CHANDIKA(1940)

KANNAMBA

Banner:Bhawani Pics
Director:R.S. Prakash
Music:Kopparapu Subba Rao
Story:Muttaneni Venkata Chennakesavulu
Lyrics:Kopparapu Subba Rao
Cinematography:Kamal Ghosh

BALLARI RAGHAVA

Cast:
P. Kannamba,
Vemuri Gaggaiah,
Bellari Raghava,
Lalitha Devi,
Peddapuram Raju,
Arani Satyanarayana,
Puwula Ratnamala

VEMURI GAGGAIAH

Story:The forthright Chandika (Kannamba) plans to kill villainous womaniser Giriraju (Gaggaiah). Although she decides to do so on principle, she attempts the deed only when he tries to molest her. He is rescued by Veeramallu (Raghava) who has him jailed. Unusual melodrama loosely derived from Dumas's The Three Musketeers and set in an undefined feudal era where royalty survives amid democratic state institutions. Although rehearsing the usual pieties about Hindu women, the film is remembered for its unorthodox heroine.

KRISHNA PREMA(1943)

Banner:Famous/Star Combines
Director: H.V. Babu
Music:Galipenchala Narasimha Rao
Lyrics:Tapi Dharma Rao
Cinematography:P.S, Selvaraj,Jiten Bennerjee

Cast:
Shantakumari,
P. Bhanumathi,
T. Suryakumari.
Jayagauri,
Hemavathi,
Parvathihai,
Gali Venkateshwara Rao,
Addanki,
Hirannaya,
Sangeetha Rao
Story:This major musical hit, made at the Vel Pies Studio in [heir characteristic mythological genre, tells of Radha's (Shantakumari) devotion for Krishna (Venkateshwara Rao), which is supposed to exemplify divine love. Her love is scorned both by Radha's sister Chandravali (Bhanumathi) and by Krishna's wife Satyabhama (Himavathi). Krishna wins over Chandravali by impersonating her husband Chandragopa (Addanki). He then impersonates Radha herself to prove that divine love transcends sexual difference. The film united the three best-known Telugu actress-singers: Shantakumari, Bhanumathi and T. Suryakumari (as the trouble-making Narada). Between them they had several numbers including Godumu krisbna, Chiluka palkuladana Repe vastadanta gopaludu and Oogave uyyala [hat have become cultural legends, Addanki and Bhanumathi together sang Ekkadunnave pilla.

PEDARAITU(1952)

Banner:Rajarajeshwari Films
Director:Kadaru Nagabhushanam
Music:H.R. Padmanabha Sastry
Lyrics:Kopparapu Subba Rao,Sambasiva Rao, Babji
Cinematography:P. Ellappa

Cast:
P. Kannamba.
Anjali Devi,
M. Sriramamurthy,
Relangi Venhatramaiah,
Doraiswamy,
Ungamurlhy,
D. Sadasivarao,
Tulasi,
Muthulakshmi

Story:Rural drama in the tradition of Palletooru (1952), The evil son of the zamindar loves the same girl as the hero (Sriramamurthy) and has the hero expelled from the village. The hero manages to return and all zamindar land is eventually redistributed to the poor peasants. There is a parallel comedy story including a prostitute, a manager, the manager's assistant and the assistant's lover.

Ammalakkalu(1953)

Banner: Krishna Pics
Director: D. Yoganand
Music: C.R. Subburaman, Vishwanathan Ramamurthy
Story: Sadasiva Brahmam
Lyrics: Samudrala Jr
Cinematography: Boman D.Irani

Cast:
Lalitha,
Padmini,
N.T. RamaRao,
Relangi Venkatramaiah,
B.R. Panthulu,
Sivaramakrishnaiah,
Rushyendramani,
Surabhi Kamalabai

Story: Lalitha Yoganand's successful debut. The educated Usha (Lalitha), a 50s Telugu stereotype, marries the hero (NTR) despite the protests of her family. She then takes on, and vanquishes, the oppressive feudalist practices of her husband's family. The film concentrates on its female lead, featuring the Ammalakkalu (neighbourhood women) indulging in dances, bicycle picnics and pranks before getting down to the story.

