''Ardhangi'' () is a 1955 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

-language

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

, produced and directed by

P. Pullayya P. Pullayya (also spelled P. Pullaiah; 1911–1985) was an Indian film director and producer known for his work in Telugu films. He was the recipient of Raghupathi Venkaiah Award for his contributions to Telugu cinema. Personal life Pullayya m ...

under the Ragini Pictures banner. It stars

Santha Kumari Santha Kumari (born Vellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producer P. Pullayya. Early years Vellaala Subbamma was born in Proddatur town, ...

, Savitri, and

Akkineni Nageswara Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1923 – 22 January 2014), widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and producer, known for his works majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became on ...

. Music is composed by

Master Venu Madduri Venugopal better known as Master Venu (1916–1981) was an Indian music composer of the Telugu and Tamil cinemas and the father of the actor Bhanu Chander. He was born 1916 in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India and died 1981 in Chenn ...

and B. Narasimha Rao.

Acharya Aatreya Acharya Aatreya (born Kilambi Venkata Narasimhacharyulu ) (7 May 1921 – 13 September 1989) was an Indian poet, lyricist, playwright, and screenwriter known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He received the state Nandi Award fo ...

scripted the film based on Maddipatla Suri's Telugu translation of the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

novel ''Swayamsidda'' written by Manilal Banerjee. The film was successful at the box office. It has received the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several ...

and the

Filmfare Award for Best Film - Telugu ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English language, English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, r ...

. The film was remade in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

as ''

Pennin Perumai ''Pennin Perumai'' () is a 1956 Indian Tamil-language film starring Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Savitri and Santha Kumari. It is a remake of the Telugu film ''Ardhangi'', which was based on Maddipatla Suri's Telugu translation of the Benga ...

'' and in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

as '' Bahurani'' (1963).

Plot

Zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

Bhujangarao has two sons. The elder son Raghunath Rao born to his first wife is developmentally disabled. After his first wife's death, the Zamindar marries Rajeswari and the couple has a son Nagendra Rao / Naagu who is shown to be a man of vices. Naagu is cruel to his half-brother. Impressed by the way Padma, a village girl, faces Naagu when he threatens to take their farmlands, the Zamindar arranges for Naagu to marry her. But Rajeswari vetoes the alliance and instead suggests that Raghu marry Padma instead. After the wedding, Padma learns that Raghu's disability is due to the opium used to put him to sleep as a child by the maid, Ayamma. Padma takes up the task of helping him, keeping the cruel Naagu at a distance from him. The Zamindar rewrites the will, leaving everything to Raghu before dying. But Raghu leaves the property to the peeved Rajeswari and Naagu. He then goes into the village to live there with his wife. Naagu brings his lover Neelaveni, who along with her entourage are eyeing Naagu's property. When he learns that the farmers paid the tax to Raghu, an enraged Naagu goes to the village with a rifle. At the same time, Raghu brings the money to give it to him. A repentant Rajeswari along with Raghu, reaches the village to convince Naagu to come to his senses. When she fails, she takes the rifle and aims at him. Padma shields him as Naagu realizes his mistake.

Cast

as Rajeswari Devi * Savitri as Padmavati *

as Raghunatha Rao / Raghu * Gummadi as Zamindar Bhujangarao *

Jaggayya Kongara Jaggayya (31 December 1928 – 5 March 2004) was an Indian actor, littérateur, journalist, lyricist, dubbing artist and politician known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He was known as ''Kanchu Kantham J ...

as Nagendra Rao / Nagu * Surabhi Balasaraswathi as Neelaveni * Chadalavada as Bheemudu * Nagabhushanam as Veeraiah * Dr. Sivaramakrishnaiah as Appula Sivakamaiah * Dr. Kamaraju as Diwanji Kakkaiah * Doraiswamy as Bhushaiah * B. Narasimha Rao as Musalaiah

Production

originally wanted

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as List of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh fo ...

to play the mentally disabled Raghu and

as Raghu's half-brother Nagu. Nageswara Rao felt the negative role would not suit him, and was later cast as Raghu, which he preferred as he considered it "more challenging". The role of Nagu ultimately went to

. Pullayya cast Gummadi as the zamindar Bhujangarao at the suggestion of film producer T. V. S. Sastri.

Soundtrack

Music composed by

& B. Narasimha Rao. Lyrics were written by

Box office

The film ran for more than 100 days in 5 centers in Andhra Pradesh.ANR's 100 days films list at Idlebrain.com

Awards

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

- Certificate of Merit

References

External links

* {{Filmfare Best Telugu Film 1955 films Telugu films remade in other languages 1950s Telugu-language films Films directed by P. Pullayya Films about intellectual disability Developmental disabilities Indian drama films 1955 drama films Indian black-and-white films Films scored by Master Venu Films scored by B. Narasimha Rao