Telugu Cinema Prapamcham

Synopsis: Mohini-Bhasmasura is a beautiful story that tells how Mohini (Pushpavalli) uses her charm to save Lord Shiva from Bhasmasura, a terrible demon. Mohini is a female incarnation of the great preserver-god Vishnu. Vishnu's role in the cosmos is as the preserver of form and of balance. To meet his goals he frequently takes on fleshly form, often (but not always) human. While incarnate he retains his divine powers, but cannot be recognized by mortal eyes. Mohini is special, though, in that she is a male god in female flesh. Cast: Pushpavalli (Mohini), Dasari Kotiratnam (Lakshmi), A.V. Subba Rao (Bhasmasura), Puvvula Naga Rajakumari (Parvathi), Tungala Chalapathi Rao (Narada), D. Rama Murthy (Lord Siva), R. Venkata Ramaiah (Mareecha), M. Ramachandra Murthy, MB Koteswara Rao, D. Subhadra, T. Annapurna Lyrics and Verses: D. Venkatavadhani Music:  AT Ramanujulu Cinematography: GD Bhadsavle Audiography: PL Kapoor Editing: GD Joshi Art: TV Subba Rao Makeup: G. Kotes...

Cast: Vemuri Gaggaiah (Yama), GN Swamy (Markandeya) Dialogues: Viswanatha Kaviraju Lyrics: Viswanatha Kaviraju, Balijepalli Lakshmikantha Kavi Music: Galipenchala Narasimha Rao Cinematography: Bomman D. Irani Audiography: Bomman B. Sarosh Producer: Ghantasala Balaramaiah Director: Chitrapu Narayana Murthy Banner: Kubera Films

Synopsis: The story is based on the discrimination against Harijans in villages. While some try to end discrimination, the Brahmins oppose it headed by priest Sunderarama Shastri (Subba Rao). His photographer son Nagaraju (Venkateswara Rao) falls in love with Shamapalatha (Kanchanamala), a Harijan girl and elopes with her to Calcutta where he teaches her to read and write. The two sects fight over water and work. After Shastri's wife is saved by the Harijans from a fire accident, his view of them changes. With the police and a few civilians, the situation in the village calms down while Nagaraju and Shampalatha are married with Shastri's blessings. Cast: Govindarajula Subba Rao (Sundararama Sastry), Kanchanamala (Shampalatha), P. Suri Babu (Chowdarayya), Sundaramma (Anasuya), Venkateswara Rao (Nagaraju), Venkata Subbaiah (Mallikarjuna Sharma), Hemalatha Devi (Radhabayamma), Puvvula Anasuya, Teku Anasuya, P. Gangaratnam, P. Lakshmikantam, M.C. Raghavan (Muneyya), Bhanumathi...

Cast: C. Krishnaveni (Devayani), SP Lakshmana Swamy (Kacha), C. Kanthamani (Sarmishta), Kalyanam Raghuramaiah (Indra), NCh Krishnamacharyulu (Brihaspathi), R. Rami Reddy (Vrishaparva), Ch. Suryanarayana Bhagavatar (Sukra), M. Raju, Lakshmikantham, Manika Devi, Chittoori Ramakrishna Rao (Narada), Tulasi Chinna Kameswara Rao (Yayathi), M. Pundarikakshudu (Manthri), RS Sharma (Yama), Kumpatla, BA Subba Rao, Ananda Rao (Kubera), Surya Rao (Varuna), Agni (Subba Rao) Story: BV Ramanandam Lyrics: Dronamraju Music: NCh Krishnamacharyulu Playback: NCh Krishnamacharyulu, P. Munuswamy Cinematography: Prabodh Das Audiography: BN Ghosh Editing: Amarnath Chatterjee Director: Dronamraju China Kameswara Rao Banner: Radha Film Company (Calcutta)