Jayapradha (1939)

Banner:Sharada-Rayalseema Films
Director:Ch. Narasimha Rao
Music:Saluri Rajeshwara Rao
Dialogues:Varanasi Seetarama Sastry
Lyrics:Ch. Hanumantha Rao

Cast:
C.S.R. Anjaneyulu,
K. Pichhaiah,
Narasimha Rao,
Lalita,
Sampurna,
Sheshu,
Chitti,
Seeta,
Yashoda,
Rajkumari,
Anjamma,
Ramudu,
Saluri Rajeshwara Rao

Story:By way of an Ayodhyecha Raja (1932) type of story, the film offers an invented legend as a nationalist allegory aligned with the Gandhian opposition (including a scene showing Jayapradha using the spinning-wheel associated with Gandhi's campaign). Rather than resorting to violence to defend his country, the peace-loving Emperor Pururava leaves his palace with his wife Jayapradha and his two sons. The royal couple attempt manual labour, which is abhorrent to the wife, and face the evil machinations of the merchant Navakoti Narayana Shetty. When Shetty captures and tries to molest Jayapradha, his house is accidentally set on fire. Rajeshwara Rao's first full assignment as composer.

GARUDA GARVABHANGAM(1943)

VEMURI GAGGAIAH

Banner:Pratibha Pics
Director:Ghantasala Balaramaiah
Music:Ogirala Ramachandra Rao
Lyrics: Balijepalli Lakshmikanta Kavi
Cinematography:P. Sridhara Rao

Cast:
Vemuri Gaggaiah,
P. Bhanumathi,
Ramakrishna Sastry,
Mandavalli Sandow,
Vedantam Raghavalah

Story:Mythological featuring a contest between Garuda (the eagle) and Hanuman (the monkey god), regarded as Vishnu's two most trusted followers. Although Garuda can see the original Vishnu avatar underneath Vishnu's current incarnation as Rama, Hanuman has greater access to Rama, his temporal master. The film, adapted from a stage play, was noted mainly for Bhanumathi's singing, re-released in HMV's series Alanati Andaalu.

GUMASTA(1953)

Banner: Aruna Pics
Director: R.M. Krishnaswamy
Music: C.N. Pandurangam,Chittor V. Nagaiah, G, Ramanathan
Story: Acharya Athreya from his play NGO
Lyrics: Acharya Athreya
Cinematography: R.M. Krishnaswamy

Cast:
Chittor V. Nagaiah,
Ramasanna,
Sivaram,
Pandharibai,
B. Jayamma

Story: Influential realist effort in Telugu and Tamil cinemas based on a major Telugu play (1949) which introduced, along with Vasireddy's Mundadugu, a new generation in Telugu theatre. Nagaiah plays a clerk in a government office who looks after a sick father (Ramasarma), an unmarried sister and an unemployed brother (Sivaram) who sells tooth powder on the street. The clerk accepts a bribe, is found out and arrested. The father dies and the younger brother delivers the play's morality lecture on honesty, Athreya added scenes for the film such as the sister's marriage to a man who promptly dies after the wedding.

Puttillu(1953)

Banner: Raja Prod
Director: Rajarao
Music: Mohandas,T. Chalapathi Rao
Story: Rajarao
Dialogues: Sunkara,Vasireddy
Cinematography: V.N. Reddy,Ajit Kumar

Cast:
Jamuna,
Rajarao,
Perumallu,
Mikkilineni,
Ramana Reddy,
Chadalavada,
Suryashree

Story: The noted playwright Vasireddy, the composer Chalapathi Rao, future Telugu starJamuna and the director all emerged from the IPTA's Andhra Unit, the Praja Natya Mandali. A father insists on having his daughter educated but forbids her to continue studying when she reaches marriageable age. She later leaves her unsuitable husband and the plot also addresses the woman's problematic relationship with her mother-in-law. The makers of this unsuccessful film were sometimes criticised for having sold out to commercialism, although other histories, notably those of the impact of the IPTA on Teiugu cinema, continue to ascribe to it a historically significant role.

