SIRI SIRI MUVVA 1976

Story, Screenplay & Direction: K. Viswanath.
Presenter: Chintha Ramakrishna Reddy.
Producer(s): N. Bhaskar Reddy, Karri Laccha Reddy & U. Chinaveerraju.
Banner: Geetha Krishna Combines.
Art: Thota.
Choreography: Pasumarthi.
Cinematography: VSR Swamy.
Dialogues: Veturi Sundara Ramamurthy & Jandhyala.
Lyrics: Veturi Sundara Ramamurthy.
Music: KV Mahadevan.

Cast:
Chandramohan,
Kavitha,
Ramaprabha,
Devadas Kanakala,
Kaikala Satyanarayana,
Sakshi Ranga Rao,
JV Ramana Murthy and Others.

Story:
Producer trio N. Bhaskar Reddy, Karri Laccha Reddy and U. Chinaveerraju started out by dubbing a Tamil movie into Telugu. The movie was Venkateswara Mahathyam, which got them good profits. Now they wanted to get into making a movie, not merely dubbing it. K. Viswanath had narrated a story to producer DVS Raju, but he was unimpressed. He narrated the same to the trio, who gave their nod to start the movie. Siri Siri Muvva starring Chandramohan and Jayapradha was made and ran to full houses.

The story had many twists and turns. It is the story of Hyma (Jayapradha), a mute girl who is passionate about dancing. She is ill-treated by her stepmother (Ramaprabha), who wants to make her daughter Savithri (Kavitha) a heroine. Sambayya (Chandramohan), an orphan is deeply in love with Hyma, and saves her from being cheated by her vile stepmother and her nephew, Badram (Devadas Kanakala).

Sambayya takes Hyma to the city after her father's (Satyanarayana) death, where he is inflicted by TB. Once Hyma gets to know, she earns money by dancing at a Kalakshetra. Sambayya wants her to marry the organizer Ram Babu, but Hyma's heart beats only for her loyal companion Sambayya. Savithri acts in a movie and gets shunned by all, and Hyma takes care of them-all is forgiven. Sambayya and Hyma get married and all's well that ends well.

Sambayya's role was first supposed to be donned by Kamal Hassan, but it was Chandramohan who finally did it. He had already worked with Viswanath in O Sita Katha. After Siri Siri Muvva, Chandramohan's career really took off.

Many people were considered for the role of Hyma, including famous danseuse Shoba Naidu. It was Jayapradha, a little known and upcoming starlet then, who bagged it. She too never looked back after this landmark role. Actress Kavitha debuted with this movie in the role of Savithri, who is Hyma's step-sister.

VSR SwamyThe cinematography was appreciated in the movie, especially in the songs. The credit went to VSR Swamy who was assisted by today's biggies like S. Gopal Reddy, MV Raghu and Sharath. Veturi penned the lyrics and had co-written the dialogues with Jandhyala. KV Mahadevan's music was another highlight for this movie; Susheela won the national award for playback (Jhummandhi Naadham).

The trademark dance and music in K. Viswanath's movies started with this movie. The symbolism and maturity with which some of the scenes were dealt with impressed viewers and the film fraternity alike.

Siri Siri Muvva was remade into Hindi as Sargam, marking Jayapradha's Hindi debut. Rishi Kapoor played the male lead. The song Dafli Wale Dafli Baja became a huge hit, and is famous even today. The producer trio later made Siri Vennela with K. Viswanath, which was an average runner.

Today's trend of remaking golden hits of the past in Hindi was desired even then, by Kowsalendra Rao. He wanted Viswanath to remake Siri Siri Muvva, but the director declined. Siri Siri Muvva marked a coming of age cinema for the 70s era in Telugu.