RAKSHAREKHA 1949

Director:
R. Padmanabhan

Writer:
Balijepalli Lakshmikanta Kavi

Produced by
R. Padmanabhan .... producer

Original Music by
Ogirala Ramchandra Rao
Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao
H.R. Padmanabha Sastry

Cinematography by
T. Marconi

Music Department
Komala A.P. .... playback singer
Bhanumathi Ramakrishna .... playback singer
Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao .... playback singer

choreographer
Vedantam Raghavaiah

Cast:
Nageshwara Rao Akkineni ... Prince Sudhakar
Bhanumathi Ramakrishna ... Princess Kalavathi
Anjali Devi ... Chitra
Siva Rao Kasturi
Showkar Janaki ... Chandrika
Balijepalli Lakshmikanta Kavi
Vangara
Kanakam
Lakshmi Rajyam C.
Vijayalaxmi (as Vijayalakshmi)
Ganga Ratnam P.
Vedantam Raghavaiah
Subbamma R.
Lakshmi Devi
Ramanatha Sastri

Story:
Costumed fantasy, and a rare joint appearance of Telugu cinema's two best-known female stars, Bhanumathi and Anjali Devi. Kalavathi (Bhanumathi), talented and versatile daughter of the king of Simhala, refuses to marry, as does Sudhakar (A, Nageshwara Rao), prince of the neighbouring kingdom ofAvanti, While he is asleep, fairies come and transport him in his bed to Kalavathi's chamber and they fall in love. The celestial damsel Chitra (Anjali Devi), envious of Kalavathi, whisks Sudhakar up to heaven, allowing him to return to earth once a week but threatening that hi,s head will explode into a 1000 pieces if he reveals her existence. When Kalavathi gets pregnant, her husband's disappearances lead to rumours accusing her of infidelity and she is forced to leave the palace. Kidnapped by tribals, she escapes dressed as a man. Another princess, Chandrika, believing Kalavathi to be a man, falls in love with her and marries her. In the end, Chitra throws Sudhakar out of heaven and he lands on earth, petrified into a stone statue. A holy man makes him human again and changes Chitra into a witch. Patterned on an earlier hit, Pullaiah's Gollabhama (1947), the film became a pioneering example of a genre Telugu film critics call 'folklore films’.