Why is it an Epic?
Cinema is a blend of many departments and an absolute team work. Paatala Bhairavi created new waves in dialogues, high standards in acting skills, amazing sets which took the audience to a new world, fantastic music and camera work! This film is a trendsetter not only in Telugu Cinema but also in the Indian film arena. It is an evergreen Epic.
Behind this Epic:
After Sowcar (7th April 1950), Vijaya Productions were in deep thought about which film to be made next. Their first film Sowcar spoke about social problems and was appreciated by class audience, but it was not much admired by the mass audience. It is then the team of Vijaya Productions - Nagireddy, Chakrapani and Director K.V.Reddy strongly decided to make a film that would be appreciated by audience instead of what they want to show the public. They then made a story based on Aladdin and Wonder Lamp from the popular book Arabian Nights with Nepala Mantrikudu, Thota Ramudu and Beautiful Princess as main characters. They took Pingali Nagendra Rao in dialogues and lyrics department because of his amazing skills in writing dialogues for a new theme. Ghantasala was opted for composing Music. Vijaya Productions regular cameraman Marcus Bartley was ever ready to show his phenomenal skills in visuals. Madhavapeddi Gokhale sharpened his art direction skills to take the audience to new world with it. Initially ANR, Govindaraju and Subbarao were taken for the roles. But on the advice of producer K.V.Reddy, Sr.NTR and SVR were chosen - thereby taking their career to a new turn.
Brief Storyline:
Princess of Ujjaini is breathtakingly beautiful and a youngster Thota Ramudu saves her once from the danger of a snake. They both fall in love and Thota Ramudu doesn’t hesitate to even enter into the Princess personal palace and gets imprisoned due to the clever trap by the King’s brother in law. In legal proceedings Thota Ramudu reveals the truth in front of the King. The King casually asks Thota Ramudu to earn riches and a kingdom and then he would think of giving his daughter in marriage. It is exactly when Nepala Mantrikudu, who is in serious search for a youngster to give in sacrifice for the goddess Patala Bhairavi, meets Thota Ramudu. The innocent Thota Ramudu listens to what the Wizard says and he follows the latter. After going to the cave, Thota Ramudu understands the Wizard’s evil plan, kills him and acquires the treasures of Patala Bhairavi. During the return journey of getting the Princess as wife, Thota Ramudu gets in another trouble. The Wizard who was assumed to be dead returns and with the help of King’s Brother in law, he enters the Kings palace and kidnaps the princess along with Patala Bhairavi. Thota Ramudu along with his friend Anji teaches the Wizard a lesson and wins over the Ujjaini Princess.
Highlights:
While Sr.NTR won the hearts of audience with a balanced performance having glamour and courage, SVR literally carried the film on his shoulders with fantastic histrionics, acting, and dialogue delivery. The comedy actor Balakrishna easily blended in the character of Thota Ramudu’s friend Anji. The audience forgot his real name but remember him with the character Anjigadu! Padmanabham was recognized well for his role of Nepala Mantrikudu’s assistant. Malathi as Princess, CSR as the King, and Relangi as his brother in law acted in memorable fashion. Pingali’s peculiar dialogues like Dingari, Guru, Sahasam saayara Dimbhaka, and Naruda Emi nee korika became all-time favorites. Songs like Entha Ghatu Premayo, Prema Kosamai Valalo Padene, Dinale Bala Enti nee Prema gola (Relangi’s own song) became all-time hits. The film was released on 15th March 1951 and was commercially successful and ran at a great level. It is interesting to know that this film was taken 500 prints till date!
