സിനിമയിലെ നിത്യഹരിത പരീക്ഷണങ്ങളുടെ തമ്പുരാൻ: സിംഗീതം ശ്രീനിവാസ റാവുവിന്റെ ഓർമ്മകൾക്ക് മുന്നിൽ

‘A fruit cuts the knife’, the title of my new film.

Director-producer Nag Ashwin shared a screenshot of this single-line message he had received from veteran filmmaker Singeetham Srinivasa Rao on September 5, 2026, on social media soon after the news of the legendary filmmaker’s passing.

At 94, Rao lived and breathed cinema well into his final days, writing stories meant for the large screen.

In June 2026, with the Telugu musical fantasy drama Sing Geetham, Rao showed yet again why it matters to break free from the mould. He did it all through his career, spanning more than 70 years, giving us iconic and memorable films across languages — Raaja Paarvai, Bhairava Dweepam, Aditya 369, Apoorva Sagotharargal, Mayuri, Michael Madana Kama Rajan, and Pushpak — to name just a few.

His films cut across languages and genres. He showed us that science fiction could be fun; he made generations of filmmakers and audiences wonder how he and the team pulled off the Appu act of Kamal Haasan (he plays a dwarf), way before the widespread use of visual effects. Imagination and technique were all that it took.

Filmmaking as a puzzle

Speaking to this journalist before his 2013 Telugu film Welcome Obama, Rao had said, “I like my films to be like a puzzle, which I can solve while making. Films that have a set format with four songs and a few comedy scenes have never interested me.” He had shot Welcome Obama in film format, when the industry was swiftly moving towards digital. “We purchased raw stock and shot in Eastman Color, which no one does these days,” Rao had stated. “This is a film in which skin textures and colours needed to look real. None of the actors was allowed to wear makeup,” he had added.

In the 1980s, Rao did not hesitate to narrate a relatable story through the silent film, Pushpak. The courage that he had to think and act differently is evident in his simple retort, “Why not?” when he was asked by Suhasini Mani Ratnam about why he wanted to make Pushpak as a silent film. He was speaking during the four-part ‘Apoorva Singeetham’ conversation series (available on YouTube) by Raaj Kamal International to honour his contribution to cinema.

It was the same conviction with which he conceived the idea for Sing Geetham nearly 40 years ago. The story takes the audience into a fictional village, Kuberapuram, which resembles a dystopian setting after human greed tampers with its ecological balance. When the last-surviving tree in the village is under threat, things no longer remain the same.

Rao wanted it to be a musical, with the dialogues being sung. Several producers were reluctant until Nag Ashwin, and sisters Swapna and Priyanka Dutt of Vyjayanthi Films backed his vision.

During the making of Sing Geetham, Rao suffered a temporary health setback. But his zest for life and cinema remained undiminished. He interacted with the young team of co-writers and assistant directors, led by co-director Sankalp Gora, who executed his vision.

Sing Geetham arrived in theatres after the dull summer during which Telugu cinema nearly drew a blank at the box office. The musical was a fresh breath of air, with Devi Sri Prasad’s score as its backbone. At 94, Singeetham Srinivasa Rao had managed to bring out the child in many a viewer.

Rao has consistently inspired generations of filmmakers. In his early years, he worked as an assistant director to KV Reddy on the sets of Maya Bazar.

The drama in ‘Mahanati’

Rao was consulted when Nag Ashwin decided to make Mahanati, the biopic of actor Savitri. During an interaction, Nag Ashwin told this journalist on how Rao’s inputs helped heighten the drama in a key scene through which he recreated an episode from Maya Bazar: “I was aware that we were trying to recreate a piece of Telugu cinema history. I was more worried about KV Reddy’s ghost visiting the sets and throwing something at me if things didn’t go well.”

The idea for the drama in that sequence, with Savitri having to shed precisely three drops of tears from her left eye, came from Rao. When Nag Ashwin narrated the portion he was trying to recreate, Rao stated that it was flat and could do with some drama. The scene was rewritten such that a young Rao (played by Tharun Bhascker) breaks the bottle of glycerine by mistake and Savitri has no choice but to internalise the character and deliver what is required.

The inspiration

Several younger filmmakers in Telugu cinema have often recalled the influence Rao’s films have had on their work. Take the case of Hanu-Man director Prasanth Varma. Prior to his debut film, Awe, he had looked up to Rao and even consulted him. He was struck by how Rao explored diverse genres, and tried to follow that path. Rao had advised Prasanth to follow his heart rather than wait endlessly for stars.

Writer-director Vivek Athreya described Rao as “the Indian Steven Spielberg for my generation”. Director Mohana Krishna Indraganti had pointed out that some of the humour in his films was subconsciously influenced by Rao’s films, particularly Michael Madana Kama Rajan.

While the drama, in the emotional and comedy sequences in Rao’s films, emerges from the writing, he had a keen eye for detail. Director Venkatesh Maha pointed out the chorus in the song ‘Madhurame Sudhaganam’ in the Telugu film Brundavanam, where the singers’ voices mimicked how the sound moved from left to right in stereos of the 1980s and 90s.

For Rao, it was a joy to be a part of cinema. During the 2013 interview, he told this journalist, “When I am making a film, I feel like I am on a holiday. I inherited my sense of humour from my father and my sense of music from my mother. If someone quarrels with me, rather than get angry, I observe their facial expressions and body language. I find this humorous.”

Rest in peace, sir. Your cinema will continue to inspire.