Devanthakudu (1960 film)

Devanthakudu (transl. Daredevil) is a 1960 Indian Telugu-language fantasy comedy film produced and directed by C. Pullaiah. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao and Krishna Kumari, with K. V. S. Sarma, S. V. Ranga Rao, Kanta Rao, Kalyanam Raghuramaiah, Peketi Sivaram, P. Hemalatha and Mohana in supporting roles. It is a remake of the 1958 Bengali film Jamalaye Jibanta Manush and was simultaneously filmed in Tamil as Naan Kanda Sorgam with a largely different cast. Devanthakudu was released on 7 July 1960 and became a commercial success.

Devanthakudu
Theatrical release poster
Directed byC. Pullaiah
Produced byC. Pullaiah
Screenplay byAdurthi Narasimha Murthy
Based onJamalaye Jibanta Manush
by Gouri Shree
StarringN. T. Rama Rao
Krishna Kumari
Music byAshwatthama
CinematographyA. Shanmugam
Edited byT. R. Srinivasulu
Production
company
Bhargavi Films
Release date
  • 7 July 1960 (1960-07-07)
Running time
180 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu

Plot

Sundaram is a stage actor. He falls in love with Meenakshi, the daughter of a miserly rich man Bhadraiah who dislikes Sundaram. Bhadraiah fixes his daughter's marriage with an aged billionaire over his wife's protests. Meenakshi and Sundaram marry in secret with the help of his friends. Bhadraiah enters with his goons and drags his daughter home while his goons brutally assault Sundaram. Meenakshi jumps into a river to commit suicide. Crestfallen, Sundaram repents that he was responsible for her death.

While Sundaram sleeps on a veranda, Yama's men, unable to find the address of a dead man, take Sundaram instead with them to hell, the abode of Yama. Sundaram finds his bull there and by unleashing it on Yama, he occupies his throne, promotes Vichitragupta, rewrites Yamaloka's constitution and also takes the opportunity to search for Meenakshi with the help of Narada, who takes him to Vaikuntha, the abode of Vishnu and Lakshmi, and to Indraloka, the heaven where he finds Meenakshi. With Vishnu and Lakshmi's blessings, Meenakshi is brought to life and to Sundar and the two return to Earth. Bhadraiah relents and accepts Sundar as his son-in-law.

Cast

Production

Development

After the success of the Telugu film Pakka Inti Ammayi (1953), which was based on the Bengali film Pasher Bari (1952), its director C. Pullaiah waited for five years to adapt another comical Bengali story for Telugu-speaking audiences. The Bengali fantasy comedy Jamalaye Jibanta Manush (1958) was running successfully in cinemas in Bengal. Its screenplay, written by Gouri Shree, incorporated satirical attacks on contemporary life and social issues. Pullaiah established the production company Bhargavi Films with Ch. Subbarao, a Madras-based building contractor, as managing director and himself as producer, and bought the rights to remake Jamalaye Jibanta Manush in Telugu and Tamil languages. The Telugu version was titled Devanthakudu and the Tamil version was titled Naan Kanda Sorgam. Adurthi Narasimha Murthy was the screenwriter of Devanthakudu, and the dialogues were written by Vempati Sadasivabrahmam. Cinematography was handled by A. Shanmugam and the editing by T. R. Srinivasulu while A. Krishnarao served as art director.[1]

Casting and filming

N. T. Rama Rao was cast as the male lead Sundaram, and Krishna Kumari.[1] S. V. Ranga Rao, who earlier played Yama in Sati Savitri (1957), reprised his role in Devanthakudu.[2] Kalyanam Raghuramaiah played Narada in addition to working as playback singer. The Tamil version featured a largely different cast, with only Ranga Rao mutual to both.[1][3] Devanthakudu and Naan Kanda Sorgam were filmed simultaneously, with scenes from the former being filmed first and those from the latter second. Because of a belief that if Rama Rao wore multiple different get-ups the film would succeed, he sported two additional disguises for this film: that of a woman, and that of an elderly dance teacher. After Pullaiah finished filming Raghuramaiah's scene as Narada, it was time to film the same scene in Tamil with P. V. Narasimha Bharathi as the character. Pullaiah noticed one of the assistant directors asking Raghuramaiah to give his garland to Narasimha Bharathi since the scene required Narada to wear one. Pullaiah realised that the production team bought only a single garland instead of two as required, so production resumed only after a new garland was obtained. The final cut of Devanthakudu was 17 reels, longer than the Bengali original which was 13 reels.[1]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Ashwatthama, and the lyrics were written by Aarudhra.[4] The songs "Go Go Gogunra" and "Entha Madhura" attained popularity, as did the various shlokas and poems narrated by Ghantasala and Raghuramaiah.[1]

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Go Go Gogunra"P. B. Sreenivas, S. Janaki2:09
2."Entha Madhura"P. B. Sreenivas, S. Janaki3:55
3."Sreedevi"P. Leela2:57
4."Shantakaram"Ghantasala1:03
5."Parithranaya"Ghantasala0:33
6."Dhoomakethu"Ghantasala0:36
7."Kalaganti Namma"P. B. Sreenivas, S. Janaki6:58
8."Jagamantha"P. B. Sreenivas, S. Janaki2:55
9."Ho Dhim Dhimi"Ghantasala1:09
10."Dharma Devata"Madhavapeddi Satyam0:52
11."Anni Lokalu"Ghantasala0:53
12."Sritha Jana Pala"Kalyanam Raghuramaiah3:12
13."Evari Manthramu"Kalyanam Raghuramaiah1:08
14."Itu Pakka"Ghantasala1:11
15."Bhoo Bhuvarloka"Ghantasala1:45
16."Bhaliraa"S. Janaki3:12
17."Pooraya"Kalyanam Raghuramaiah1:43
18."Deni Mahima"Kalyanam Raghuramaiah0:52
19."Ilalo"P. Leela, N. L. Ganasaraswathi8:33

Release and reception

Devanthakudu was released on 7 July 1960.[5] The film was commercially successful, and became a trendsetter for "socio-fantasy films" in Telugu cinema.[1]

References
  1. Narasimham, M. L. (10 March 2016). "Blast from the Past: Devanthakudu (1960)". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 June 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  2. Nadadhur, Srivathsan (2 July 2018). "S V Ranga Rao @ 100 : A golden standard for the craft". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  3. N. V. (14 August 1960). "Nan Kanda Swargam". The Indian Express. p. 3.
  4. Devanthakudu (song book) (in Telugu). Bhargavi Films. 1960.
  5. "Devanthakudu". Indiancine.ma. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
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