Ratnamala (1948)

Banner: Bharani Pics
Director: P.S. Ramakrishna Rao
Music:C.R. Subburaman
Lyrics:Samudrala Ragavacharya, Rajanikantha Rao
Cinematography:Jiten Bannerjee, P.S. Selvaraj

Cast:
P. Bhanumathi,
G.V. Subba Rao,
CSR Anjaneyulu,
A. Nageshwara Rao,
Hemalatha,
Arani Satyanarayana,
Suryanarayana,
Seetaram,
Ramanatha Sastry,
Venkumamba,
Koteshwara Rao,
Narayana,
Baby Sumitra

Story: The first film from Bhanumathi's independent production concern, set up with her husband, director Ramakrishna. Cast in a folk-tale idiom, the story tells of Ratnamala (Bhanumathi) who is tricked into marrying the infant Prince Chandrakantha. She raises her 'husband' in a forest but when he is 7 years old he is kidnapped by bandits for a ritual sacrifice. Ratnamala follows him and the robber chieftain tries to molest her. The couple are eventually rescued by the king, Ratnamala's father. When he refuses to believe that the boy is indeed her husband, the gods Shiva and Parvathi descend to earth to sort out the confusion. The film is famous composer C.R. Subburaman's first independent assignment and includes several hit songs: Anandadayini and, when Ratnamala goes in search of her husband, Mlwa needa le/sa. The film also featured compositions by Saluri Rajeshwara Rao, Ghantasala and Rajanikanta Rao, all uncredited.

Manohara (1954)

Banner: Manohar Pics
Director: L.V. Prasad
Music: S.V. Venkatraman
Story: P. Sambandani Mudaliar
Dialogues: Acharya Athreya
Lyrics: Acharya Athreya, Balijepalli Lakshmikama Kavi, Sri Sri
Cast:
P. Kannamba,
T.R. Rajkumari,
Pandharibai,
Girija,
SivaJi Ganesan,
S.A. Natarajan,
S,S. Rajendran,
K.A. Thangavelu,
Sadasivarao,
Kaka Radhakrishnan

Story: Costume fantasy allegedly set in the llth C. at the time of the Chola dynasty. The king (Sadasivarao), seduced by Vasantasena (T.R. Rajakumari), abandons his wife (Kannamba) and his son Manohara (Ganesan). Vasantasena wants Manohara arrested and her own son (Radhakrishnan) made heir. She has the king and queen imprisoned while she attempts to seize power. Manohara escapes from prison and leads a popular revolt against Vasantasena and her general Ugrasen (Natarajan). The hit, scripted by Karunanidhi and featuring a major star cast, is sometimes seen as the most chauvinist of all the DMK films with its anti-North India rhetoric climaxing in Ganesan's monologue at the end characterising all 'Aryans' as intruders and jackals who entered through the Khyber Pass.

Bandhipotu (1963)

Banner: Rajalakshmi Prod
Director: B.Vittalacharya
Music: Ghantasala Venkateshwara Rao
Dialogues: Soorat Ashwath
Lyrics: Soorat Ashwath , K.R. Seetarama Sastry
Cinematography: Raveekant Nagaich
Producer: Sundarlal Nahata
Cast:
N.T. Rama Rao,
Krishnakumari
Mikkilineni
Rajanala
Gummadi Venkateswara rao
Story: Vittalacharya's big-budget return to Kannada cinema is a Rajkumar costumed adventure movie with a complicated plot, characteristic of all the star's films. King Satyasena of Gandhara is overthrown by his evil stepbrother Shurasena (Kumar). The masked hero Veera Nayaka, who leads the oppressed people, attacks the palace of Princess Mandara Male (Leelavathi), but she is rescued by the masked man's brother Narasimha Nayaka (Rajkumar/NTR). Veera Nayaka is killed together with his benevolent father Dharma Nayaka (Nagendra Rao) by Shurasena. This episode introduces a second masked man, revealed to be Narasimha Nayaka's brother. The princess tries to apprehend him but is herself caught. She is then told the truth about the palace intrigues. Narasimha Nayaka is captured, escapes, and eventually overthrows the evil empire of Shurasena. Vittalacharya simultaneously made a Telugu version, Bandhipotu, starring NTR and Krishnakumari.

