Bhakta Prahlada (1931)

H M REDDY

Banner: Bharat Movietone
Director: H.M. Reddy
Music: H.R. Padmanabha Sastry
Story & Screenplay: Surabhi Nataka
Lyrics: Gordhanbhai Patel

Cast:
Surabhi Kamalabai,
L.V. Prasad,
Munipalle Subbaiah,
B.V. Subba Rao,
DarasamiNaidu,
Master Kishore.

Story:The first sound film in Telugu is a classic mythological drawn from the Vishnu Purana. Prahlada, the son of the demon Hiranyakashapu (Subbaiah), defies his father and worships Vishnu. He is imprisoned but Vishnu protects him. The film adapts a stage production by one of the Surabhi Theatre troupes, which was taken to Bombay's Krishna Studio to shoot the film. The verses and the dialogue were left intact. Its success prompted many more adaptations from plays e.g. Badami's Paduka Pattabhisekham and Shakuntala (both 1932). Rathod did the Hindi version of the film with actors Neelam, Hydershah and Kumar Mukund.