Scholar par excellence
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Chatla Sreeramulu's contribution to the theatre knew no barriers.
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Chatla Sreeramulu.
The chief guest at the recently held festival of drama competitions in Kalabharati, Visakhapatnam, Chatla Sreeramulu who was also felicitated on the concluding day of the event, is a name to reckon with among the very few scholars in the firmament of teaching theory and practice of dramaturgy.
The only one to have had the distinction of being a member of the teaching faculty of theatre arts of Andhra, Osmania, Telugu and Central Universities, he stands distinguished as the first ever artiste in the State of AP to receive the Emeritus Fellowship of the HRD of Government of India. Recipient of Best Actor Award of the Andhra Nataka Kalaa Parishad twice, he won the acclaim of being the choicest director in the arena of drama for the State Natak Academy Best Director Award when he was just 50.
Though a post-graduate in English Literature from Andhra University, his penchant for the dramatic art made him land in the theatre when he was just 19 in 1951 (born on December 5 1931) and soon became an artiste by choice. He acted and directed in more than 100 plays.
He also successfully did the Producer and Teacher certificate course of the British Drama League, London in the 70s. No wonder, some of the plays he directed and produced besides acting in them stand rated as trend setters.
The Brecht's Exception and The Rule, Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy and Ibsen's Enemy of The People in English besides Maro Mohenjadaro, Trijaaki yama darsanam and Ashok Samrat along with Manmadhudu Malli Puttaadu an adaptation of Sophocle's Antigone a Greek classic into Telugu are some of them.
He had the privilege of getting extolled for extensively touring all over UK, USA, GDR, Poland, Czechoslavakia and Switzerland staging plays produced and directed by him. Besides being a star participant in many plays broadcast by AIR and telecast by DD as their top-rank artiste besides being chosen as the lead actor in the first ever T.V. Telugu serial Meeru Alochinchandi . Besides acting in Golden Nandi Award winner Telugu feature film by choice, he has the distinction of having noted film stars, Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, Dasari Arun Kumar, Ram, Gouthami and the likes of them under his tutelage.
Chatla Sreeramulu is the first theatre doyen to have instituted an award Rs.10,000 to be given along with citation and a plaque to a person known for his singularly exceptional service/contribution to the theatre.
A.RAMALINGA SASTRY
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