Film director and scriptwriter K. Bhagyaraj said that he still nurtured the dream of directing a film in Telugu and shared his experiences from his earlier visits to Vijayawada.

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He, along with his wife and actress Poornima, was felicitated by city-based Savithri Sahitya Samskruthika Samkshema Kalapeetam here on Saturday night. “I used to visit Navayuga Films office in Gandhinagar and also interact with people like Mr. Prabhas, discussing film-related issues,” he recollected.

Mr. Bhagyaraj said though his first wife (Praveena) was particular that he played the character of Chandramohan in Radha Kalyanam , the remake of his hit Tamil film Andha Ezhu Naatkal , he did not take up the assignment as he was not good at Telugu. “That is the reason why I gave up,” he pointed out. 

He said he was happy giving the dubbing rights of his films to others instead of remaking them as he felt dearth of creativity in those projects. “Instead of making the film all over in another language I was keen on pursuing fresh ideas,” he explained.

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He said though his Telugu was poor he made it a point to talk in Telugu with his Telugu friends in the industry.

“Whenever I meet SPB (Balu), Mano or Janaki, I talk in Telugu,” he added.

Mr. Bhagyaraj, much to the surprise of all, said that his forefathers belonged to Andhra Pradesh and they migrated to Tamil Nadu long back.

The entire south Indian film industry was once based at Chennai but gradually the other language film-making shifted to the respective State capitals. “Only Tamil and Hindi films are made in Chennai now,” he said.

Visakhapatnam has always been his famous destination as several scenes of his films were shot in and around the city of destiny.

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Jayalalithaa Kalapeetham

Mr. Bhagyaraj welcomed the efforts of the Kalapeetam to establish Amma Jayalalithaa Sahitya Samskruthika Kalapeetham and the resolve to instal a statue of the late chief minister in Vijayawada. “I will take this issue with the AIADMK general secretary ‘Chinnamma’ Sasikala and extend all possible help in installing the statue here,” he promised.

Turlapati Kutumba Rao and several others took part in the felicitation.