Prem Nagar story at a glance
A film would become a sure shot masterpiece if every aspect of the film excels in their respective performances! Prem Nagar is one such epic film in which everybody performed par excellence- let it be producer Ramanaidu, Athreya in dialogues and lyrics, K.V.Mahadevan’s music or the lead actors. While Ramudu-Bheemudu introduced Ramanaidu as a producer, Prem Nagar established himself as one of the ace producers in Telugu Cinema. He made this film like a warrior by putting every best interest he has into it. He even declared that if the film is a hit he would continue as a producer, or leave the production profession and get back to agriculture! But fate favored him and the film was a tremendous hit. Ramanaidu entered Guinness Book of World Records for making maximum number of films and the owner of Ramanaidu studios. Even now he is an undisputable producer of Telugu Cinema. It is indeed the greatness of Ramanaidu to continue his legacy by bestowing the production profession to his elder son Suresh ,make his younger son Venkatesh as a hero and even inspire his grandson Rana into films! Athreya and Mahadevan are like backbones while ANR and Vanisri are soul for this Prem Nagar which turned the career of Ramanaidu to new level. In fact, Prem Nagar was remade by Ramanaidu in Tamil as Vasantha Maaligai featuring Sivaji Ganesan and Vanisri and even in Hindi as Prem Nagar starring Rajesh Khanna and Hema Malini in lead roles. The film was a great hit even in the remake versions. It is interesting to note that Venkatesh played the role of younger Kalyan’s brother in the film.
Story Details:
Kalyan (ANR) belongs to an affluent zamindari family and owns a huge estate. Though he has a brother (Satyanarayana) and mother (Shantakumari) along with money, he is chased by loneliness. The main reason for this is because of the conditions in his family. His dad (SVR) is a drunkard and mother is obsessed with kitty parties. Kalyan is brought up by a nanny (Pushpakumari) during his childhood and he looks at her more as his mother than his real mother. But Kalyan’s mother suspects the nanny and kills her with a revolver thinking that she has an illicit relationship with her husband. The child Kalyan witnesses this incident and is left heartbroken. He gets into depression and develops a feeling of aversion on human beings. After growing up he lives alone in a Raj Mahal and the only companion he has is the servant Mallu (Perumallu). Kalyan gets addicted to drinking, spending time with women and it slowly turns into his regular lifestyle. It is when he meets airhostess Latha (Vanisri) who belongs to a big family. Her father (Gummadi) is physically challenged,her brother (Kakarala) is irresponsible, little brother (Master Devanand) and a sister. As fate could have it, Latha resigns as airhostess and joins as a secretary under Kalyan. She tries to reform Kalyan by getting him rid of bad habits, make him focus on estate work and transforms him to a real human being. Kalyan experiences true love for the first time in life, after the short caring duration during his childhood from nanny. He builds a mahal under her name and dedicates it to her out of love. This is obviously not liked by his brother and he instigates his mother about the situation. He puts a false blame on Latha on stealing a necklace and insults her in Kalyan’s Raj Mahal. Though Kalyan takes her side in public, he asks “Endhuku Chesav Ee Pani” (A very famous dialogue those days) when he speaks to Latha in private. Latha gets devastated with this and leaves Kalyan out of despair. Kalyan feels terrible for this and tries to convince her to come back in every way possible. But Latha, who has immense self respect refuses to come back. As a result, Kalyan becomes addicted to drinking once again. He comes to know that Latha is getting married to somebody else and plans to bless her in the wedding venue. But he consumes poison to end his life. Kalyan’s mother runs to Latha to request her to save him. She requests Latha, who is already on the wedding venue to come and rescue a hospitalized Kalyan. Doctor’s treatment and Latha’s love save Kalyan from the clutches of death. The film ends on a happy note when Kalyan and Latha reunite.
Performances:
ANR is mesmerizing in the lead role Kalyan. The role adorned by him is described as novelist Koduri Kousalya Devi as quite charming, handsome and ANR does complete justice to it. His wonderful chemistry with Vanisri works wonders on screen. He does a great job in the emotional scenes and looks stylish in every costume he adorns. Vanisri is adorable as Latha- the woman with self respect. Her performance in reforming the hero to a good man is commendable. Her sarees in every frame she appears was a rage those days. Satyanarayana is ideal as the evil brother of the hero. Gummadi is decent as the father of Latha. Pushpakumari gets an important role as the nanny of the child Kalyan. Ramaprabha , K.V.Chalam and Rajababu’s comedy episodes were criticized for being vulgar but during the films’ release it was appreciated by all classes of audience. The similar trend continued for many films which came later as well.
Technical Aspects:
Athreya’s dialogues and lyrics are breathtaking for Prem Nagar. Every line uttered by ANR in the film has a deep philosophical meaning and interesting touches about human relationships. The scene in which Vanisri describes about the nature of blood is hard hitting. K.V.Mahadevan’s music doesn’t fall short in Telugu nativity and every song was a chartbuster those days. Nenu Puttanu, Le Le Le Na Raja, Unte Ee Oollo Undu, Kadavetthukocchindhi, Evaro Raavali, Nee Kosam Velasindhi, Manasu Gathi Inthe, Evari Kosam- literally every song was a super hit. K.S. Prakasa Rao took every care in making it a masterpiece in terms of content, look and gloss as well.
Cast and Crew:
Kalyan- ANR
Latha- Vanisri
Kalyan’s Brother- Satyanarayana
Kalyan’s Mother- Shantakumari
Kalyan’s Nanny- Pushpakumari
Kalyan’s Father- Gummadi
Ramaprabha, Raja Babu, K.V.Chalam- Comedians
Latha’s Elder Brother-Kakarala
Latha’s Younger Brother- Master Devanand
Kalyan’s Brother in Childhood- Venkatesh
Based On- Prem Nagar Novel penned by Koduri Kousalya Devi
Dialogues and Lyrics- Acharya Athreya
Music- K.V.Mahaevan
Producer- D.Ramanaidu
Director: K.S.Prakasa Rao
Banner- Suresh Movies
Release Date- 24th September 1971