''Devata'' () is a 1965 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 by B. Purushottam, presented by comedian

Padmanabham Padmanabham mandal is one of the 46 mandals in Visakhapatnam District in India. It is under the administration of Visakhapatnam revenue division and the headquarters is located at Padmanabham. The Mandal is bounded by Bheemunipatnam, Anandapuram ...

and directed by K. Hemambharadhara Rao. It stars

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 Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for seven years over three terms. He starred ...

and Savitri, with music composed by

S. P. Kodandapani Sripathi Panditharadhyula Kodandapani ( 5 April 1974) was an Indian music composer and playback singer in Telugu cinema. He composed music for more than 100 films. He made his debut as an playback singer in the 1955 film ''Santhanam''. Later, ...

Plot

Prasad and Seeta are a happily married couple. They have a son Madhu. Seeta is a dedicated daughter-in-law who cares for her in-laws. She learns that her father Seshaiah is sick and starts home by train. The train meets with an accident. Family members rush to the hospital where the occupants were taken and consult the officials, who were in charge of identifying the dead and treating the survivors, among the occupants of the train accident and are relieved to find out that Seeta is injured but alive and rejoice. She reaches home but is unable to identify any of them. Meanwhile, Seshaiah leaves his entire property in the name of Seeta and dies. Dr. Rukminamma is called for consultation. The Doctor theorizes that the lady in the family is not Seeta but another lady of the same face, Lalitha. Prasad requests Lalitha to reveal her origin. Lalitha is a poor lady who loved a young man named Ramesh, who refused her proposal of their marriage for want of dowry. Meanwhile, she is being forced by her parents to marry a wealthy drunkard. Helpless, Lalitha decides to kill herself at the tracks where the same train which Seeta is traveling, but she survives as the train derails just before reaching her allowing her to survive, albeit, with a few injuries. Prasad requests Lalitha to act like Seeta, until he finds Seeta, for his family's sake. It turns out that Seeta died in the train accident and no one could come forward to identify Seeta at the time of the accident since everyone mistook Lalitha for Seeta. The officials hence buried Seeta, unidentified. Prasad, thus, decides to arrange Lalitha's marriage with Ramesh by giving the dowry, but Ramesh suspects a relationship between Prasad and Lalitha. Hearing this, Lalitha refuses the marriage and asks Ramesh to get out. Simultaneously, Seeta's relative Jagannadham kidnaps Lalitha for the property, but she is saved by Prasad. Taking into account the affection shown to her by the family, Lalitha decides to replace Seeta and marries Prasad, keeping everyone happy.

Cast

as Prasad * Savitri as Seeta and Lalitha *

V. Nagayya V. Nagayya (born Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma; 28 March 1904 – 30 December 1978) also known as Chittoor Nagayya was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. ...

as Lokabhiramaiah * Rajanala as Jagannatham *

as Varahalu / Prem Kumar * Vallam Narasimha Rao as Ramesh * Vangara as Anjaneyulu * Perumallu as Sheshaiah *

Balakrishna Bala Krishna ( sa, बाल कृष्ण, lit=child Krishna/divine child Krishna, translit=Bālakṛṣṇa). Present day Krishna worship is an amalgam of various elements. According to historical testimonies Krishna-Vasudeva worship alread ...

Geetanjali __NOTOC__ ''Gitanjali'' ( bn, গীতাঞ্জলি, lit='Song offering') is a collection of poems by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore received the Nobel Prize for Literature, for the English translation, Gitanjali:''Song Offer ...

as Hema *

Hemalatha Hemalatha, often credited as Hema, is an Indian actress and dancer. She is acclaimed for her roles as Raghavi in the popular soap opera ''Kana Kaanum Kaalangal'' on STAR Vijay and as Deepa in the superhit Tamil drama serial on Sun TV ''Thend ...

Nirmalamma Nirmalamma (18 July 1920 – 19 February 2009) was an Indian actress in the Telugu cinema. She has acted in more than 800 films. She was well known for her grandmother roles in several films.She won two Nandi Awards. Early life She was born in ...

as Parvatamma * Master Murali as Madhu

Cameo appearances

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 himself *

Gummadi Gummadi (Telugu: గుమ్మడి) is an Indian given name and surname. It may refer to: * Gummadi (actor) (1927–2010), Telugu film actor * Gummadi Vittal Rao (born 1949), revolutionary Telugu balladeer and vocal Naxalite * Jaya Krishna Gumm ...

as himself * Relangi as himself *

Ramana Reddy Ramana Reddy (1 October 1921 – 11 November 1974) was an Indian character actor, comedian and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. In a career spanning 24 years, he acted in more than 200 movies. Ramana Reddy and Relangi ...

as himself *

Kanta Rao Tadepalli Lakshmi Kantha Rao (16 November 1923 – 22 March 2009) was an Indian actor and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. Regarded as one of the finest method actors, Rao starred in more than four hundred feature ...

as himself * Raja Babu *

Nagesh Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 film ...

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 ...

as herself * Krishna Kumari as herself * Jamuna as herself *

Sowcar Janaki Sankaramanchi Janaki (born T. Janaki; 12 December 1931), popularly known as Sowcar Janaki (Tamil) or Shavukaru Janaki (Telugu) or Sahukar Janaki (Kannada), is an Indian actress who has appeared in over 300, films, predominantly in Tamil, Telug ...

as herself *

Vanisri Vanisri (born Rathna Kumari) is an Indian actress known for her works predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada films. In a film career spanning 40 years, she has received three Filmfare Awards South, the Nandi Awards and the Tamil Nadu St ...

Soundtrack

Music composed by

Production

Veeturi wrote this story for a drama company called Rekha and Murali Arts. Later everyone involved thought that the story was not suitable for a stage drama as the heroine of the story has to perform a dual role. It was felt that the story was suitable for a motion picture.

took up the task of producing the film under the banner ''Rekha & Murali Arts'' with the support from Kakarla Venkateswarlu of Vani film distributors. Padmanabhan mortgaged his house for Rs. 40,000 for the initial capital. Most of the shooting was done in Vauhini Studios, Chennai in three months. *

acted as a guest in the college anniversary festival song "Naaku Neeve Kaavalera". * Master Murali acted as Madhu, son of Prasad and Seeta. He is the eldest son of B. Padmanabham. * Padmanabham portrayed the character as Varahalu, who is crazy about films and film actors. In the film, he visits Madras to personally meet many famous film actors of that time. * Vallam Narasimha Rao, one of the partners in Rekha and Murali Arts has acted in the film as the lover of Savitri.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0290563 Indian drama films 1960s Telugu-language films 1965 drama films 1965 films Films scored by S. P. Kodandapani