Century-old ‘cinema chettu’ on Godavari banks is no more 

Hundreds of movies were shot around tree, which fell two days ago 

Patibandla Srinivas ([email protected])

Close to 150 years old tree which had an association with the cinema industry was uprooted by nature much to the shock of the villagers. The tree which was seen in many movies since several decades saw actors singing songs around it for decades. The tree is itched in the minds of Telugu audiences owing to its enormity. Now the news of the tree uprooted incident is a hot topic everywhere. The tree which has the origin of the Nidraganneru family was christened as Cinema Chettu. The historical tree was at Kumaradevam village near to Kovvuru town on the river bank of Godavari in East Godavari district. As per the history, Singaluri Taatabbai of Kumara Devam village planted the tree on the bank close to 150 years ago. Later the tree grew and expanded in all directions with many branches.

The majestic tree naturally attracted the cinema industry as a good location for their shootings. The location and the tree is visible in more than 300 movies. The heroes and actors like NTR, ANR, Krishna, Shobhan Babu, Krishnam Raju Chiranjeevi and present day stars like Mahesh Babu, Ram Charan and many spent their time at the tree as part of their shootings. Several prominent directors like K Raghavendra Rao, Dasari Narayana Rao, Vamsi, and VV Satyanarayana shot some sequences of their movies around the tree and river Godavari.

The majority of movies which were shot around the tree were box office hits. Finally it has become a sentiment to many producers, directors and heroes as the movie would be hit if the shooting is done at the tree. During the Paadipantalu movie shooting period, hero Krishna spent almost a month in the village. Like many heroes and well noted actors took part in the shooting which was held around the tree and flood bank.

But the fall of the tree came as a shock to movie lovers. Kumma Devara village got special recognition in the entire industry because of the tree. The actors and producers donated lakhs of rupees for the protection of the tree but it was neglected by the local administration. All the VIPs and cinema industry people used to spend some time sitting under the tree enjoying the beauty of Godavari and nature.

The State government constructed revetment to the tree to protect from Godavari floods long ago. Except for this step but no one has taken up measures to protect the tree by applying scientific measures as a heritage icon. Now the tree will be a sweet memory to all, especially movie lovers