VELUGU NEEDALU 1961

Direction:
Adhurthi Subbarao.
Producer:
Dukkipati Madhushudana Rao.
Banner:
Annapurna Pictures (Private) Ltd.
Art:
S. Krishna Rao
GV Subbarao.
Associate Director:
K. Viswanath.
Choreography:
PS Gopalakrishnan
AK Chopra.
Cinematography:
PN Selvaraj.
Dialogues:
Acharya Atreya.
Editing:
MS Mani.
Lyrics:
Sri Sri
Kosaraju.
Music:
Pendyala.
Singers:
P. Susheela,
Ghantasala,
Jikki,
Swarnalatha
Madhavapeddi Satyam.

Cast:
ANR,
Jaggayya,
SV Rangarao,
Relangi,
Savithri,
Girija,
Suryakantham,
Sandhya,
Rajasulochana,
Kamaladevi,
Baby Shashikala,
Parvathi,
Padmanabham,
Peketi,
Natarajan,
Meenakumari,
Surabhi Kamalabai and Others.

Story:
Producer Dukkipati had a successful run with the movie Mangalya Balam and was planning on remaking Donga Ramudu in Hindi, with his ever-favorite ANR in the lead opposite Bollywood damsel Meenakumari. But just before the movie began, he was hospitalized and there seemed little hope of getting well. He panicked, and married off his daughters and gave the rights of Donga Ramudu to Chettiyar as he showed few signs of recovery. With a stroke of luck, and help from Ayurveda, he got back to his full strength and returned with renewed enthusiasm to make movies.

With this background, it comes as no surprise that the plot of his next venture, Velugu Needalu had all the three main characters playing doctors. ANR even falls sick in the movie, without hope of recovery, but recovers in the end-is that reel life imitating real life? Not just that, there is one of track he picked up from real life. Let us look at the story first, and it will make more sense. ADURTI SUBBA RAO

Rao Bahadur R. Venkat Ramaiah (SV Rangarao) and Kanaka Durga (Suryakantham) is a childless couple who adopt Suguna (Savithri). When they have a child of their own later who they name Varalakshmi, Kanaka Durga's affection towards Suguna diminishes, and she is given away to a clerk Vengalappa (Relangi). She grows up to become a doctor and her love interest is Chandram (ANR) who discovers that he has TB and forces Suguna to marry another doctor Raghunath (Jaggayya). Chandram is cured of TB but Dr. Raghunath expires in an accident; Suguna decides to dedicate her life to social work, and convinces Chandram to marry Varalakshmi. Kanaka Durga poisons Lakshmi's mind and causes rift in the relations, which Suguna sets right and all's well that end's well.

Now, Dukkipati happened to know a couple who first adopted a child, but once they had a child of their own, their love for the adopted kid vanished. He decided to use it in the movie. For all the hospital scenes, the medical procedures, and scenes in the court and with the police, Dukkipati got people from those professions to guide them along so that it appears realistic and not merely make-believe. Such was his dedication towards making a meaningful movie.

Also, they had written a climax earlier which, as they discovered to their horror, was astoundingly similar to a Hindi movie, so they changed it because they did not want the stigma of copying a Hindi story.

Atreya wrote the script, except for the comedy scenes-which were penned by a famous playwright of those times, Korrapati Gangadhar Rao. The Tamil version was called Tuya Ulam where Jayalalitha's mother had a role to play. The Telugu songs written by Sri Sri were written by Udumalai Narayana Kavi in Tamil, and both of them worked together to write the songs.

The music was a major highlight in the movie. Say Velugu Needalu to any true-blue Telugu cinema buff, and they will right away hum Kala Kanidi Viluvainadi and Padavoi Bharatiyuda. Dukkipati's favorite Sri Sri penned these songs which took Pendyala 15 days to compose. Praising him, Sri Sri noted that even if an editorial prose is given to Pendyala, one can expect a beautiful tune out of him. A man on the verge of suicide supposedly heard the song Kalakanidi and decided to give life another chance!

Padavoi Bharatiyuda got Sri Sri so much more fame than he already had, that he even wrote a book with that title, his collection of movie songs. Srimate Ramanuja Namah was Relangi's oft-repeated word, after each sentence, which was liked by the Cinegoers. This was in fact taken from a man that the crew knew somewhere in Gudiwada, and used it in the song Siva Govinda Govinda and later decided to make it Relangi's characteristic phrase while shooting.

Let's include the Copy Cat Crown here, with due regards to Pendyala. Challani Vennela Sonalu is a copy of Bengali singer Geeta Dutt's private song Kajol Kajol Kumkum. O Rangayyo is lifted from a Marathi song. Hai Haiga Jabilli is from the song Chanda Loriyaan sung by Lata Mangeshkar, from the Hindi movie Naya Sansar.
K. Viswanath was an associate director in this movie. Sheshagiri Rao, brother of composer Chakravarthy, acted as ANR's pal in this movie, and went on to become a director with Tayaramma Bangarayya and Devatalara Deevinchandi. EV Saroja who appeared in the song impressed the producers so much that she bagged the role of the lead opposite ANR in their next venture, Iddaru Mitrulu.

A funny tidbit in this context is that Relangi, unhappy with the thoroughly deglamorized role of a clerk with a funny get-up got so upset one day, that he bet Dukkipati that the movie will not fare well! Thankfully for the producers, the movie clicked and Velugu Needalu was a hit in Telugu, and an average runner in Tamil-rumor has it that a prominent Tamil hero did not want ANR's movie to be a hit in Tamil Nadu, and did everything in his might to sabotage the chances the movie had. But Velugu Needalu (Light and Shadows) definitely brought only light to the cast and the crew and Cinegoers remember this movie even today.