Pelli Chesi Choodu

<p>Rathamma lives in a village with her sons Raja and Kundu, and her daughter Ammadu. Raja is a teacher and a theatre enthusiast. Along with Kundu and a group of fellow actors, Raja performs plays in a local theatre during his free time. Raja’s maternal uncle Govindayya, a , wants him to marry his daughter Chitti, who is in a relationship with Bheemudu, a bodybuilder. Raja rejects the proposal and Govindayya offers to find a suitable bridegroom for Ammadu if Raja marries Chitti. Raja rejects the proposal and with Kundu he sets out to find a suitable bridegroom for Ammadu. In a distant village, Raja and Kundu meet Dhoopati Viyyanna, a and the president of the . Viyyanna is a complex character of declining fortunes and a generous spirit who believes in respecting his guests. Raja and Viyyanna’s daughter Savitri fall in love and their wedding is quickly arranged. Viyyanna also finds a bridegroom named Venkata Ramana, a pleader living in , for Ammadu. Ramana’s father, Venkatapathy, demands a large , which Viyyanna promises to pay. At the marriage venue, Govindayya plots revenge by inciting Venkatapathy to insist on the dowry being paid before the marriage. Viyyanna issues a promissory note; Venkatapathy rejects it and drags Ramana from the marriage hall. However, Ramana leaves for Madras and lives there with Ammadu. When Venkatapathy arrives, Ramana feigns mental illness while Ammadu and Raja pretend to be a nurse and a doctor. Ammadu endears herself to Venkatapathy by showing interest in his recitals of the . Ramana ‘recovers’ from the mental illness and Ammadu, who has been pregnant, gives birth to their son, causing a fresh round of gossip in the village. Govindayya tries to take advantage of this and after numerous failed attempts, he persuades Venkatapathy to conduct Ramana’s marriage with Chitti. Viyyanna considers this to be an insult and conducts the marriage of Chitti and Bheemudu at his residence. Govindayya and his wife Chukkalamma refuse to acknowledge the marriage. When Venkatapathy asks Ramana to marry Chitti, he refuses and foregoes the wealth he is entitled to inherit in exchange for Ammadu and their newborn son. Govindayya asks Venkatapathy to marry Chitti and Chukkalamma protests, reuniting Chitti and Bheemudu. A helpless Govindayya is confronted by Viyyanna, who threatens to use his influence as a president of the panchayat to have him arrested if he does not reform himself. Govindayya begs pardon and flees with his family. The film ends with everyone present in Ramana’s house, laughing maniacally. After producing (1950) and (1951), and announced a film titled , which would be directed by and financed by their company . was made as a bilingual film; it was shot simultaneously in and , with the Tamil version titled , the first Tamil film directed by Prasad. Chakrapani wrote the film’s script, which was based on the negative effects of the . was recruited as the cinematographer and the film was edited by C. P. Jambulingam and M. S. Money. Madhavapeddi Gokhale and Kaladhar were the film’s art directors, and the music score was composed by . Chalapathi Rao and Jagannadham were the production executives. Pasumarthi Krishnamurthy choreographed the song sequences. worked as an assistant director under Prasad; Rao directed (1952) during the phase of . was partly colourised using . and were chosen as one of the leading pairs of actors. During the songs’ shoot, Ghantasala taught Rama Rao to play the and gave him a few music lessons so he would look believable in the film. Yandamuri Jogarao and , who had played minor roles in and , were chosen as the other leading pair. In playing the role of the zamindar, exhibited a strange body language, inspired by a stranger he had observed at a railway station. and C. V. V. Panthulu played the role of Rama Rao’s father in the Telugu and Tamil versions. played two roles; a postman and Ranga Rao’s friend. The child artists in the film were members of Nyapathi Raghavarao’s ‘Balanandam’ troupe. They were trained by Gnapadi Kameswara Rao, whose nephew Gade Balakrishna “Kundu” Rao played a key role in the film’s Telugu and Tamil versions. Vijaya Productions hired actors on a monthly salaried basis for this film; one of these was M. Mallikarjuna Rao, who later directed films (1965), (1969), and (1976). Differences between Chakrapani and Varalakshmi occurred during the last stage of . Chakrapani wanted to replace Varalakshmi with and reshoot the entire film. However, Devi mediated between them and resolved the differences. Differences between Rama Rao and Varalakshmi due to the latter’s tantrums, also occurred. When Varalakshmi refused to touch Rama Rao’s feet