(Contd from part II)

It is quite amusing to note that it is in the (literary) works of the males, that females often are portrayed as one with strong wills and convictions. While female authors (especially ones during the 70s) tended to the grim aspects on being a female, it was their male counterparts who started to create a more fantastical view of woman - a woman who is independent, capable of making decisions on her own, one who can affect the progress of things (plot, particularly) in a radical way. Similar to Sydney Sheldon, whose novels are peppered with strong female characters, Yandamoori centered his important novels around females who stood their ground and refused to budge even an inch in the face of bitter struggles. While openly acknowledging his affinity and inspiration for the works of Ayn Rand, a female American immigrant author of great intellect whose novels often depicted strong willed ideal men, Yandamoori took her concept of idealism and strong convictions and attributed them with great care to the contemporary woman character pervading his universe. As ideals without pragmatism is as useless as beauty without the brains, Yandamoori's heroine finds herself rooted in reality, going through the same trials and tribulations as her brethren in the real world, but still be able to find that silver lining in the dark clouds, fighting her way through the complexities that surround her, not in a super human way, but in a way that is identifiable, relatable, and more importantly, real.

"aanandO brahma", "agni pravaesam" and "Manchu parvatam" form the important trilogy in Yandamoori's female centric universe. Apart from the characters of aparNa (abhilaasha), lakshmi (Dabbu to the power of Dabbu), Sumati (rAkshasuDu), pravallika (Akhari pOrATam), anoosha (maraNa mRdangam), soudaamini (bhaarya guNavati satru), which are indeed strong characters, but centering around a male's purpose in the plot, the characters in the aforementioned trilogy, remain one of the strongly etched female roles in his works. Though "aanandO brahma" is built around the classic coming of age structure with the protagonist (sOmayaji) dealing with the fish-out-of-the-water circumstances, adolescence and the classic confrontation between infatuation and love while coming to terms with sexuality, it is the strong female character's presence (mandaakini) that forms his moral compass, ruddering his way through the dangerous age of innocence, and finally seeing him through the rough waters and safely landing him on the better shores of the future. In the real world where women's lib and feminism are usually associated with demonstrations, movements, vociferous arguments for equal rights etc, feminism in Yandamoori's world is achieved by the characters rightfully deserving their right to be treated on par (infact, above par) with their male counterparts. With logic, pragmatism and realistic treatment of the situation, these females earn the affection of the readers, not to mention the right to root for them, no matter the cost.

While "aanandO brahma" deals with an ideal woman pure in her thoughts and actions, untouched and unaffected by the impurity around her, "manchu parvatam" forges feminism by fire. Yandamoori tracks the lives of four women, imparting each with the traits of women that come across in the real world, covering the whole spectrum of female's ideas and ideologies - strong willed, free-spirited, servile, and docile. The dreams and aspirations of these four women, while in college, the colorful life that they each hope for, after stepping into the real world, the society looming and closing over them in different ways and the way each of their lives are shaped under those hammer blows, makes "manchu parvatam" a classic contemporary yarn of that makes up the fabric of the society. While the above works, assuming a serious tone, bring out the best in terms of indomitable spirit of female kind, "vennellO aaDapilla" and "sampoorNa praemayaNam" bring out the subtlety and the soft nature, that form the predominant traits of a female characters in the printed world. His characters (females, that is) are as effeminate as they are empowered, as soft as they are strong, as strong willed as they are free spirited, as radical as they are stereo typical. In all, Yandamoori leaves behind a set of females that is the very embodiment of bhOjyaeshu maata, karaNeshu mantri and syanaeshu rambha ideology.

From horror (tulasi, ashTaa vakra) to humor (oka radha iddaru krishnulu), from thrillers (nalla anchu tella cheera, bhaarya guNavati satru) to teasers (sampoorNa praemaayaNam, niSSabdam neekU naakU madhya), from science fiction (cheekaTlO sooryuDu, yugaantam) to pulp fiction (aakhari pOraatam, rudra naetra), from investigative (prarthana, maraNa mRdangam) to introspective (antarmukham, vijayaaniki aidu meTlu), Yandamoori remains a consummate writer who walked through much of his career spinning good and interesting yarns, spell binding the readers and the audiences alike with his imaginative and inventive thought process, earning great adulation and immense good-will along the way. While Hollywood continues to nourish and caress the likes of Micheal Crichton, John Grisham, Stephen King and the like, it is quite unfortunate that our industry continues to ignore Yandamoori's wildly creative works, while lamenting about the lack of variety in the current stories. It is utterly ironic that Yandamoori's foray into filmdom helming directorial duties for "Stuvatpuram Police Station" and "agni pravaeSam", ended up on the bitter side of the taste, owing to too much commercialization and poor vision. More often than not, it proves that a great writer is just a great writer!!

The End.

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