Synopsis: King Brihadradha praying to sage Danda Kaushika to bless him with a child. The sage gave him a fruit that Brihadradha cuts into two pieces and gives to his two wives. They gave birth to two dead pieces of a child. Aghast, the King throws the pieces outside his fort. Deman Jara (Kanchi Narasimha Rao)  finds them and joins the two pieces. The child breathes life and is named Jarasandha. He grows to become a despot emperor and develops hostility towards Lord Krishna. He had a son, Sahadeva (B. Brahmaiah) and a daughter Kalyani both devotees of Krishna. Jarasandha had two nephews - Durjaya (Kothuri Satyanarayana) and Karthikeya (T. Ramakrishna Sastry). The later is devotee of Krishna and the former as cruel as Jarasandha. Kalyani and Karthikeya were in love and this irks Jarasandha who wishes to perform her marriage with Durjaya. Unable to turn his son and daughter to follow the family tradition of Vamachara, Jarasandha decides to wage a war against Krishna and Balara...

Cast:  Master Kameswara Rao (Tajal Mulk), Kanna Rao Bhagavatar (Jalath Simha), Venkatappaiah, Veera Raghava Reddy, Appalaswamy, Shakunthala (Gulebakavali), Rajamani (Abola), Sundari Lal (Mayavathi), Usha Rani Dialogues and Verses: B. Ramana Murthy Screenplay: KB Desai Lyrics: Chaganti Raja Rao Music: Vasantha Kumar Naidu Cinematography: AV Wadekar Audiography: AK Parmar Editing: KM Ambavane, Raman Desai Art: Ebrahim Surthi, Deva Pillai Director: Kallakoori Sadasiva Rao Banner: Paramount Film Company

Cast: Surabhi Kamalabai, P. Santha Kumari, Rentachintala Satyanarayana, V. Venkateswarlu Producers: Nidamarthi Soorayya, Surabhi Kamalabai Director: Hiren Bose Banner: Andhra Cinetone

Cast: Vemuri Gaggaiah (Rukmangada), Ramatilakam (Mohini), C. Krishnaveni (Sandhyavali), T. Ramakrishna Sastry (Narada), Tadi Suryanarayana (Dharmangada), Vemuri Parabrahma Sastry (Chidambaram), Chitrapu Chalapathi Rao (Rama Sastry), Yadavalli Nageswara Rao (Indra), Susarla Ramachandra Rao (Vishnu), Durga Kumari (Sasirekha), Saraswathi (Bangaramma), Pushpa (Papamma), Premavathi (Hema), Rathnam (Harini), Hemalatha (Kachi), Pulipati Venkateswarlu (Agni), Kayala Subrahmanyam (Yama), Ghantasala Seshachalam (Varuna), Kanchi Narasimha Rao (Ganapathi Sastry), Kruttiventi Subba Rao (Sambhulingam), Kumpatla Subba Rao (Haridas), Dittakavi Ramachandra Rao (Minister), Y. Govind Singh (Viswasa) Dialogues and Lyrics: Tapi Dharma Rao Music: Bhimavarapu Narasimha Rao Cinematography: Boman Dinshaw Irani Audiography: Boman B. Sarosh Director: Chitrapu Narasimha Rao Trivia: C. Krishnaveni was seen as a child artiste in this film. Her first film as child artiste was 'Anasuya' (1936). A...

Cast: Parupalli Satyanarayana, Rajakumari, Naga Rajakumari, Dommeti Satyanarayana, Teegela Venkateswarlu, Giri Kumari, Rajyalakshmi, Anasuya, Lakshmikantham, Pushpavalli, Nagabhushanam, Suryakantham, Nagamani, Mantha Subba Rao, GN Swamy, B. Radhakrishna Murthy, Koderu Rajasodarulu, Dronamraju Narasimha Rao, Mangipudi Ramalinga Sastry, Ragampudi Suryanarayana, Duvvuru Suryanarayana, MV Satyanarayana Murthy, KS Chowdary, K. Venkateswarlu, P. Chandramouleswara Rao Dialogues: S. Satyanarayana Sastry Lyrics: V. Kalidas Music: VJ Gopal Singh Sound Recording: NL Rangaiah Cinematography: SD Patel and MM Purohit Producer: GK Mangaraju Techinical Director: KP Bhave Director: MV Ramana Murthy Banner: Saraswathi Cinetone Trivia: NL Rangaiah was the first sound recordist in Telugu.

