Chilkuri Sushil Rao

"You are a cynical person,” chief minister Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy said to me with a contemptuous look on his face. Dismissing a question I had posed to him, the former chief minister of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh chided me for asking what he told on my face was a ‘baseless question’. It perhaps was. But there was a need to ask him. And elicit a response. Not that anyone expects that all politicians give all right answers all the time. They are adept at dismissing questions. Ignoring them. Poking fun at them. Digressing and not giving a direct answer. And attributing motives to the person posing the question. Communal clashes had broken out at Musheerabad in Hyderabad. This was unprecedented. Despite such incidents in the old city, Musheerabad was largely incident-free. But not this time. Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy was chief minister of the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh from   December 17, 1990 to October 9, 1992 when the incident occurred. When a communal situa...

When R K Laxman demanded five rupees from me Remembering the legend on his birth centenary  “You have to pay me Rs 5,” R K Laxman told me. Sternly. Firmly. Looking at me straight in the eye. “Of course, of course,” I said reassuring the ‘uncommon man’ as I watched a smile escape his lips. And so, I perched myself on the hand rest of the sofa in which he was sitting. The photograph was clicked. I asked for another click. This time I squatted on the floor. Better.  “Now, you have to pay me Rs 10,” Laxman said. “Because you clicked two photographs when you asked for one!” Laxman said as he guffawed. The world knew his sense of humour. I experienced it directly. No money was paid – needless to mention – it was not expected as R K Laxman was being the best of himself – humorous. We built a rapport because of an incident that had taken place just a few minutes before that. The legendary cartoonist had flown down from Mumbai and walked into my office, The Times of India, Hyderabad ...

                   “Do you know who I am?” he asked. I was amused at the question.  Was I really expected to answer that question?  “Of course. I was there when you performed on stage last night. It was you who was singing for the most part of the concert,” I responded. That, as an answer, should have sufficed. Or so, I thought. “Do you know who you are speaking with?” he asked again. This time, I could notice a bit of amusement on his face. Just what did the question mean. I had spoken to him on the phone from the hotel lobby. He said I could come over and meet him after 45 minutes. After what seemed like hours of waiting – but not wasting time – I rang his door bell. He opened the door. Smiled. It was a warm welcome. He made me feel comfortable. Then I told Kumar Sanu, who was the rage of the country, how his songs from ‘Ashiqui’ were such a huge hit. Obviously, this was the way to start a conversation with the singer who...

              After the fight, a healing touch I was paying keen attention to what he was saying. It was providing an insight into his mind.  We were driving from Koti Women's college to Jubilee Hills. Koti Women's college was a shooting location. We decided to meet at his shooting location for a conversation.   That was good because I could also watch the shooting, how he went about his work, and then I could be on my work - which was to talk to him. Several things struck me. First, the manner in which he addressed everyone on the sets showing due respect to everyone - and also affectionate in responding to greetings. It was a fight sequence. The fight master was ready. To me, it looked like a tough thing to do.  Well, anyway, I was not the one who was acting. So, I waited to see how he would execute the fight. Of course, as a matter of abundant precaution, there was a safety arrangement on the ground. The fight choreographer calle...

Balu and I: “Pardon me for my uncouthness,” politeness personified S P Balasubramanyam said as we were engaged in a conversation. He’d said nothing objectionable.   “Pardon me for my uncouthness,” politeness personified S P Balasubramanyam said as we were engaged in a conversation. He’d said nothing objectionable.  Balu was shooting for a film in Hyderabad and I was there to interview him. For the role he was playing, he had to change his dress and get into a lungi. This happened 23 years ago. He apologised for the fact that he had to change in front of me. A gentleman, as he was, he did not want to keep me waiting. Neither did he want the crew to be kept waiting for the shooting. But yes, I had to wait for some more time to carry on with the formal interview. “Have you got a tape recorder?” he asked. “I’ll take down notes as we speak,” I told him. For someone who believed in ‘recording’, Balu called an assistant and sent him to buy a cassette. It took some time for him to r...

“Did you discuss with your wife about your intention to undertake an indefinite fast?” I asked Y S Rajasekhar Reddy. This was in the year 2000 when he was CLP leader. He and Congress MLAs made a swift move and sat on protest at old MLA quarters, against the power purchase agreements that the then N Chandrababu Naidu government had signed with some companies. I went to the place the following day again and sat with YSR for a while, as he explained to me why they were forced to take to such a form of protest. The MLAs also had no idea he would announce an indefinite fast. And then I asked him about whether he consulted his wife on undertaking the indefinite fast. “Let me tell you something,” he said. “I did not have to consult my wife on undertaking the fast, but I did inform her. She is concerned about my health. But now even I am concerned about her. Because I am on a fast, she too is not eating at home and is fasting,” YSR told me. That was the bond the husband-wife s...

I have great memories of Rajiv Gandhi. I covered the last public meeting that Rajiv Gandhi that he addressed in Telangana before his assassination in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu on May 21, 1991. On May 20, Rajiv addressed two election public meetings in Telangana. Out of these two, the second one was at Peddapalle. From here, he flew to Vizag in a helicopter. From Vizag he took a flight to Chennai and by road went to Sriperumbudur. I’d travelled from Hyderabad to Peddapalle and having attended the public meeting rushed back to office to write the report. But when I put pen to paper, I felt, it wasn’t quite really about what Rajiv said at the public meeting that I should be writing about. How the public reacted to his arrival made more sense for me to write about. A boisterous crowd greeted him. Rajiv had charmed them. I wrote my report starting with the line: “The Grrr of the helicopter in which Rajiv Gandhi arrived was enough for the crowd to go into a tizzy…” The sub-edi...