PANDURANGA MAHATYAM 1957

Banner: NAT (P) Ltd.
Direction: K. Kameswara Rao.
Producer: Trivikram Rao.
Art: Thota.
Audiography: A. Krishnan.
Choreography: Vempati Satyam.
Cinematography: MS Rehman.
Costumes: Achyuta Rao.
Editing: GD Joshi.
Lyrics & Dialogues: Samudrala Jr.
Make-up: Haribabu, Doraswamy & Raman.
Music: TV Raju.
Nirvahana: Pundari Kakshaiah.
Cast:
NTR,
V. Nagaiah,
Sivarao,
Dr. Govindarajula,
KVS Sharma,
Padmanabham,
Balakrishna,
Peketi,
Boddapati,
Lakshmaiah Chowdary,
AV Subbarao,
Ramachander Rao,
Koneswara Shastry,
Anjalidevi,
B. Saroja,
Rshyendramani,
Chayadevi,
Ammaji,
Nimmi,
Rita,
Janaki (guest appearance) and Others.
Story:
To the average Cinegoer, when there is any mention of NTR, one visualizes him in the get-up of Lord Krishna. True, he made a tremendous impact with that character, but he played many other mythical characters too, which are similarly alluring, although not quite so popular. One such example is his role in Paanduranga Mahaathyam (1957).

NTR had started National Art Theatre (NAT) whose first two productions Pichchi Pullaiah (1953) and Thodu Dongalu (1954) bombed. The third venture, Jayasimha (1955) hit bullseye, and with renewed enthusiasm, they sought to create cinematic success again. Inspired by the Tamil golden oldie Hari Dasu (which had the effervescent Vyjayanti Mala's mother Vasundhara Devi playing the female lead), and with some legends and folklore based in Maharastra, Paanduranga Mahaathyam was conceived.The director Kamalakara Kameswara Rao did two movies with NTR before, Chandraharam and Penki Pellam, both of which flopped big time, so much so that people told NTR that it was a jinxed combination, had NTR's complete faith in his knowledge of scriptures and folklore and was roped in. After this movie, Kameswara Rao made many other movies with NTR which became huge successes in Telugu celluloid-Gundamma Katha, Nartanasala and Mahamanthri Thimmarasu to name a few.

B. Saroja Devi was a budding actor in Tamil and Kannada movies. NTR choose her for the role of Kalavathy; she was happy about acting next to NTR in her Telugu debut, but immediately disheartened when she was narrated the role. She hesitated, but was convinced by NTR to take up the role. Not only that, his make-up artist rejected her without a thought as she was dusky, but NTR found her attractive and charming. She later came to be known as a glamour diva in Telugu cinema. So NTR's two gambles paid off!The story, in a nutshell is as follows: Pundarikudu (NTR) is from a pious Brahmin family, but is not interested in the worship of God and irreligious, a complete rebel who is asked to mend his ways by his parents. He steals their gold for a prostitute Kalavathy (B. Saroja Devi), and his mother takes the blame, and they part ways. Kalavathy takes all of his wealth and throws him out.

He goes to a Hermitage where he falls in love with three disciples of the Sage, who break his legs for this blasphemy. He then realizes the importance of his parents, goes back to them, begs for forgiveness, and prays to Lord Panduranga to grant him the boon of merging into him along with his parents-in other words, giving out the message that one has to serve one's parents, and it is the quickest way to Salvation/God.
It was the beginning of an era of Old Age Homes, now sadly more rampant than ever, so the significance of the message cannot be stressed upon enough. This movie made its impression on the minds of people-one person wrote to NTR to say that it made him realize the value of parents, who he had thrown out previously, and gotten back home after watching the movie!

Samudrala Jr. wrote the dialogues and the lyrics, which were well appreciated. 'Krishna Mukunda Murara' rendered by Ghantasala and composed by TV Raju is one of the longest songs in Telugu lasting a mind-numbing 15 minutes and was and still is extremely popular.

In this song, the baby Krishna is played by none other than Vijaya Nirmala, who debuted in Telugu with this as a child artiste. 'Amma Ani Arichina' is another song in this movie that melted many hearts. There are Hindi and Marathi songs in this movie too, composed by Joseph, who later composed for another NTR-starrer 'Gulebakavali Katha'.

Ghantasala's name was not mentioned in the credits, and his wife promptly reported this to NTR who apologized for the error. Actor/Singer Chittoor V. Nagaiah, who along with acting as NTR's father in the movie, rendered 'Jaya Jaya Gokula Bala', did not have his name mentioned in the singing credits either.

The songs, the direction and the message were loved by the masses. One song and one message in the movie stood the test of time: Even after five decades, the plea to respect and take care of one's parents still holds good, and is relevant in today's cut-throat society.