Born into an agricultural family on January 17, 1908, Akkineni Lakshmi Vara Prasad faced many a hardship to realize his dreams in the world of cinema. He reached Bombay with a penniless pocket. During his initial struggle, he was offered a bit-part role in 1931 which won him a meal a day in those days.
In spite of the series of hassles and a spate of shocks, LV Prasad decided to proceed forth. His pertinacious approach won him all that he achieved in the later years to prove him a legend in Indian cinema. He grabbed the opportunities in all the first talkies of Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil. But, the film which he joined as the assistant director and a production supervisor, Kashtajeevi was halted after a few days of shooting, leaving him forlorn. It was then the intimacy with Prithvi Raj Kapoor fetched LV his next job in Prithvi Theatres.
Later, Raj Kapoor and LV became bosom friends, and the former was made the hero of the latter’s first Hindi production, Sharada. In 1943 came Grihapravesham, which had him as the director and the lead actor and went on to create a number of records. Deemed to one of the finest films of the 40s, it became a classic of the period.
In successive years of 1949 and 1950, LV produced two legendary heroes of all time for Telugu with his Manadesam and Samsaram. Jupiter Films chose LV as the director for their magnum opus in three languages — Manohara with Sivaji Ganeshan as the lead actor — which catapulted LV into the highest echelons of Indian cinema.
In 1956, Ramesh Prasad, the second son of LV returned from the US after obtaining his BEMS degree and went on to establish Prasad Film Laboratories in the then Madras. From then on to date, Prasad Labs has been continuing as the final destination for any big maker looking to bring their film before the audience.
Prasad Productions made several unforgettable films including Milan, Khilona, Sasural, and Ek Duje Ke Liye. For his yeomen services to Indian cinema, LV was given the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. An inpatient clerk in a company cut short the name Akkineni Lakshmi Vara Prasad to LV Prasad. A boy called ALVP with penniless pocket stormed into everlasting glory as LV Prasad to carry Indian cinema in his pocket. Indian cinema salutes the grandmaster of Indian cinema on his 112th birth anniversary.
