A movie that proved filmmaking is a powerful tool to influence people to an extent beyond one’s imaginations. It’s not that simple to turn someone into complete devotee, but there is one film that made it possible. It was the devotional classic of Telugu Cinema, Bhakta Potana, which got released in 1942. A shepherd was deeply influenced by the film and turned into a spiritual guru Balayogi. A Tamil comedian who was an atheist was moved by Nagaiah’s performance in the film. Also, Nagaiah’s brilliant portrayal of Potana and his style of reading poems in the film, had influenced Nerella Venumadhav to mimic the actor, which earned him international fame as a mimicry artist. The director KV. Reddy who debuted with this film went about making classic movies of Telugu Cinema such as Yogi Vemana, Guna Sundari Katha, Peddamanushulu, Pathala Bhairavi, Maya Bazaar, Donga Ramudu, Jagadeka Veeruni Katha etc.
Story Summary:
With farming on one hand and divine poetry on the other, Potana, a true devotee of Lord Rama leads a peaceful life with his wife Narasamamba, son Mallanna and daughter Lakshmi. Regarded as Kavi Sarvabhouma, Srinathudu, the brother-in-law of Potana, encourages him to write poems praising the kings but Potana dedicates himself and his poems completely to Lord Rama and doesn’t care listening to Srinathudu. Lord Rama appears in his dream, and suggests Potana to translate Veda Vyasa Maharshi’s Bhagavatham (Original in Sanskrit Language) into Telugu. Potana gets overwhelmed and starts to write the sacred epic, who decides to dedicate it Lord Rama. King Singa Bhupaludu gets to know this through Srinathudu and orders Potana to dedicate the Bhagavatham to him. Potana doesn’t agree to this and strictly refuses saying that he would be dedicating his Bhagavatham to Lord Rama but no one else. The angry king banishes Potana’s family from the kingdom. Even then, the king desperately tries to get hold of the Bhagavatham and orders his men to get it. But Lord Anjaneya intervenes and protects it. The unhappy king once again orders his men to destroy Bhagavatham completely. Even this attempt results in failure with divine intervention. Finally the king realizes his foolishness and falls at the feet of Potana seeking forgiveness. The film ends with Potana dedicating his ‘Srimadhandra Maha Bhagavatham’ to Lord Srirama Chandra. The song ‘Sarva Mangala Ramanama’ is till date one of the top devotional songs.
On screen:
Nagaiah as Potana
Jandhyala Gaurinatha Sastri as Srinathudu
Dr. V. R. Sarma as King Singa Bhupaludu
Lingamurthy, Hemalatha, Vanaja Naalam, Tanguturi Suryakumari, Sivaram etc., played other important roles in the film.
Behind the screen:
Written by - Samudrala Senior
Music – Nagaiah
Cinematography -K. Ramnath
Produced by- B. N. Reddy
Directed by- K. V. Reddy
Bhakta Potana was made during World War 2. While it was being filmed in Madras, Japan’s War planes attacked the place with explosives. Due to this, the shooting was stopped for a while and the negatives were shifted to Ananthapur. After the war, the film started again and when it was released in 1942, it received great appreciation and the audiences in the whole of South India made it a huge box office success.