Cast: Arani Satyanarayana, Vangara, Kamala Kumari, Ramatilakam, S. Varalakshmi Dialogues: B.T. Raghavacharya Music: Moti Babu, Maruti Seetaramaiah Cinematography: Kamal Ghosh Director: K. Subramaniam

Cast:  BS Rajayya (Prabodhanatha), Vemuri Gaggaiah (Jalandhara), Ramatilakam (Brunda), Madhavapeddi Venkata Ramaiah (Siva), Sr. Sriranjani (Parvathi), Dommeti Satyanarayana (Vishnu), Ghantasala Radhakrishnaiah (Narada), Pulipati Venkateswarlu (Sukracharya), Nellore Nagaraja Rao (Indra), Kasi Chenchu (Prachanda), Venkata Reddy (Brahma), Parabrahma Sastry (Doordanda), Subba Reddy (Nandikeswara), Ramachandra Rao (Sagara), Ghantasala Seshachalam (Rushi), Dodla Subbarama Reddy (Rushi), Papireddy (Muni Balaka), Pasupuleti Venkata Subbaiah (Rahu), Lakshmi Devi (Lakshmi), Rajya Lakshmi (Mohini), Ramana (Bhoodevi) Dialogues and Lyrics: Duvvuri Rami Reddy Music: Bhimavarapu Narasimha Rao Art: TVS Sharma (Thangirala Venkata Subbayya Sharma) Director: Chitrapu Narasimha Rao Banner: Sri Rama Films Limited Trivia: This movie was also known as JALANDHARA.

Cast:  MA Subba Rao (Dasaratha), Gollapalli Satyavathi (Kausalya), B. Lakshmikantham (Sumitra), C. Kantamani (Kaikeyi), K. Veerabhadra Rao (Vasishta), DV Subba Rao (Yagna Purusha), P. Venkatarathnam (Sumantha), M. Narayana Rao (Rama-1), Pushpavalli Tayaramma (Sita-1), I. Subrahmanyam (Lakshmana-1), M. Suryanarayana Murthy (Bharatha-1), K. Venkata Rao (Satrughna-1), N. Ramanujacharyulu (Rama-2), S. Ramanimani (Sita-2), N. Thiru Vengalacharyulu (Lakshmana-2), J. Ganganna (Viswamitra), K. Appala Swamy (Mareecha), J. Venkata Rao (Subahu), V. Satyanarayana (Janaka), B. Narayana Murthy (Rama-3), M. Suryanarayana (Lakshmana-3), C. Venkateswara Rao (Bharatha-3), B. Jagannatha Rao (Sugriva), Musunuri Suryanarayana Bhagavatar (Hanumantha), K. Narasimham (Angada), K. Veeraswamy (Jambavantha), SV Krishnamachary (Ravana), M. Venkata Lakshmi (Mandodari), A. Shankara Rao (Indrajith), R. Bhanumathi (Sulochana), K. Bhanu Murthy (Vibheeshana), M. Satyavathi (Ahalya), K. Sarasiruham (Vasundhara), K. ...

Cast:  Pulipati Venkateswarlu (Abhimanyu), Kanchanamala (Uttara), Mantravadi Venkata Joga Rao (Srikrishna), Nagarathnam (Rukmini), Srihari (Satyabhama), Pandhyaram Venkateswarlu (Dharmaraju), Singaraju Nagabhushana Rao (Bheema), Cheruvu Sivarama Sastry (Arjuna), Surabhi Kamalabai (Subhadra), Hymavathi (Mitravinda), Kakumanu Nagabhushanam (Virata Raju), Kakumanu Narasimha Rao (Uttara Kumara), Gattupalli Anjaneyulu (Duryodhana), Baireddy Narasimha Reddy (Dussasana), Valluru Balarama Raju (Karna), Tumuluru Venkata Krishna Rao (Drona), Mulpuri Dakshina Murthy (Vidura), NB Kar (Saindhava) Lyrics: Pandhyaram Venkateswarlu Cinematography: KK Mistry Sound Recordist: BR Patel Director: V.D. Amin Banner:  Select Pictures Circuit

