It was during the shoot of the film 'Harischandra', the scene in which king Harischandra stands by his word given to Viswamithra, and leaves his kingdom along with wife and children. This scene required SVR who played the role of Harischandra to wash the feet of Gummadi, who portrayed the role of Viswamithra.
When the director explained the scene, he received a furious stare from SVR. SVR clarified that never will he touch anyone’s feet either in reel life or in real life. This left the director with no choice and he took a close-up of the shot with someone else in SVR’s role, touching the feet of Gummadi.
Interestingly, actor Gummadi faced a similar situation again during the shoot of the film Bhakta Ramadasu. In the film, veteran actor Nagaiah played the role of Ramadasu and Gummadi portrayed the role of Kabir Das. In one of the scenes, Ramadasu invites Kabir Das to his place and receives him with immense respect by washing his feet. This scene made Gummadi uncomfortable with the thought of a senior actor like Nagaiah touching his feet. Nagaiah understood Gummadi’s hesitation and said, “I’m not Nagaiah, I’m your disciple Ramadasu. And you are not Gummadi, but my guru Kabir Dasu”. Saying so, Nagaiah washed Gummadi’s feet just like he were his disciple.
