Sharada story at a glance
Sarada is a unique actress who can handle emotional scenes, heavy dialogues, performing without high melodrama in perfect ease. This underplaying of roles must have become her norm after acting in Malayalam Cinema. After a heart wrenching performance in Manushulu Maarali, Sarada got off beat roles which are quite challenging right from then. Though Sobhan Babu has a double role in this film, it was Sarada’s role which is crucial. During the time of this film’s release, Ramakrishna was emerging as a promising playback singer in Telugu. Another contemporary singer SPB expressed his wish of singing in this film but both the full length songs were sung by Ghantasala and Ramakrishna. The composer Chakravarthy is extremely fond of SPB and made him sing a title aalap along with Suseela which came out exceptionally well.
Story Details:
There existed a psychiatrist (Sobhan Babu-2) in a town and lives a happy life with his wife (Jayanthi). He treats a mental patient (Raja Babu). The patient is highly attached to his father and he becomes mentally disturbed watching his father die in an accident. It is when the psychiatrist’s uncle (Allu Ramalingaiah) arrives. The patient mistakes this uncle to be his father because of the facial similarities and the psychiatrist convinces his uncle to act as the patient’s father until the patient gets cured. The uncle accepts unwillingly but things turn in a comic dimension with the patient teaching a lesson to the uncle’s spoiled family.
Meanwhile, the psychiatrist attends his friend’s wedding near a village on the banks of River Godavari. While he gets the down the bus and walks in the village, everybody looks at him in shock. A woman named Sarada (Sarada) who is waiting in the temple near outskirts of the village greets him like her husband. The psychiatrist doesn’t understand all this and eventually reaches his friend’s house. The village’s munsab (Rao Gopala Rao) gets shocked seeing him and explains the reason behind this strange behavior of all in the village.
This village is a happy and affectionate place where two unique personalities exist- While one is the eternal river Godavari, the other is the vivacious, happy and vibrant lady called Sarada. Her brother (Satyanarayana) is highly protective of her and cannot bear to see her troubled in any manner. Sarada also is very attached to her brother. They become an exemplary brother-sister to the entire village and it is when a doctor (Sobhan Babu-1) arrives in the village. He works hard in solving the health problems of the villagers and everybody respects his good work. The doctor develops a liking for the admirable Sarada and he gets married to her in the presence of the villagers. While their life goes on happily without any woes, the doctor goes for an emergency case on one stormy day. The doctor’s boat gets drowned and unfortunately he dies in the accident. The whole village gets distraught listening to this news and Sarada becomes mentally ill. She imagines that her husband is still alive and will definitely come to her someday. She prays for her husband in a venu gopala swami temple near outskirts of the village every day. It is when she exactly watches the city bred Psychiatrist (Sobhan Babu-2) and mistakes him to be her husband.
The psychiatrist feels bad listening to the sad story of Sarada and comes forward to treat her. He takes her to back to the city and tells his wife about her story. He also tells that he should act like a husband to Sarada and it is part of the treatment. Sarada gets treated and she understands the truth about psychiatrist and his real wife. She thanks them and starts off to her village along with her brother. They get down the bus and when they take the boat to cross the River Godavari, the same river which took the life of the doctor takes the life of Sarada now.
Performances:
Sarada is exceptionally good in the title role. Her histrionics and performance as a mentally challenged patient , and as a lovable wife who waits for her husband is commendable. She shares an interesting chemistry with her co-star Sobhan Babu and gives an exemplary performance. During the era of over emoting a scene, Sarada took the Telugu Viewers back to the natural acting era with her simple yet thought provoking portrayal of the title role. Sobhan Babu gets dual role as a doctor who loves Sarada and a psychiatrist who worries for Sarada’s health and he plays both these roles with perfection. Raja Babu and Allu Ramalingaiah offer good comedy relief in a serious themed film. Rao Gopal Rao is perfect as the munasab of the village.
Technical Aspects:
Screenplay and direction by K.Vishwanath is one of the biggest assets of this film. He made sure that both drama and entertainment are equally balanced in the film. There are great traces of his guru Adurthi Subba Rao’s vision of River Godavari in this film. Adurthi Subbarao made an epic film called Mooga Manasulu which is in the backdrop of River Godavari as well. But Sarada is a film which treats the backdrop with a unique touch. Chakravarthy’s music was well received by the audience and songs like ‘Srimathi Gaariki Teerani Vela’, ‘Repalle Vechenu Venuvu Vechenu’, ‘Kanne Vadhuvu Ga Maaredhi’,’Nee Gudi Lo Gantalu Mroginavi’, ‘Ato Ito Telipovali’ became good hits. Singer Ramakrishna became an overnight singing star with his energetic rendition of the title song ‘Sarada Nanu Cherava’ for this film.
Cast and Crew:
Sarada- Sarada
Doctor- Sobhan Babu-1
Psychiatrist- Sobhan Babu-2
Psychiatrist’s Wife- Jayanthi
Psychiatrist’s Uncle- Allu Ramalingaiah
Psychiatrist’s Patient- Raja Babu
Munasab- Rao Gopala Rao
Sarada’s Brother- Satyanarayana
Dialogues- Bollimunthala Sivaramakrishna
Lyrics- Dasaradhi, Dr.C.Narayana Reddy, Veeturi Satyanarayana, Arudra
Music- Chakravarthy
Producer- P.Raghava Rao
Direction- K.Vishwanath
Banner- Annapurna Cine Enterprises
Release Date- 4th May 1973