Cast: K. Ranga Rao, P.S. Sarma, P. Rama Rao, M. Ramachandra Murthy, Nookaraju, Music: Manuventi Venkata Rao Director: Krithiventi Nageswara Rao Trivia:   This is the first social film in Telugu. It failed at box-office.

Synopsis: Young Sasirekha, daughter of Balarama, finds a loving play-mate in Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna and Subhadra. Subhadra suggests to Balarama that Sasirekha and Abhimanyu would make a lovely couple, if married. Balarama falls in with the idea and promises to give his daughter in marriage to Abhimanyu only. After some years, having lost their kingdom in the game of dice with Kauravas, Pandavas are forced to go to Dwaitavanam. Sri Krishna comes to Pandavas and pacifies them with his soothing words and persuades Arjuna to send Subhadra and Abhimanyu with him to Dwaraka. During the course of conservation with Balarama, Revathi expresses disapproval of the proposal to marry Sasirekha to Abhimanyu, on the ground that the latter's father was bereft of kingdom and wealth. In Hasthinapura, Sakuni suggests to Duryodhana to win the Yadava clan to his side by a marriage alliance between Duryodhana's son Lakshmana Kumara and Sasirekha. Duryodhana approves the suggestion and i...

Cast: Kalyanam Raghuramaiah Director: Kallakuri Sadasiva Rao

Synopsis: Draupadi and Arjuna meet Sri Krishna and invite him to attend their Rajasuya Yaga. Rulers of mani-fold Kingdoms arrive in their Royal splendour to the Yaga. The Mayasabha: a vision of enchantment. Merriment runs amok in endless entertainments. Proud Duryodhana is puzzled by the magnificent vision of the Mayasabha. Draupadi laughs at some of his mishaps. Duryodhana conspires to reek vengeance on Draupadi. His uncle Sakuni explains his plans of vengeance. Vidura invited Pandavas for a short stay in the New Mansion built by Duryodhana. In that mansion, Dharmaraja is shown all the drawings of Jyutham by Sakuni and his Royal Cousins. Artfully, Dharmaraja is made to consent for a play at dice. The fateful play at dice commences. Dharmaraja sustains loss after loss. He looses his last bet, Draupadi. The Pandavas have now become slaves. Duryodhana, in spite of all the elders, orders Draupadi to be dragged into the public Court. He sends his brother Dussasana to ...

'Dhruva' was made and released by director C. Pulliah as a double bill with 'Sati Anasuya'. It was two mythologicals made exclusively with children and tells the stories of Bhakta Dhruva and Sati Anasuya. Cast: C. Narayana Swamy (Dhruva), T. Venkateswarlu (Uttanapada), A. Narasimha Rao (Narada), M. Rangachari (Vishnu), G. Bhaskara Rao (Uttara), M. Hemalatha (Suruchi), Sitaram (Suniti), Lalitha (Vasantika) Dialogues and Lyrics: Balijepalli Lakshmikantham Music: Prabhala Satyanarayana Cinematography: Prabodh Dass Editing: Dharamvir and Baijnath Joshi Sound Recording: CS Nigam Art: Adivi Bapiraju Director: Chittajallu Pullaiah Banner: East India Film Company Trivia: Chittajallu Pullaiah was known to make mythological films. He was trained at Mumbai and Kolkata in filmmaking before he returned to South India. When Raghupathi Suryaprakash, son of Raghupathi Venkaiah, whom he assisted as a director went broke C. Pullaiah returned to Kakinada, turned his ho...

