Gundamma Katha (1962)
Posted by Babu Rao on 07 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: 1900 - 1999, Hit Thi Hit Hai, Drama, Comedy, Telugu
Vijaya banner is known for producing ‘golden films’.With the use of excellent narration skills by the director Kamalakara Kameswara Rao and the right casting, the producer duo Chakrapani-Nagireddy gave a wholesome entertainer in the form of ‘Gundamma Katha’.Gundamma (Suryakantham) has a son, an exploited stepdaughter, for whom she hopes to get a ‘resident’ son-in-law who can also look after the rest of the family. Two brothers Anji (NTR) and Raja (ANR), decide to teach the old woman a lesson for the harm she once did to their family.
Cast: NTR, Savithri , ANR
Kamalakara Kameswara Rao garu is known as ‘Pauranika Chitra Brahma’. With this film, he tried his hand at comedy and passed out with flying colors. Another major contributor for this film’s success is the dialogue writer DV Narasaraju. He gave fine dialogues like …
“Paalallo neellu kalapakapothe .. petrol kaluputhaara?”
“Vunnollantha vedhavalaithe … mana telivikem .. Divitilaa veligi podoo?”
“Manishi sukhaniki kavalsindi .. manasulu kaani .. aasthi paastulu kaavu”
“Aasaku Chaavu ledu!’
NTR donned the role of a rich guy with a strong determination. ANR acted as another rich man who is addicted to alcohol. Savitri, who acted in soft roles in the past acted as a strong-willed woman, who is very hard to convince. Jamuna played a headstrong lady. The scene-stealer of the film is none but Smt. Suryakantham, who made a mark for herself with this film. SVR did a short yet nice role of the father of heroes.
This film is also a musical masterpiece. Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao garu has given excellent tunes for ‘kolukoloyanna’, ‘veshamu maarchenu’, ‘kanulu moosina neevaye’, ‘prema yatralaku’. Lyricist Pingali Nagendra Rao garu coined new words like ‘Sakhinera Choopula’, ‘Jagamuna Ooty Saayaga’. He also compared the ‘preyasi jada’ with ‘valapu paasam’.
Producer Chakrapani credited with direction of the Tamil version of Gundamma Katha as Manithan Maravillai tasted failure unlike the stupendous success of the original Telugu version. Gundamma Katha is regarded as the last film of Vijaya’s ‘Golden Age’.
Video Source: DVD
Host: Megavideo
Chapters: 4
Chennai Kadhal
With his innocent looks, everyone thought that he could not play professional killer to good extent. But, Mahesh proved his critics wrong once again in this action drama. Though movie started as a pure action oriented, it slowly goes towards family drama. With few hiccups which are quite natural in mainstream cinema, Athadu is a must watch for Mahesh’ performance, good music and lavish production values. Kudos to Mahesh.