''Chandirani'' is a 1953 Indian

swashbuckler film Swashbuckler films are a subgenre of the action film genre, often characterised by swordfighting and adventurous heroic characters, known as swashbucklers. Real historical events often feature prominently in the plot, morality is often clear-c ...

directed by Bhanumathi and produced by

P. S. Ramakrishna Rao P. S. Ramakrishna Rao (12 October 1918 – 7 September 1986) was a veteran Telugu film director and producer. He married Bhanumathi, a multi-talented film artist from South India, on 8 August 1943. Filmography *'' Gruhalakshmi'' (1967) (Prod ...

under the

Bharani Studios Bharani Pictures is a film production company in Chennai, India. It was established by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao and Bhanumathi Ramakrishna in 1947. They later established Bharani Studios in 1950. It is named after their son Bharani. Dr. Bharani Palu ...

banner. The film is shot simultaneously in

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 ...

, Tamil, and Hindi languages. It stars Bhanumathi, N. T. Rama Rao,

S. V. Ranga Rao Samarla Venkata Ranga Rao (3 July 1918 – 18 July 1974), popularly known as SVR, was an Indian actor, producer, and director known for his works majorly in Telugu and Tamil films. He is regarded as one of the finest actors in the history of ...

and Relangi. Bhanumathi also wrote the story while Ramakrishna Rao scripted the film. The film's music composed is C. R. Subburaman &

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

Plot

King Veerasimha was attracted to a court dancer during his birthday celebrations. She delivers twin girls after their union. The Senani, (major) Prachandudu, who also likes her, kills the dancer and imprisons the King. The minister saves one of the twins and sends her to the forest. Knowing this, Prachandudu kills him and takes charge of the kingdom. The other twin stays in the kingdom. Champarani in the kingdom, and Chandirani in the forest, grow up as two different personalities. The son of the minister Kishore and Champarani love each other. Mukund is the son of Prachandudu. Kishore goes to the forest and learns about Chandirani, and that she loves him. With the help of Mukund, Chandirani enters the fort and meets her father. She learns about the love between Champarani and Kishore. Meanwhile, Prachandudu arrests Kishore. Chandirani attacks the kingdom with the help of the people. During the conflict, Chandirani sacrifices her life to eliminate Prachandudu, before dying she unites Champarani and Kishore.

Cast

* Bhanumathi as Chandi / Champa (double role) * N. T. Rama Rao as Kishore *

as Prachandudu * C.S.R * Relangi as Mukunda ( Agha in Hindi) *Amarnath as Maharaja Veerasimha *

R. Nageswara Rao Rajanala Nageswara Rao ( te, రాజనాల నాగేశ్వరరావు) (1928–1959) was an Indian actor known for his works in Telugu cinema, and was one of the lead actors of his time. He is best known for his works in award-wi ...

as Marthand * Hemalatha as an old woman *Kumari Tulasi as a peasant girl *Angamuthu as a maid *Doraswamy as Ramsingh

Soundtrack

The music was composed by C. R. Subburaman and

Telugu songs

Lyrics by

Samudrala Sr. Samudrala Raghavacharya (19 July 1902 – 16 March 1968), also known as Samudrala Sr., was an Indian screenwriter, lyricist, playback singer, director, and producer known for his works in Telugu cinema. Samudrala Senior made his screen debut in ...

Tamil songs

Lyrics were by

K. D. Santhanam K. D. Santhanam was an Indian actor, writer and lyricist who worked mainly in Tamil films. Career He was a teacher at Madurai Sri Mangala Bala Gana Sabha training young boys in dramatics. He was known as a strict disciplinarian. He punished ...

. The song "Vaan Meedhile Inba Then Maari Peiyudhe" is set in the Carnatic music raga 'Pahaadi'.

Hindi songs

Lyrics by Vishwamitra Adil.

Critical reception

M. L. Narasimham of ''The Hindu'' wrote, "Though there is nothing new in the story, the novelty lies in the manner it is narrated. Chandi's sword fight and the fight sequences with the tiger, the exchange of places by the siblings, went well with the audience." The film was a profitable venture. As of 2013, ''Chandirani'' held the record of being the only film to be released in three languages on the same day (28 August 1953). Bhanumathi also became the first woman director to write and direct a film that achieved this feat.

References

External links

* * * {{IMDb title, tt0260792, Chandirani (1953 Hindi film) * Naati 101 Chitralu (Telugu hit films released between 1931 and 1965), S. V. Rama Rao, Kinnera Publications, Hyderabad, 2006, pages: 75–6. 1953 films 1950s Telugu-language films 1950s Hindi-language films Indian black-and-white films Indian multilingual films 1950s Tamil-language films Films scored by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Films scored by C. R. Subbaraman 1950s multilingual films