Draupadi Manasamrakshanam (1936)

BALLARI RAGHAVA

Banner: Lakshmi Films
Director:S. Jagannath, Ramanamurthy
Music: Papatia Kantaiah

BANDA KANAKA LINGESWARA RAO

Cast:
Bellari Raghava,
S. Rangaswamy,
Sivarakrishna Rao,
H.N. Choudhury,
Daita Gopalam,
Jandhyala Gaurinatha Sastry,
Banda Kanakalingeshwara Rao,
Surabhi Kamalabai,
Padmavati Devi,
Shrihari

SURABHI KAMALA BAI

Story:Leela Lakshmi Films' owner Kavali Gupta signed noted stage actor Raghava to play Duryodhana. At Saraswati Talkies, H.V. Babu was making Draupadi Vastrapaharanam at the same time, although on a smaller budget. Both films told the same Mahabharata episode in which Draupadi is publicly humiliated by the Kauravas and rescued by Krishna. In spite of Raghava's star presence, the film was not as successful as its rival.

Premavijayam(1936)

Banner:Indian Art Cinetone
Director:Krithiventi Nageswara Rao
Music:Munuvanty Venkara Ran
Lyrics:Vedula Saryanarayana Sastry

Cast:
P. Krishnamurthy,
P.S. Sharma,
P. Rama Rao,
K. Ranga Rao,
M. Ramchandramurthy,
Bhanumathi,
Nookaraju,
Rajyam,
B. Rajalak-shma Bhagavathar

Story: Based on the director's original stage play and regarded as the first non-mythological Telugu film, the melodrama tells of two lovers who have to overcome parental obstruction to their eventual union. The film is someume.s seen as an early ancestor of the Rohini and Vauhini Telugu melodramas.

BHAKTIMALA 1941

Banner: Bhaskar Pics
Director:Haribhai Desai
Music:Kopparapu Subba Rao
Story:Haribhai Desai
Cinematography:M.A. Rehman
Cast:
V.R. Panthulu,
P Bhanumathi,
M. Lingamurthy,
Coconada Rajarathnam,
Shanta,
Venkatagiri,
Kuturnba Sastry,
Annapuma,
Kondala Rao,
G.V. Sitapathy

Story: Story paying tribute to the Varkari tradition of Marathi saint poets. Radha (Bhanumathi), a devadasi (South Indian form of ritualised prostitution, in which the woman is wedded to god), converts herself into a worshipper of the saints. She is persecuted by the pimp Timmaya Sastry (Kondala Rao) and the villainous Brahmin Ramanujachari (Sitapathy). The hero Mohan (Panthulu) joins her struggle for social reform. When Ramanujachari has her framed for Mohan's murder, she is saved through divine intervention. One of the best-known films of Haribhai Desai, a Gujarati graduate of the New York Institute of Cinematography as well as manager of Laxmi Pies and the Suvarna Studio in Poona, and the founder of the influential Bangalore-based Surya Film. This studio became a conduit for other Bombay-based directors (e.g. Sundarrao Nadkarni) to work in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada cinemas, bringing their influences of Marathi, Hindi and Gujarati cinema to the South.

TALLIPREMA (1941)

KANNAMBA

Banner:Rajarajeshwari Pics
Director:Jyotish Sinha
Music:N.V. Venkatraman, N.B. Dinkar Rao
Story:Lakshmi Narasimha Rao
Dialogues:K.L. Narasimha Rao
Lyrics:Daita Gopalam
Cinematography:Kamal Ghosh

Cast:
P. Kannamba,
Hemalatha Devi,
Sheshamamba,
C.S.R. Anjaneyulu,
Kalyanam Raghuramaiah

Story:Marital melodrama promoting the image of the ideal woman as a long-suffering and self sacrificing wife. Santha (Kannamba) is the exemplary but still childless -wife of Krishna Rao (Anjaneyulu). When all rituals fail, she accepts her evil sister-in-law Durgabai's (Sheshamba) suggestion that her husband take a second bride, Kamala (Hemalatha). Durgabai and Kamala then combine to eject Santha from the house in spite of her sudden pregnancy. She gives birth to a son but gets separated from the child, which is raised by a local zamindar. Kamala turns out to be the real villain and sends an assassin to kill the child. Eventually the husband has a change of heart and rescues the child himself; Kamala obligingly commits suicide, thus restoring the original happy couple.

