Bapu, the doyen of Telugu and Hindi cinema passed away on Sunday leaving actor-director Satish Kaushik in Bollywood heartbroken. Satish who began his career with Bapu says, "Bapu was a great cartoonist, filmmaker and a great human being. I started my career with him with a one-scene role in Woh 7 Din. He became very fond of me and cast me in a big role in the Mithun-Madhuri starrer Prem Pratiggya. After that he cast me in an even bigger role in Parmatma. I shot for it for two to three days but because I began shooting for my directorial debut (Prem) I was unable to find time to face the camera for Parmatma. Bapu Saab was so happy to see me become a director that he re-shot my portions with another actor and wished me success. Since he was a cartoonist Bapu Saab used to sketch his shots and never used to show those sketched frames to anyone apart from his cinematographer Baba Azmi. I was the lucky one because I often got to see those sketches. Bapu Saab was a great inspiration and my guru. His use of close-ups and the minute detailing and nuances that he invested into every frame were magnetic. Most of his stories were inspired by the Ramayan. Cinema lovers will miss him for his outstanding contribution to cinema and his great films will always keep him alive in our memories."
Actors pay their respects to Bapu
Says Naseeruddin Shah, "In my 250-film career I've had only four box-office hits. And Bapu was responsible for two of them Hum Paanch and Bezubaan. So, I've reason to be grateful to him. I didn't know him personally at all. He was not a very demonstrative person. But very affectionate towards me."
Shabana Azmi: "RIP Bapu Garu. I consider myself fortunate to have worked with him in Hum Paanch. I can see his influence in the way my cinematographer brother Baba frames his shots even today. Bapu was an artist, an illustrator and had a very strong visual sense. He was very deeply rooted to India's classic mythology particularly the Ramayan and Mahabharat. He won several awards but I think he was underrated as a filmmaker. He was worthy of greater recognition."
Jackie Shroff: "I did Diljala with him. Every frame was a poem for Bapu. He was a very gentle soul."
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