Shirdi Sai Baba is one greatest incarnation in human form who spread humanitarian value of life led with spiritual values beyond religious thought. He has devotees worldwide. There have been numerous literatures which dealt with his life and the values he spoke about in various languages. Cinema has been no exception to this. Excluding dubbing films, there have been four straight films in Telugu which speak about Shirdi Sai Baba’s pious life. Iqlikmovies.com exclusively brings you the details of the same.
The first ever Telugu feature film made on Shirdi Sai Baba was released on May 2nd, 1948. Unity Pictures production house made this film with Pattabhi as director and B.T.N. Achary as the script writer. Music for the film was composed by Mallik and P.B.N. Mani was the cameraman. While the lead role was adorned by Mannava Rama Chandra Murthy, various other prominent stage actors such as Krittiventi Nageshwara Rao, Addanki Srirama Murthy, CSR, Parupalli Satyanarayana etc. acted in the film. While the filming was going on, it went through a financial crisis. There has been a court case as well regarding the film. There were some issues about the remuneration for the team and lot of hiccups and misunderstandings throughout the making of the film. When the final product was ready, the movie could not attain success due to many limitations it had.
Thirty Seven years after the first Saibaba film was released, Shirdi Saibaba Mahatyam came in 1985. Saichitra Production house‘s owner Gogineni Prasad presented this film with K.Vasu as the director. The film achieved tremendous success at the box office. Dialogues were penned by Madhu, Songs by Athreya and Kota Jogayya Sastry, Music by Ilaiyaraaja, and Camerawork was done by Jayaram. This wonderful team aided the film to become a great hit. Vijayachander portrayed the role of Saibaba in the film and he blended perfectly with the role. Noted actors like Y.V. Somayajulu and Chandra Mohan played crucial characters in the film. The songs “Sai Saranam” and “Daivam Maanava Roopam” from this album sound melodious even now, enthralling Saibaba devotees with unfaltering happiness.
After fourteen years of the above mentioned Saibaba movie, Lalitha Sri Combine’s production house made “Sri Sai Mahima” in 1999. Hasya Brahma Jandhyala wrote the dialogues for the film, with Ashok Kumar as the Cameraman. Dr. C. Narayana Reddy wrote the lyrics for the film and Aditya Paudwal scored the music for the film at a very young age. Though Vijayachander was casted as the lead role and filming went on with him, due to some issues he was replaced by Saiprakash and the film was completed. The soundtrack of the film was released much before the actual movie and it was a huge success. Songs such as “Ninnu ganee”, “Shirdi Lopala” and “Enthentha Daya Needhi” became quite popular. The producer R.V. Ramanamurthy overcame many obstacles and made the film. But unfortunately, it did not become much successful.
Thirteen years later “Shirdi Sai Mahima” was released, Akkineni Nagarjuna played the role of Saibaba in K. Raghavendra Rao’s directorial venture “Shirdi Sai” in 2012. Paruchuri Brothers wrote the dialogues for the film and M.M. Keeravani composed the music. Though the film created the much needed hype before its release, the film was not completely accepted by the Telugu Audience. Especially the way Saibaba’s role was presented and the scenes which were intended to provide some comic relief gave a scope for criticism.
