While the revelries for the huge success of Pratyagathma’s debut directorial, Bharya Bharthalu were still going on, producer Anumolu Venkata Subbarao signed him to direct his next production under Prasad Art Pictures banner. A thought provoking story teller with leftist leanings, Pratyagathma wrote the screen story on casteism and titled it Kulagothralu the two compelling aspects followed by traditionalists in a Hindu marriage. Pratyagathma’s artistry was evident the way he had balanced the clash of ideologies between a progressive thinking youth and his traditionalist father set in a family drama and narrated it without any sloganeering. Acharya Athreya breathed life into the director’s scenario with his ebullient yet poignant dialogues.
The Story: Ravi (ANR) a student in Visakhapatnam falls in love with final MBBS student Saroja (Krishnakumari). Ravi’s father Bhushaiah (Gummadi) a staunch traditionalist opposes their marriage casting aspersions on Saroja’s parentage and caste. Saroja’s mother Kanthamma (G. Varalakshmi) is deceived and deserted by her husband Chalapati (Mikkilineni) who resurfaces after 20 years, as a thief. Ravi defies his father and marries Saroja. He is posted as sub-inspector of police in his village. Bhushaiah’s elder daughter Jagadamba (Suryakantham) plots with her gambler husband Sadanandam (Relangi) to usurp the family’s wealth. Bhushaiah’s younger daughter Leela (Girija) and her husband Joga Rao (Padmanabham) thwart their ploys. Sadanandam seeks the help of Chalapati to forcibly take over the property from Bhushaiah but Chalapati plays smart and plan to rob the house. Ravi foils the attempt by taking on Chalapati and his gang. Meanwhile Saroja enters, picks up the revolver and shoots Chalapati. Bhushaiah rues his irrational beliefs and accepts Saroja as his daughter-in-law.
Cast & Crew: Besides writing a story that reflected the contemporary society and a taut screenplay, Pratyagathma chose the right actors for each character and extracted the best from them. For a universal appeal he treated the melodrama with light banter. His excellent craftsmanship was complimented with brilliant cinematography by A. Vincent. The ace lens man brought to life the 1960’s landscapes and the seashore of Visakhapatnam. Editor Akkineni Sanjeevi contributed with his invigorating work.
It was not easy to satisfy an actor like ANR who generally questioned the logicality of the sequences concerning his character in the story. Only when he was thoroughly convinced did he sign the movie. By then a veteran of 101 films, he rode the role like it was a cakewalk. Athreya’s dialogue in one scene echoed his earlier stint with stage, naa chinnappudu (naatakallo) aadaveshaalu kooda vesanulendi. (During my childhood, I played even female roles in stage plays).
Krishnakumari made a neat contribution and she was at her best in the emotional scenes. Mikkilineni was a revelation as the hardened criminal Chalapati with a soft spot for his daughter. Nirmala acted as Santhamma, Bhushaiah’s wife. The other players in the family drama - G. Varalakshmi, Gummadi, Relangi, Suryakantham, Padmanabham and Girija were all seasoned actors and had played such characters earlier with aplomb. Ramana Reddy acted as the gambling addict and Sandhya as his suffering wife. Allu Ramalingaiah made a cameo appearance as Peraiah and Rajbabu played ANR’s classmate.
Saluri Rajeswara Rao composed original score for all the songs except for one of the popular songs ayyayyo chethilo dabbulu poyane… (Lyric: Kosaraju ; rendition: Madhavapeddi Sathyam and Pithapuram Nageswara Rao) which was inspired by Shankar-Jaikishan’s composition, jia o jia o jia kuch bole do… from the Hindi film Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai. Other popular songs from the album were – chelikaadu nine rammani piluva… (lyrics: C. Narayana Reddy; Singers: Ghantasala, P. Susheela) and raave raave bala… (Kosaraju; P.B. Srinivas, Jamunarani). For the first time in Telugu cinema, a bhangra type song and dance was introduced with Dasaradhi’s lyric, nee nallani jadalo… (Pithapuram, Jamunarani).
Trivia: C. Narayana Reddy who made his debut with the NTR starrer, Gulebakavali Katha in 1962 also wrote for ANR the same year. His two songs, chelikaaduninne rammani piluva... and chilipi kanula theeyani chelikaada… were well received.
Tatineni Ramarao, associate director for the movie says that Kulagothralu was the first Telugu film to be shot 40 per cent in outdoor locations at Visakhapatnam. The village scenes and the village house exteriors were shot at Orakkadu, a suburb of Chennai with matching indoor sets at Vijaya Studios.
An aspiring actor then, (hero) Krishna appeared as a bridegroom in a marriage scene. He was shown marrying Krishnakumari’s friend Nalini (played by Manimala who later in real life married popular Tamil actor ‘Venniradai’ Murthy).
Ravi Kondala Rao wrote the movie’s script in a novel form ( vendithera navala ). The 180 page book was priced at 75 paisa. It was published and released by the producer along with the movie and due to overwhelming response it was reprinted within weeks.
Kulagothralu was released on August 24, 1962 and celebrated hundred days run in eight centres. It was awarded the certificate of merit for the best feature film in Telugu in the regional films category at the national film awards.
