Hyderabad, Chennai: Veteran filmmaker Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, one of Indian cinema’s most inventive directors and the man behind landmark films such as Pushpaka Vimana, Aditya 369, Mayuri and Bhairava Dweepam, died in Chennai on Saturday following a period of ill health. Initial reports put his age at 94. Singeetham breathed his last while undergoing treatment at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai, according to reports late on Saturday. Details of the final rites were not immediately available. His death comes barely four months after he returned to the director’s chair with Sing Geetham, his 61st film, demonstrating an extraordinary passion for filmmaking well into his 90s. The musical fantasy, in which dialogue is largely delivered through song, was released in theatres on June 12. Produced by filmmaker Nag Ashwin, Sing Geetham realised an idea that Singeetham had carried with him for about four decades.
The film starred Ayaan, Ahilya Bamroo and Shalini Kondepudi, with music by Devi Sri Prasad. Kamal Haasan, Chiranjeevi and Jr NTR were among the film personalities who had praised the veteran filmmaker’s return to direction. Despite his advanced age and health problems during production, Singeetham completed the film in about 77 shooting days. When he was unable to travel for portions of the Hyderabad schedule, a remote monitoring system was reportedly set up at his home, allowing him to guide the cast and crew through a headset.
Over a career spanning more than six decades, Singeetham repeatedly broke away from convention al filmmaking. His 1987 Pushpaka Vimana, starring Kamal Haasan and Amala Akkineni, dispensed with spoken dialogue altogether and relied on visual story telling and physical comedy. The film went on to become one of his most acclaimed works. He explored science fiction with the Nandamuri Balakrishna-starrer Aditya 369 and fantasy with Bhairava Dweepam, both of which acquired cult status in Telugu cinema. His other major films included Mayuri, Apoorva Sagodharargal, Michael Madana Kama Rajan, Sommokadidhi Sokokadidhi and Raja Paarvai. He also directed a string of successful Kannada films with Rajkumar.
Singeetham began his career in cinema as an assis tant to legendary filmmaker K.V. Reddy and worked on films including Mayabazar before establishing himself as a director. His body of work eventually extended across Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and English cinema. His career was marked by an unusual willingness to move between comedy, drama, science fiction, fantasy, animation and experimental cinema rather than remain confined to a particular genre. He received sever al honours, including National Film Awards, Nandi Awards, Karnataka State Film Awards and Filmfare Awards South. His wife Lakshmi Kalyani, who had also assisted him with scripts and played an important role in his creative life, died in Chennai in 2022 after a prolonged ill ness. Singeetham later wrote Srikalyaniyam about her.
Only weeks before his death, Singeetham was still being celebrated for Sing Geetham, a film that under scored the experimentation that had defined his career from Pushpaka Vimana to his final years.
