Karthika Deepam story at a glance

Just like so many theories are made based on a formula,  many similar films are made based on one storyline. All these stories have a minimum guarantee feature. This formula is none other than One Hero- Two Heriones based films. Many films have one of the heroines suffer a death, or some of them have Hero doing equal justice to both of his female leads. But it would be a mistake to think this formula works for all Heroes! Even the audience prefer to see only few heroes pertaining to such roles.  One such brilliant hero is Sobhan Babu where he had 100% success rate in every film he starred opposite two female leads.  Though the story is routine, its treatment, dialogues, songs make few such films unique. One such formula based film is Karthika Deepam.  The film also features Sobhan Babu in a dual role as father- son respectively.

Story Details:
Sridhar Rao (Sobhan Babu in Senior Role) is a rich industrialist. His wife’s name is Lakshmi (Sarada). The couple has a daughter Rohini (Subha) and son Raju (Sobhan Babu in Junior Role). Rohini gets married and Raju is a light hearted guy who loves Geetha (Geetha). He convinces his parents for the marriage but however, Geetha’s dad Dhanunjaya Rao (Prabhakara Reddy) doesn’t agree for the match and he restricts his daughter at home. With the help of his father, Raju manages to get Geetha out of trouble and tries to marry her. Dhanunjaya Rao intervenes the scene and accuses that Raju is an illegal child of Sridhar Rao. It is when the story goes to the flashback episode of Sridhar Rao where he rescues a woman named Radha (Sridevi) from the clutches of prostitution.  They both fall in love but due to circumstances, Sridhar gets married to Lakshmi. But unable to forget the love he has for Radha, he calls her to Hyderabad.  He tries to balance both the relationships with lies and tactfulness. But in one dramatic moment, the truth comes out. Three of the lives get through a severe mental turmoil by knowing the truth.  Radha gives birth to a baby boy and she attempts suicide feeling that she can never become a wife to Sridhar. In that serious moment, Sridhar marries Radha as well. Lakshmi takes care of the child with utmost care and when the audience comes to know the flashback, they are left tearful. The film ends on a happy note with the wedding of Raju and Geetha.

Performances:
Sobhan Babu is flawless in the dual roles Sridhar Rao and Raju respectively. His portrayal of older and younger Sridhar Rao was strikingly different and he excels in all these challenging roles. The characterization of younger Sridhar was brilliantly considerate and his determination in valuing both the relationships is admirably done. Sridevi gets a brilliant role involving glamour as well as breathtaking performance in emotional scenes. Her character is greatly sensitive and emotional and she does a fantastic job. Sarada is excellent as the loyal and understanding wife to Sridhar and gives an amazing performance as well.  Veteran actors like Rajababu, Ramaprabha and Allu Ramalingaiah offer comic relief.

Technical Aspects:
Dialogues by Muddipatla Suri are thought provoking as well as entertaining with good commercial value.  Story by M.Prabhakar Reddy is crisply written. Lyrics by veteran C.Narayana Reddy, Devulapalli worked wonders. Music by Satyam became an instant hit with evergreen songs like “Nee Kougili Lo Thala Daachi” and “Aaraneeku Maayee Deepam”. Direction and Screenplay by Lakshmi Deepak is extremely appealing for all classes of audience.

Cast and Crew:

Sridhar Rao/ Raju- Sobhan Babu

Radha- Sridevi

Lakshmi- Sarada

Geetha- Geetha

Dhanunjaya Rao- Prabhakara Reddy

Story- Dr.M.Prabhakara Reddy

Dialogues- Maddipatla Suri

Lyrics-  Devulapalli, C.Narayana Reddy, Narala Rama Reddy, Mailavarapu Gopi

Music-Satyam

Producer- G.Radhadevi Gupta, A.Krishnaiah

Screenplay and Direction- Lakshmi Deepak

Banner- Kavitha Films

Release Date- 4^th May 1979