ViSHWAMOHINI(1940)

CHITTURU V NAGAIAH

Banner:Jagdish Pics
Director:Y.V. Rao
Music:Ogirala Ramchandra Rao
Story:Y.V. Rao
Dialogues:Balijepalli Lakshmikanta Kavi
Lyrics:Balijepalli Lakshmikanta Kavi

Y V RAO

Cast:
Y.V. Rao,
Chittor V. Nagaiah,
Lalitha Devi,
Bezawada Rajarathnam,
Rangaswamy,
Kakinada Rajarathnam,
Doraiswamy,
Gangarathnam,
Sampurna,
Suryanarayana

Story: A love triangle satirising the film industry. Purshottam (Y.V. Rao) embezzles money from a firm of brokers owned by Padmanabham in order to get his son Mohan Rao married to Hemalatha, daughter of the millionaire Vishalakshamma (B. Rajarathnam). The now impoverished Padmanabham partially gets his own revenge when his daughter Sushila (Lalitha Devi) becomes the film star Vishwamohini, introduced by the Film producer Pashupati, brother of Vishalakshamma. The star Vishwamohini falls in love with Mohan Rao and her father agrees to their marriage provided Mohan can find a job. He pretends to have done so and the two get married. Hemalatha offers Vishwamohini money to go away and free Mohan, which, in an emotional scene, she refuses to do. The hit film continued director/star Y.V. Rao's trailblazing work at Jagdish (his earlier film for them. Malli Pelli, 1939, was also a hit) and includes long comedy sequences such as the satirical depiction of a film director (Nagaiah).

PARADESI (1953)

Banner: Anjali Pictures
Director: L.V. Prasad
Music: Adi Narayana Rao
Dialogues: Malladi Krishna Sharma
Lyrics: Malladi Krishna Sharma
Cinematography: Kamal Ghosh

Cast:
Anjali Devi,
Sivaji Ganesan,
S.V. Ranga Rao,
A. Nageshwara Rao,
Pandaribai,
Relangi Venkatramaiah ,
Mohan
Story: The Anjali Pictures debut is an incest melodrama. Chandram (Nageshwara Rao) becomes a pauper on the death of his father. To support the widow and son of a childhood friend, he finds a job and meets the beautiful flower-girl Lakshmi (Anjali Devi) at a hill resort, Defying her conservative father, they marry. When Chandram has to leave for the city in a hurry, Lak.shmi believes that he has deserted her. She is persecuted by a suitor who burns down her house, and when Chandram returns he believes his wife i.s dead. Years later Lakshmi’s daughter and Chandram's adopted son fall in love. In addition, rumour has it that Chandram’s adopted son is in fact his illegitimate child by the window he supported, making the incest motif yet more explicit.

Chenchu Lakshmi (1958)

Banner: B.A.S. Prod
Director: B.A. Subba Rao
Music: Saluri Rajeshwara Rao
Story: V. Sadasiva Brahmam
Dialogues: V. Sadasiva Brahmam
Lyrics: V. Sadasiva Brahmam ,Arudra., Kosaraju, Samudrala Raghavacharya
Cinematography: C. Nageshwara Rao
Cast:
A. Nageshwara Rao,
Anjali Devi,
Relangi Venkatramaiah,
S.V. Ranga Rao,
Gummadi Venkateshwara Rao,
Pushpavalli,
Sandhya,
Nagabhushanam,
Master Babji
Story: Musical mythological, remade from S. Soundararajan's hit of 1943, featuring Vishnu (Nageshwara Rao) in his two best-known incarnations: the boar (Varaha) and the man-lion (Narasimha). Not invited to the celestial marriage of Vishnu and Lakshmi (Anjali Devi), Durvasa banishes Lakshmi's parents to earth as common people. There, Lakshmi is reborn as a tribal. The film intercuts her story on earth with the heavenly tale of Hiranyakashapu (Ranga Rao) who cannot be killed by man or beast. The demon's son Prahlada (Balaji), devoted to Vishnu, survives several murder attempts by his own father until finally Vishnu kills Hiranyakashapu using his Narasimha avatar. The heaven-earth split allows the film to deploy two narrative styles: the mythological one and a folk idiom (cf. Anjali Devi as a restrained goddess and a coquettish earthling). Her performance and Rajeshwara Rao's music helped the film's commercial success. In 1958, a hugely successful 'Chenchu Lakshmi' had the story of Prahlada in it, with SV Ranga Rao as Hiranyakasyapa and Pushpavalli (Rekha's mother) as Leelavati, her son Babji as Prahlada and Relangi as Narada.

