Vijaya Group of Hospitals (Unit of Vijaya Medical & Educational Trust) held a grand function at Chennai on the occasion of unveiling of the Commemorative Postage Stamp on Shri B.Nagi Reddi, its Founder. The release of the Stamp was done in the August presence of the Chief Guest – Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble Vice President of India and Guest of Honour – Thiru Banwarilal Purohit, Hon’ble Governor of Tamil Nadu. The programme was graced by many senior members of the film fraternity and healthcare industry. On this special occasion, a book on Shri B.Nagi Reddi was also released.
The Commemorative Postage Stamp was released by Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu, The Hon’ble Vice President of India. Thiru.Banwarilal Purohit; The Hon’ble Governor of Tamil Nadu released the book ‘The Legend – Shri B.Nagi Reddi’ on the same day. This book edited by Late Shri B.Venugopal Reddi (Son of Shri B.Nagi Reddi) and co-edited by Smt.B.Bharathi Reddy (Trustee & CEO – Vijaya Group of Hospitals) is a compilation of the key incidences in the life of a great man – Shri B.Nagi Reddi.
The Hon’ble Vice President of India highlighted the contributions of Shri B.Nagi Reddi to the society. In his speech, the Hon’ble Vice President congratulated the Management of Vijaya Group of Hospitals for having carried forward the legacy of the Founder.
The Hon’ble Governor of Tamil Nadu spoke about how Shri B.Nagi Reddi’s life in itself would be an inspiration for many given the kind of personality he was.
This grand function was held at Hotel Green Park in Chennai. The Dignitaries among many included Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu – Hon’ble Vice President of India, Thiru. Banwarilal – Hon’ble Governor of Tamil Nadu, Thiru. D.Jayakumar – Minister for Fisheries and Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Shri M.Sampath – Chief Post Master General, Tamil Nadu and Shri AV.M.Saravanan – AVM Productions. The other dignitaries from Vijaya Group of Hospitals who graced the diaz included Shri B.Venkatrama Reddy – Managing Trustee (Designate), Smt.B.Bharathi Reddy – Trustee & CEO, Smt.B.Vasundhara – Trustee & Shri B.Viswanatha Reddi – Chief Administrative Officer.
The multifaceted personality, Shri B. Nagi Reddi, at once an eminent publisher, successful film producer, philanthropist and a great lover of humanity, was born on 1st December, 1912 as the second child of Bommi Reddy Narasimha Reddy and Erukulamma, in the village Pottipadu, in the Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh. Initially, he took care of his father’s onion export business, but his elder brother B. N. Reddy was instrumental in getting him involved in the film industry. Taking over from him the management of Vauhini Studios in 1948, he developed it as the largest studio in South East Asia, in less than 10 years. The Telugu film ‘Shavukaru’ was the first film produced by him under the banner of Vijaya Productions. The story for this first film of his was provided by Shri Chakrapani, who became his friend philosopher and guide in later years. This exemplary collaboration heralded the golden era in the world of Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi cinema.
Starting his career as a letter press printer in 1944, he chose to join hands with Shri Chakrapani and extended his activity into publishing a socio-political monthly,
‘Andhra Jyothi’ in Telugu in 1945. He later established one of India’s largest offset printing presses, Prasad Process, which was then the only plant in India specialising in printing large size 24 sheet integrated hoarding posters. No wonder that Prasad Process was classified as an ‘A’ class printer in South India, winning the maximum number of awards from the Government of India for excellence in printing.
Conceptualized by B. Nagi Reddi and his friend Chakrapani, the monthly children’s magazine ‘Chandamama’ was launched in the year 1947, the year our nation won independence, with the idea of making the children of India learn, think and dream together, despite their different mother tongues. Soon it became a household name. Besides English and Sinhalese, Chandamama was published in 14 Indian languages – Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Odia, Assamese, Gujarati, Gurumukhi (Punjabi), Sindhi and Santhali (a tribal language). Chandamama also had a Braille edition in four languages for the visually impaired, distributed free.
As an emerging entrepreneur he held several high positions.
– President, All India Master Printers’ Federation for three terms.
– President, South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce for three terms.
– President, Film Federation of India for two terms.
– Chairman, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Board.
B. Nagi Reddi’s dynamism could not be contained in all these achievements and the numerous accolades he received. His great aspiration was to provide “quality medical service at affordable cost to the society’. His vision led to the establishment of Vijaya Hospital in 1972 which was one of the first multispecialty hospitals in Chennai. With initial bed strength of 30, the hospitals have now grown over 600 beds under the banner of Vijaya Medical and Educational Trust.
Vijaya Group of Hospitals is now one of the largest healthcare providers in South India and one of the most trusted Medical institutions. The Trust encompasses Vijaya Hospital, Vijaya Health Centre, Vijaya Heart Foundation and Vijaya Eye Foundation.
He was perhaps the first person in India from a non-medical background to start a multispecialty hospital, giving employment to hundreds. He never indulged in making private profit from any initiative that he undertook. He always considered the good it could do for the public.
Shri B. Nagi Reddi has won a number of awards including the most prestigious one, the Dada Saheb Phalke Award by the Government of India and ‘Raghupathi Venkiah Award’ by the A.P. Government in the year 1987. He received the ‘Kalaimamani’ award by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1973, ‘Johannes Gutenberg Fellow’ from All India Master Printers’ Federation in 1978. ‘TMA Pai Award’ by Academy of General Education of Manipal. Besides, he received D.Lit (Honoris Causa) from Sri Venkateswara University in 1982 and Sri Krishnadevaraya University, in 1990.
It has been aptly observed that from the down-to-earth ventures to the realm of fantasy – he turned into gold whatever he touched.
