SARDAR PAPARAYUDU 1980

Story, Screenplay, Dailogues & Direction: Dasari Narayana Rao.
Producer: Kranthi Kumar.
Banner: Sri Annapurna International.
Action: Sambasiva Rao.
Art: Bhaskara Raju.
Choreography: Saleem.
Cinematography: S. Venkataratnam.
Co-director: CV Ramanababu.
Costumes: M. Krishna.
Editing: GG Krishna Rao.
Lyrics: Srisri, Rajasri & Dasari Narayana Rao.
Music: Chakravathy.
Re-recording: Ramanathan (Prasad Studio).
Singers: P. Susheela, S. Janaki, SP Balu & Benarjee.
Studios: Prasad, Vauhini, AVM, Sharada & Arunachalam.

Cast:
NTR,
Sharada,
Sridevi,
Pandaribhai,
Athili Lakshmi,
Jyothilakshmi,
Satyanarayana,
Raogopal Rao,
Allu Ramalingaiah,
Gummadi,
S. Varalakshmi,
Prabhakar Reddy,
Mohanbabu,
Tyagaraju,
Ashokkumar,
Chalapati Rao,
Dr. Bhaskara Rao,
KV Chalam,
PJ Sharma,
Kodala Ravi,
Raghavaiah,
Veeramachaneni Prasad,
Benarjee,
Raju,
Adinarayana Murthy,
Banojirao,
RK Dharmaraju,
Seetharam,
Sureshbabu,
Suresh,
Telephone Satyanarayana,
Vanga Apparao,
Chidatala Apparao,
Chandraraju,
Janardhan,
Prasad,
Subbarao,
Apparao,
Narasimha Rao and Others.

Story:
NTR as Sardar PaparayuduOne of NTR's landmark movies, Sardar Paparayudu was inspired from Dilip Kumar's Bollywood blockbuster Kranthi. Incidentally, the producer shared the same name-Kranthi Kumar. He was a small-time producer till then, he picked women-oriented subjects and made 'Sarada', 'Ame Katha', 'Kalpana' and 'Jyothi'. A casual bet with his friend made him decide to make a movie with the reigning superstar, NTR. A vague idea and a precise ambition actually got him dates from the star, and work on the movie began.

Dasari Narayana Rao was to direct this movie, who was inspired by Kranthi. Dasari, Kranthi Kumar and Palagummi Padmaraju scripted the movie together and Paparayudu was ready to roll. Later the title was changed to Sardar Paparayudu for the extra punch.

The story goes like this: Paparayudu is a freedom fighter whose name is maligned by traitors headed by Dharmaraju (Raogopal Rao) and Co. Paparayudu is jailed for the murder of Raja Raghav Raju, in reality committed by the villainous trio. Dharmaraju's daughter Vijaya (Sridevi) is in love with Inspector Ram Mohan, who is later discovered to be Paparayudu's son. A revenge drama follows and Paparayudu finally avenges himself on his enemies.

This movie was a trendsetter in its own right, and many movies with similar storylines have emerged since then. NTR-Dasari combo was seen before in Manushulantha Okkate and Circus Ramudu. The dialogues written by Dasari in this movie became so popular that the LP records and cassettes of the audio track of the movie sold like hot cakes. The re-recording was also highly appreciated in the movie, especially of the scenes belonging to the pre-independence era.

Music by Chakravarthy and the choreography by Saleem was targeted at the newly emerging 80s 'Mass' Mania. 'Tella Cheera', '1980 Varaku Ittanti Pilla' and 'Uyyalaku Vayasochindi', written by Dasari and rendered by SP Balasubrahmanyam and Susheela drew whistles and hoots from the 'youth'. After the movie finished a 50-day run, the song 'Jyothilakshmi Cheerakattindi' was added to it. Sri Sri's 'Vinara Bharatha Veera Kumara', a Burrakatha rendered by the famous 'Burrakatha Benarjee' is ever-popular.

NTR dons the role of Alluri Seetharamaraju in this song, a dream he cherished and realized only in this movie. The filmmaker, fans and NTR himself enjoyed the dual role of father and son portrayed by him in this movie. He took special care to see that the dialogue and mannerisms of both the distinct characters remained distinct and the dubbing part of it was also done with utmost dedication. The role of Baba by Gummadi and Mohan Babu's role of a British soldier were also a hit with the public.

There was a sentiment among the makers that if NTR gets injured on the set during the filming, then the movie is a hit. And sure enough, this movie saw NTR fracturing his wrist-not the first time, incidentally. He had almost 10 fractures in his lifetime while filming various movies, all of which turned out to have really long runs at the BO. NTR was appreciated in this social drama, proving his versatility and dedication as an actor yet again.