Swargaseema (1945)

Synopsis: Murthy (Nagaiah) is a publisher, married happily to Kalyani (Jayamma) and the proud father of their children. He watches a street play in his father-in-law's village, and notices the beautiful Subbalaxmi (Bhanumathi) in that troupe. He advises Subbalaxmi's father to take her to Madras where she would have the potential to become a big theatre artiste. He even refers them to a theatre company. The father-daughter duo travel to Madras, and are not left disappointed-Subbalaxmi is offered the lead role and changes her name to Sujatha. Murthy falls for Sujatha's charms and neglects his family. Kalyani fends for her children by taking up small tailoring works and leading a hard life. Slowly but surely, Murthy realizes his flaw and returns to his family. This film was reported based on Rouben Mamoulian's 1941 opus Blood and Sand starring Rita Hayworth.
Cast: Chittooru Nagaiah (Murthy), Bhanumathi (Sujatha), B. Jayamma (Kalyani), Mudigonda Lingamurthy (Ganganna), Kasturi Sivarao (Srinivas), Chadalavada Narayana Rao (Naren), Gidugu Sitapathi (Ramakrishna Rao), Baby Jayalakshmi, Master Venugopala Reddy, N. Rangaswamy (Raghavaiah), K. Doraswamy (Doctor)
Story: Chakrapani
Screenplay: BN Reddy
Dialogues: Samudrala Raghavacharya
Lyrics: Samudrala Raghavacharya, Balantrapu Nalinikantha Rao, Rajanikantha Rao
Play-back: Bhanumathi, Ghantasala, Nagaiah, Jayamma
Music: Chittooru Nagaiah, Ogirala Ramachandra Rao
Cinematographer: Marcus Bartley
Editing: Narayana, Jambulingam
Art: F. Nagoor
Choreographer: Vedantam Raghavaiah
Makeup: Haribabu
Director: BN Reddy
Banner: Vauhini Studios
Release Date: 6 June
Trivia: This film was inspired from Bernard Shaw's book 'Pygmalion' and Reeta Hey Worth's film 'Blood And Sand'.
This was the debut film for Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao as a playback singer.
Gidugu Sitapathi, son of Gidugu Rama Murthy, played an editor of the magazine 'Natya Bharathi'.
Nagi Reddy's daughter Baby Jayalakshmi and son Master Venu were acted in this film.
This was Telugu debut for cinematographer Marcus Bartley.
Popular Songs:
1. Ohoho paavuramaa (Rajanikantha Rao)
2. Hareha! Le yennela chirunavvula (Ghantasala's first song)
3. Meluko krishnaa
4. Manchi dinamu nede
5. Haayi sakhee bratuke haayi sakhee
6. O o naa raja oho naa raja
7. Oho tapodhanaa sundaraa
8. Gruhame kadaa swargaseema