Industrialist ~ L V Prasad

L.V. Prasad, the Industrialist

L.V.Prasad lived and breathed cinema and it was his wish that whatever he earned out of his films was ploughed back into the development of cinema. In his long ordeous path to glory, he found that every ten years there occurred a change for the better in his professional life. The first ten years saw him struggle to become a successful Director. The next ten years made him claim the position of a successful Producer and before completion of the next decade he had become a proud owner of a Studio which he took over from Ranganadhadas of Rajyam Pictures, who had produced a memorable social film titled ‘Samsaram’, which was later made in Hindi and Tamil by S.S.Vasan. The studios became fully functional in the year 1965 with the active participation of his son-in-law RVMK Prasad, an Engineer. In the following years he produced great box office hits in Hindi and once again proved his total devotion to cinema by establishing a state-of-the-art film processing laboratory in Chennai to process not only his films but also that of filmmakers from South India and Bombay. The Laboratory was the brain child of his son Ramesh, an engineer from the USA, who, took the vision of L.V.Prasad forward and established more film labs in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Bhuvaneswar, Trivandrum and Mumbai, making Prasad Film Labs the largest such network of facilities in India. These laboratories are fully supported with excellent infrastructure for audio, film editing and other lab related services. It is pertinent to note that L.V.Prasad always longed to get the best of equipment available in the world and he was the first to import Oxberry optical printer & animation stand as early as 1956 and he even had a German technician working on the machines!

L.V.Prasad, being a true film maker, knew the importance of good cameras and pioneered the establishment of an outdoor unit equipment division with his first son Anand in control. Later it was named Anand Cine Services and is today the largest such service provider in India, now managed by Anand’s sons Ravi Shankar Prasad and Manohar Prasad.

Today Prasad Group has production facilities in Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Bhuvaneswar, Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkatta, Singapore, Hollywood with additional marketing offices in New Delhi and Dubai. Sai Prasad, an electronics engineer and son of Ramesh Prasad foresaw the dawn of the digital future way back in the late 80’s and started guiding the group into the digital world of post production. Through its state-of-the-art facilities Prasad Group offers all services related to digital post production namely Digital Intermediate, Visual Effects, Telecine, Reverse Telecine, High Definition Post production, Digital Film Restoration and more.

Ramesh Prasad, continuing in the spirit and legacy of L.V.Prasad, took his father’s vision of wholesome family entertainment further, started‘Prasads’, a one of its kind family entertainment center in Hyderabad housing a 5 screen Multiplex, Imax Theatre, entertainment zones, shopping, food court and more, incorporating some of the best brands in the world. This Mall was launched in 2003 and in a short period it has become ‘the happening place’ in Hyderabad. Ramesh Prasad, seeing the dearth of good film education facilities in India implemented his father’s vision of providing higher education in the art and technology of film making by starting L.V.Prasad Film & TV Academy in 2005, providing courses in Film Direction, Cinematography and Audio Engineering.

Traditionally, Prasad Group, as a pioneer, has always brought the latest and the best equipment available to serve its customers. Continuing this tradition, Prasad Group is today expanding at a rapid pace and investing in latest technologies and equipment. Recently Prasad Group have brought the world famous Panavision Cameras to India. Clients from around the world come to Prasad Group to work on their projects and outsource to its facilities in India. Keeping in mind the requirements and expectations of a global clientele Prasad Group is investing a lot of time and manpower in customer experience management. The future is Digital and Prasad Group is already a leader in providing cutting edge digital solutions for all aspects of film production, post production and exhibition. The visionary who saw all this happening in the future, L.V.Prasad, is no more with us, but he would have been a proud man today to see Prasad Group take these strides forward.