''Charana Daasi'' () is a 1956 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 written by Vempati Sadasivabrahmam and directed by T. Prakash Rao. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao,

Anjali Devi Anjali Devi (; 24 August 1927 – 13 January 2014) was an Indian actress, model and producer in Telugu and Tamil films. She was well known for her role as the Devi Sita in ''Lava Kusa'' as well as for the titular roles in movies like Chenchu ...

and

Savitri Savitri or Savithrri may refer to: In Hinduism * Savitri, with all vowels short, a Roman-phonetic spelling of the Rigvedic solar deity Savitr *Sāvitrī, a name of the ''Gayatri Mantra'' dedicated to Savitr *Savitri (goddess), the consort of Brah ...

, with music composed by

S. Rajeswara Rao Saluri Rajeswara Rao (11 October 1922 – 25 October 1999) was an Indian composer, multi instrumentalist, conductor, singer, and music producer known for his works predominantly in South Indian cinema.M. L. Narasimham"Trend-setter in Light Music ...

. The film is based on Rabindranath Tagore's 1906 Bengali novel ''

Noukadubi ''Noukadubi'' ( bn, নৌকাডুবি, ''Boat wreck'') is a Bengali novel written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1906. The novel was first published in Bangadarshan, a Bengali literary magazine which was under the editorship of Rabindranath ...

''. It was simultaneously made in Tamil as ''

Mathar Kula Manikkam ''Mathar Kula Manikkam'' () is a 1956 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by T. Prakash Rao. The film stars Gemini Ganesan, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Anjali Devi and Savitri, with music composed by S. Rajeswara Rao. It is based on Rabindr ...

'' (1956). Story and Dialogues were by Vempati Sadasivabrahmam

Plot

The film revolves around two couples – Dr. Chandra Sekhar & Parvathi ahead Venu & Lakshmi. Venu & Lakshmi love birds, but Venu is forcibly knitted with a girl Devaki by his parents. Simultaneously, another wedding takes place in the same village, of an orthodox girl Parvathi which is disrupted due to dowry problems. During that plight, Dr. Chandra Shekar the bestie of Parvathi's brother nuptials her to keep them at save face. Due to the sudden espousal, the couple fails to notice. Parallelly, as it is an unwilling alliance Venu too overlooks the bride. Both the bridal parties travel on the same train, which runs into a disastrous accident. In which, Venu's parents and wife die. Here, Venu mistakes Parvathi as his wife sees her bridal dress and takes her home. Meanwhile, Shekar assumes that both his friend and wife are deceased. Fortuitously, on time, Venu realizes the truth which he hides from Parvathi and engages himself in the relentless task of searching for Parvathi's husband to unite them. Before he could succeed, Lakshmi misconstrues him by considering Parvathi as his wife. Right now, Parvathi also learns the truth and fled from Venu's house with mortifying when she tries to commit suicide. Through the wheel of fortune, she is rescued by her mother-in-law Annapurna and lands at her husband's house. Nevertheless, knowing the reality she is disabled to divulge her identity being dastarded that Shekar may suspect her chastity. Besides, Lakshmi becomes a lunatic due to Venu's deceit and she is admitted to Shekar's hospital. During the time of treatment, Lakshmi & Shekar convene with each other, and their elders decide to merge them which Parvathi also happily approves. Just in time, Venu arrives and imparts the facts when Shekar whole-heartedly accepts Parvathi and both of them thank Venu even though Lakshmi feels sorry. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the marriage of Venu & Lakshmi.

Cast

* N. T. Rama Rao as Dr. Chandra Sekhar * Akkineni Nageswara Rao as Venu *

as Parvathi *

as Lakshmi *

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 ...

as Raghavaiah * Relangi as Mahesham * Ramana Reddy as Narsu & Krishna (dual role) * Govindarajula Subba Rao as Basavaiah * Chadalavada as Hanumanthu *Perumallu as Rangaiah *

Kannamba Pasupuleti Kannamba (''Pasupulēţi Kannāṃba'') (5 October 1911 – 7 May 1968) was an Indian actress, playback singer and film producer of Telugu cinema, of Andhra Pradesh, India. She acted in more than 170 films and produced about 25 films ...

as Annapurna * Sowcar Janaki as Saroja *

Suryakantam Suryakantam or Sooryakantam (pronounced sūryakāntam) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 17th ''melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. I ...

as Seshamma * Hemalatha as Venu's mother * Kamala Lakshman as ''Vasavadatta'' in Svapnavasavadattam Dance Drama * Ragini as Dancer * Ambika Sukumaran as Dancer

Production

The film is based on Rabindranath Tagore's novel, ''

''. The director T. Prakash Rao chose to replace the boat crash sequence in the novel with a train accident in the film, inspired by a real event that took place near Ariyalur. The film was shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil languages, with the Tamil version titled ''

''.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by

Release

''Charanadasi'' and ''Mathar Kula Manikkam'', the Telugu and Tamil versions respectively, were released the same year and were box-office successes.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1950s multilingual films 1956 drama films 1956 films Films based on Indian novels Films based on works by Rabindranath Tagore Films directed by T. Prakash Rao Films scored by S. Rajeswara Rao Indian black-and-white films Indian drama films