POOLA RANGADU 1967

Directed by:
Adurthi Subba Rao
Writing credits:
Venkata Ramana Mullapoodi
Ranganayakamma Muppala dialogue
Produced by:
Madhusudhana Rao D.
Original Music by:
Saluri Rajeshwara Rao
Music Department:
Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao .
P. Susheela

Cast:
Nageshwara Rao Akkineni ... Ranga Rao
Jamuna
Vijaya Nirmala ... Padma
Chittor V. Nagaiah ... Veeraiah
Gummadi ... Chalapathi
Allu Ramalingaiah ... Dharma Rao
Shobhanbabu ... Doctor Prasad
Chalam
Suryakantham
Padmanabham
Gitanjali
Bhanu Prakash ... Purushotham

Story:
Annapurna Pictures' Poolarangadu was released in 1967. It was directed by Adurthi Subbarao, who directed 6 movies for Annapurna till then starting from Thodi Kodallu. The venture before that, Aatma Gowravam, was directed by his assistant, K. Viswanath. Dukkipati Madhusudana Rao, the producer, decided to make a movie directed by Subbarao, with sibling sentiment as its main theme, similar to Donga Ramudu starring ANR. But this time, he wanted the brother to be the savior. Part of the storyline was inspired from AJ Cronin's novel 'Beyond This Place'.

Gollapudi Maruti Rao started working on the story, but it was Mullapudi Venkata Ramana who finished it due to some reasons. He had written Subbarao's Mooga Manasulu, Kanne Manasulu, Tene Manasulu and Dagudu Moothalu before this. The dialogues were written by Muppala Ranganayakamma, author of the novel 'Balipeetam'. She is the first woman novelist to write the dialogues for a Telugu movie. Dukkipati was not satisfied with the climax, so Mullapudi reworked it based on a Panchatantra story called 'Mitra Bedham'.

The story: Rangadu is called 'Poolarangadu' because he 'adorns his suffering as if it were a flower'. His father Veerayya is a manager at a mill, and is framed for the murder of one of the partners, Purushotham. He is sent to jail for a crime he didn't commit. Rangadu works hard to get his sister Padma educated. She marries a doctor, Prasad, who happens to be Purushotham's son. When he finds out she is Veerayya's daughter, he leaves her. Rangadu is enraged and beats the guy who informs Prasad. Rangadu is sent to jail. There he meets his father, learns about his innocence and vows to get him out. Once Rangadu is released, he earns the goodwill of the other two partners and finally exposes them. Veerayya is released, Rangadu marries his love-interest Venkata Laxmi and Prasad takes Padma back.

Saluri Rajeswara Rao, Annapurna Pictures' favorite was roped in to give the music. Kosaraju, CiNaRe, Dasarathi penned the lyrics. KVK Mohan Raj, a new singer, started his playback career with 'Chigurulu Vesina Kalalannee'. Ghantasala and Nagaiah both sang 'Chillara Rallaku' in the movie. After Ramadasu, Nagaiah did his own playback in this movie, and it was in fact, his last. 'Nee Jigulu Paita' was Annapurna's first color song, also in this movie.

Jamuna acted as ANR's sister in Annapurna Pictures' first movie, Donga Ramudu. After a long gap, she was cast in another Annapurna venture, this time opposite him. Vijaya Nirmala wanted to act in an Annapurna movie and conveyed this to Dukkipati. She hesitated when the role of Padma was offered to her, for she feared that she'd be typecast in sister roles. But with some convincing, she gave her nod.

Adhurthi Subbarao had a long association with Annapurna Pictures.
Aatma Gowravam had given Allu Ramalingaiah a lot of appreciation for his role, so he wanted to play even a small part in Poolarangadu. He plays a policeman for the first time, though it is a small role, it was extended for him. Stage artists like Bhanu Prakash and others donned a few crucial parts in this movie. Shoban Babu acted in Annapurna's 'Chaduvukunna Ammayilu' and he plays the role of Doctor Prasad in Poolarangadu.

The talkie part was shot entirely in Hyderabad. One song was shot in Ooty, for which the director made a hasty journey from Darjeeling, where he was shooting a Hindi movie. The jail scenes were shot in Chanchalguda and Musheerabad jails. The inmates that are shown in the movie are really the inmates of these jails and not actors!

ANR's last four releases before this movie, Vasantha Sena, Manase Mandiram, Griha Lakshmi and Pranamitrulu flopped. So everyone involved including the producer were keen to make this movie work somehow. Rahasyam starring ANR released a month before this movie-that too shot completely in color. Fortunately, Poolarangadu turned out to be a success, pleasantly surprising the skeptical producer. Not only did it celebrate a 100-day run, but was also Annapurna's biggest financial success since its inception.