Bhakta Potana (1942)

Synopsis: This religious drama about the life of saint poet Bammera Potananmatya (also called Bhakta Pontana), who was a farmer until the god Rama came down from the heavens and told him to translate the holy text Bhagvata Gita from Sanskrit into Telugu. Soon after completing his life's work, Potananmatya is told to dedicate his work to his king. When he balks at the sovereign's inveigling attempts to claim credit for the work, the king sends out the troops. Hanuman -- the trickster monkey god -- saves Potananmatya and his family from the royal onslaught. As the troops mobilize to destroy the author's house, the king's palace gets magically trashed instead.
Cast: Chittooru Nagaiah (Pothana), Dr. VR Sharma (Singa Bhupala), Mudigonda Lingamurthy (Ajameela), Hemalatha Devi (Narasamamba), Naalam Vanaja (Lakshmi), Tanguturi Suryakumari (Saraswathi), Bezawada Rajarathnam, Vallabhajosyula Sivaram (Mallanna), Jandhyla Gowrinatha Sastry (Srinatha), K. Malathi (Sarada), Samrajyam, Jayamma, C. Nageswara Rao, P. Krishna Murthy, Prasad (Senapathi), MV Chalapathi Rao, Satyabai
Story and Dialogues: Samudrala Raghavacharya
Lyrics: Samudrala
Music: Chittooru Nagaiah
Playback: Nagaiah, Bezawada Rajarathnam
Cinematography: K. Ramnoth
Editing: Narayan
Dance: Srinivas Kulakarni
Art: A.K. Sekhar
Asst. Director: Kamalakara Kameswara Rao
Producers: Moola Narayana Swamy and B.N. Reddy
Director: Kadiri Venkata Reddy (KV Reddy - debut)
Banner: Vauhini Studios
Release Date: 14 May
Box-office: Hit
Trivia: This was debut movie for the director KV Reddy.
Ever since Nagaiah composed and rendered the song 'sarvamangala naamaa seethaaraamaa..', not a day passes without rendition of it in most temples dedicated to Lord Rama in Andhra Pradesh.
Initially Daita Gopalam, actor, singer and musician of repute was considered for the role of Potana, but KV Reddy insisted on Nagaiah.
Nagaiah was the first to employ playback system when he recorded the song 'idi manchi samayamu raaraa' rendered by Bezawada Rajarathnam and it was shot on Samrajyam who played the dancer Bhogini in the king's court.
This film celebrated jubilee runs all over the South including Mysore state and Kerala.
Popular Songs:
1. Sarvamangala naamaa seetaaraamaa
2. Nidhi chaala sukhamaa
3. Paavana guna naamaa
4. E teeruga nanu daya choochedavo
5. Idi manchi samayamu raa raa