Cast:  Jai Singh (Srikrishna), Kapilavayi Ramanatha Shastry (Narada), Kanchanamala (Mitravinda), Kakinada Joginatham (Vasanthaka), Rushyendramani (Satyabhama), Guntur Sabharanjani (Rukmini), Lakshmirajyam (Nalini), Relangi Venkata Ramaiah Scenario: Mutharaju Subba Rao Lyrics and Verses: Chandala Kesava Das, Mutharaju Subba Rao, Sthanam Narasimha Rao Directors: Mukherji, Rajaram Banner: Kali Film Companay (Calcutta) Release Date: 22 April Trivia:   This was debut movie for Kanchanamala, Rushyendramani, Lakshmirajyam and Relangi. 

Synopsis: Harassed by the evil deeds of Kamsa and his minions Bhudevi, Indra and other Devas offer their prayers to Lord Vishnu at the instigation of Brahma. Vishnu comforts them that he will be born as the son of Devaki and end their woes. Akasavani foretells Kamsa of his death at the hands of the eight child of Devaki, his sister. Kamsa becomes perturbed and tries to put an end to Devaki's life when Vasudeva, her husband, intervenes and promises to give away to Kamsa all the children of Devaki soon after their birth. Still unsatisfied, Kamsa imprisons Devaki and Vasudeva. When Devaki gives birth to a child in the prison, Kamsa kills the child instantaneously. Devaki being pregnant for the eighth time is suffering from birth pangs. Lord Vishnu appears and tells them that he is going to be born as their child and that Yogamaya who is going to be their saviour is already born in the house of Nanda. With the new-born child Krishna, Vasudeva crosses the river Jamuna at the dead of...

Cast: KS Ramachandra Rao (Kuchela), Kalyanam Raghuramaiah (Srikrishna), Chebrol Saraswathi (Vamakshi), Rajarathnam (Rukmini), Samrajyam (Satyabhama), Pulipaka Venkatappayya (Narada), SV Raghava Swamy (Sisupala), DS Prakasha Rao ( Karataka Sastry), A. Srirama Murthy (Dharmaraju), Saraseeroham (Sarojini), Sundaram (Sarala), Master Malleswara Rao ( Raghava), Master Naga Raju (child Srikrishna) Story: K. Subrahmanyam Sastry Screenplay: DV Bhadram Music: Chary Cinematography: YB Washikar Editing: Bhola Settings (Art): Shankar Kashkar, Pavar Audiography: N Paul and Dr. Rakshith Directors: Kallakuri Sadasiva Rao and Tarith Basu Banner:  Radha Film Company (Calcutta) Trivia: Kalyanam Raghuramaiah was an actor as well as a singer in theatre. He debuted on stage at the age of 8 as Sri Rama in Bhakta Ramadasu . He acted in mythological, historical and social dramas and as mythological heroes in over 100 films. This great theatre personality created the role of Sri Krishna ...

Cast: Dasari Katiratnam (Sakkubai), Tungala Chalapathi Rao (Sri Krishna), Kumpatla Subba Rao, Suravarapu Venkateswarlu, Kapilavayi Ramanatha Shastry Dialogues: Chilakamarthi Lakshmi Narasimham Director: Charu Chandra Rai Banner: Bharatha Lakshmi Films Release Date: 21 May, 1935

Synopsis: Srirama after returning victorious from Lanka is crowned king of Ayodhya. Surpanakha and Karala, the only survivors of Ravana's family, come over to Ayodhya to wreak vengeance on Srirama. They hatch a plot according to which they take the forms of a washer man and his wife. Rama and Sita beguile their pensive hours viewing a series of paintings of the incidents of their past life. Sita, moved by wonderful reproduction of the peaceful atmosphere of the hermitages, requests Rama to let her visit the hermitages. Rama, though reluctant to send his pregnant wife to the forest, grants her wish. The disguised washer man and his wife put up a sham quarrel and speak very lightly of Sita's character. A spy of Rama listens to the gossip and reports to Rama the scandalous talk though reluctantly.  Rama sacrifices his happiness as well as Sita's for the sake of popular opinion and determines to send Sita into exile. He calls in all his brothers and asks the...

Director: K. Ranga Rao