Punarjanma (1963)

Banner: Prasad Art Pics
Director: K. Pratyagatma
Music: T. Chalapathi Rao
Story: Gulshan Nanda
Screenplay: K. Pratyagatma ,Acharya Athreya
Lyrics: Sri Sri, Dasarathi, C. Narayana Reddy, Kosaraju
Cinematography: P.S. Selvaraj
Cast:
A. Nageshwara Rao,
Krishnakumari,
Gummadi Venkateshwara Rao,
Ramana Reddy,
Padmanabhan,
Prabhakara Reddy,
Vasanthi,
Suryakantham,
Sandhya,
Chadalavada
Story: Melodrama about Gopi, an artist (Nageshwara Rao) who goes crazy when an electrical short circuit destroys his sculpture. The doctor has the dancer and singer Vasanthi (Krishnakumari) move in to restore the sculptor to sanity. The two plan to marry, but his return to health also causes an attack of amnesia. The hero can only recognise his lover when a second accident reminds him of his first illness.

Varavikrayam(1939)

Banner:East India Film
Director:C. Pullaiah
Music: Durga Sen
Story:Kallakuri Narayana Rao's play
Dialogues:Balijepalli Lakshmikanta Kavi
Lyrics:Balijepalli Lakshmikanta Kavi
Cinematography:Biren De
Cast:
Balijepalli Lakshmikanta Kavi,
Daita Gopalam,
K. Satyanarayana,
M. Ramchandramurthy,
T. Chalapathi Rao,
A.V. Subba Rao,
Relangi Venkatramaiah,
Sriranjani Sr,
Dasari Kotiratnam,
Pushpavalli,
P. Bhanumathi,
Subhadra
Story:
Pullaiah, making Telugu films in Calcutta, abandons his usual mythologicals for this reformist social about the iniquitous dowry system. Although opposed to the dowry system, the retired government official Purshottama Rao borrows money to get his eldest daughter Kalindi (Bhanumathi) married, against her wishes, to the thrice-married, agaist her wihes , to the thrice-married , Lingaraju. Kalindi commits suicide before the marriage can take place and when Lingaraju refuses to return the dowry, Purshottama’s second daughter Kamala ( Pushpalvalli) agrees.

CHANDAMAMA 2007

Release Date: September 6, 2007
Dialogues: Lakshmi Bhoopal
Music: K M Radhakrishnan
Cinematography: Prasad Murella
Editing: Baswa Reddy and Naveen (digital editing)
Story: Krishna Vamsi
Screenplay: Krishna Vamsi
Directed: Krishna Vamsi
Produced by: C Kalyan and Vijayanand
Banner: Teja Cinema

Cast:
Navadeep,
Shivabalaji,
Kajal,
Sindhu Menon,
Nagababu,
Ahuthi Prasad,
Jeeva,
Rajesh,
Uttej and others

Story:
Ranga Rao (Nagababu) is a kind and popular man in a village. He fixes marriage of his city-educated daughter Mahalakshmi (Kajal Agarwal) to a sincere guy from the same village Dorababu (Siva Balaji). But Mahalakhmi has a past in the city where she falls in love with Kishore (Navadeep). The rest of the story is all about how these guys settle the things without hurting Ranga Rao.