in the scene in which his father drags him from the marriage hall, Prasad asked Nagi Reddy’s son B. L. N. Prasad—the second assistant cameraman working under Bartley—to wear a dhoti and stand before her. Chakrapani liked a scene in a play in which a group of police officers in ascending hierarchy, each junior gave up his chair for the senior; he used the same idea in Savitri’s marriage sequences in the film. Similarly, Prasad incorporated part of a stage play enacted by children into the film, which Nagi Reddy’s son Venkatarami Reddy was a part of. Prasad also made a in the film. , who later became the of Andhra Pradesh before , also appeared in the film as a child artist. The final reel length of both versions was 5,243 metres (17,201 ft). The official soundtracks of and were composed by Ghantasala. The sound mixing process was supervised by A. Krishnan and Siva Ram. The soundtrack was processed by N. C. Sen Gupta and was orchestrated by . This was Ghantasala’s third film as a music director under his five-film contract with Vijaya Productions. Utkuri Satyanarayana wrote the lyrics for “Amma Noppule” and “Brahmayya O Brahmayya”, while Pingali wrote the lyrics for the other fifteen songs. Four of the songs featured the child artists. The song “Ezhumalai Andavaney”, sung by P. Leela for , is based on the known as . The song “Pelli Chesukoni” was composed using the . Ghantasala recorded the songs “Manasa Nenevaro Neeku Thelusa” and “Yedukondalavada Venkataramana” first with . He was not satisfied and recorded them again with ; the soundtrack’s gramophone records featured both versions. The soundtrack was released in December 1952 under the music label. It was a critical and commercial success, Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen, in their book , termed the songs “Amma Nopule” and “Pelli Chesukoni” as “especially popular”. had its theatrical release on 29 February 1952, and on 15 August 1952. Both versions were commercially successful; the Telugu version completing a 100-day run in 11 centres, and the Tamil version completed a 100-day run in many centres. The Telugu version completed a 182-day run at Durga Kala Mandiram, , where celebrations marking the film’s success were held. Rama Rao and Varalakshmi did not attend the event because of the differences between them. On 2 March 1952, a reviewer from appreciated the makers for their critique on a societal issue in a humorous yet responsible manner. On 7 March 1952, a critic from praised the performances of the star cast. They added that is a rare film in that it not only addresses a social issue in an entertaining way but would also be noted for its unique characterisations. Reviewing the film, M. L. Narasimham of called a “text-book for filmmakers” on “how to make a clean and wholesome entertainer on a burning issue without resorting to slogan-mongering, and yet driving home the point in a subtle manner”. Narasimham also said the actors “deserved full marks for excellent performance” in the film. In his book , K. N. T. Sastry wrote that is an ensemble comedy that “abounds in intrigues and disguises gearing to the making and breaking of marriage alliances”. According to the film historian , was the first in a series of satirical comedies directed by Prasad and produced by Vijaya Productions. Guy said the film’s box office performance made Prasad famous in both Telugu and Tamil cinema. After , Prasad and Vijaya Productions collaborated on (1955) and (1959). All three films were profitable ventures and achieved cult status in Telugu cinema. is considered as one of the acclaimed films in the careers of Prasad and Varalakshmi. was also used as the title of a 2014 theatrical play staged by Sri Sai Arts, which won a . Vijaya Productions remade the film in as (1965). It was directed by and stars and . was a profitable venture. Prasad remade the film in as (1972), in which , and reprised the roles played by Rama Rao, Varalakshmi and Ranga Rao in the original. underperformed at the box office. In late November 2007, a -based company named Goldstone Technologies acquired the rights to 14 Telugu films produced by Vijaya Vauhini Studios, including (1957) and , to release digitally re-mastered versions in colour. The remastered and colourised version of was released in January 2010 and performed well in theatres, but Goldstone Technologies decided not to remaster the remaining 14 films, including ; the company said most of the producers who sold the rights of the negatives to television channels lost control over them. Goldstone added that there were many legal issues over ownership and copyright whenever other producers tried to do something on their own.</p>