obtaining his B.E.M.S degree and established Prasad Film Labs in Chennai in 1974. Prasad Productions made many memorable box office hits includingMilan,Khilona,Sasural andEk Duuje Ke Liye. L. V. Prasad contributed generously towards the establishment ofL. V. Prasad Eye Institute inHyderabad.
L. V. Prasad was the chairman of the27th National Film Awards Selection Committee held at New Delhi in 1980. He was the chairman of the All India Selection Panel of Indian Panorama section for the 8thInternational Film Festival of India from 3 to 17 January 1981.[10] Prasad was also the chairman of the International Jury for Children's Film Festival held in November 1981 at Madras. He was elected as the President of TheSouth Indian Film Chamber of Commerce for the year 1982–83. He was a Member of the Board of Film Censors from October 1980 to February 1987. L. V. Prasad was Chairman of the Studio Owners, Council, a wing ofFilm Federation of India. The Government of India released a Commemorative postage stamp in his memory in 2006.[2]
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