''Gulebakavali Katha'' () is a 1962 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

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

swashbuckler film directed by

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 ...

. The film was produced by N. Trivikrama Rao on National Art Theatres banner. It is based on the folk tale '' Gulebakavali'' from the folk tale collection '' Arabian Nights''. Rama Rao also stars alongside Jamuna and Nagarathna. The film focuses on a man's quest to search for the ''Gulebakavali'' flower, which he needs to cure the king's blindness. It was released on 5 January 1962, and became a commercial success.

Plot

King Chandrasena has two wives, Gunavathi and Rupavathi. Rupavathi has three sons. Rupavathi's brother Vakraketu has an eye on the king's throne. When Gunavathi gets pregnant with the blessings of the goddess Parvathi, Vakraketu and Rupavathi bribe the astrologer by saying that the King loses his eyesight if he sees the child and tries to murder the infant, but he is rescued and brought up by a shepherd couple and named Vijay. Once, King Chandrasena goes hunting in the forest, sees Vijay, and loses his eyesight, but the actual reason had plotted against the king and made him blind. Doctors advise the king to get the '' Gulebakavali'' flower which blossoms on the full moon day in the Yakshaloka. Vijay sets on an adventurous journey to get the ''Gulebakavali'' flower which has healing powers and can, therefore, cure blindness. He meets a trickster dice player Yuktimati, whom he defeats and marries and saves his three elder brothers, sons of Rupavati. He then reaches Devaloka, woos princess Bakavali, and gets the flower, but his brothers steal it from him. He returns to Devaloka only to find the pond dry. Vijay then offers his eyes. The pond blooms with the divine flower, and an impressed Mahendra plucks it, restores Vijay's vision, and gives him his daughter's hand. Vijay returns to his kingdom with his two wives, annihilates Vakrakethu and the army chief Dushtabudhi, cures his father's blindness with the divine flower saved for him by Atitelivi from his brothers, and ascends the throne.

Cast

Credits adapted from ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'': *

as Vijay * Jamuna as Yuktimati * Nagarathna as Bakavali *

Peketi Sivaram Peketi Sivaram ( Telugu: పేకేటి శివరాం) (8 October 1918 – 30 December 2006) was an Indian actor and director.http://www.cinegoer.com/archives/december2006/peketi.htm Life sketch He was born on 8 October 1918 in Peker ...

as one of Rupavathi's sons * Mukkamala as Chandrasena *

Rajanala Kaleswara Rao Rajanala Kaleswara Rao, known mononymously by his surname as Rajanala, was an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre, and a few Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi films. In a film career spanning more than four d ...

as Vakraketu * Lanka Satyam as the goatherd * Mikkilineni as Mahendra * K. V. S. Sharma as Dushtabudhi *

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, Anandapur ...

as one of Rupavathi's sons *

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 ...

as Ati Telivi *

Rushyendramani Rushyendramani (1 January 1917 – 17 August 2002) was an Indian actress, singer, dancer, and playback singer from South India. She had more than 150 movies to her credit and acted in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films from the 193 ...

as Gunavathi *

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 ''The ...

as the goatherd's wife * Surabhi Balasarswathi as Adikaasa *

Chhaya Devi Chhaya Devi ( bn, ছায়া দেবী; 3 June 1914 – 25 April 2001) was an Indian actress known for her work in Bengali and Hindi cinema. She appeared in hundreds of films for over five decades. Her first lead role was in Debak ...

as Rupavathi

Production

''Gulebakavali Katha'' is the second Telugu film to be based on the folk tale '' Gulebakavali'' from the Arabian folk tale collection '' One Thousand and One Nights'', following a 1938 film titled ''Gulebakavali''. It was produced by N. Trivikrama Rao under National Art Theaters, and directed by

. This was Rama Rao's second directorial venture after '' Sita Rama Kalyanam'' (1961); however, as with that film, he did not bill himself as director in the opening credits. The writer of the original story was not credited; instead, Trivikrama Rao was credited under "''kathasekarana''" (collecting the story). In addition to directing, Rama Rao starred as the male lead Vijay. He cast two female leads: Jamuna as the trickster dice player Yuktimati; and actress G. Varalakshmi's niece Nagarathna as princess Bakavali, this being her acting debut. Nagarathna had only two dialogues, one of which was "Nanna".

Ravikant Nagaich Ravikant Nagaich (5 July 1931 – 6 January 1991) was an Indian film personality. He is an Indian film personality born at Atrauli, Aligarh- Uttar Pradesh, India in a Brahmin family. He started his filming career as a cinematographer in Telugu ...

was hired as cinematographer, K. Narasimha Rao for art direction, and S. P. S. Veerappa and G. Siva Murthy for editing.

Soundtrack

Music composers Joseph and Vijaya Krishna Murthy made their debut with this film, as did lyricist

C. Narayana Reddy Cingireddi Narayana Reddy (29 July 1931 – 12 June 2017), popularly known as CiNaRe, was an Indian Telugu-language poet and writer. Reddy had produced over eighty literary works including poems, prose-plays, lyrical plays, translations, a ...

. The film's most popular songs were "Nannu Dhochukonduvate", "Kalala Alalapai", "Unnadi Chebuta" and "Madana Sundara Naa Doraa".

Release and reception

''Gulebakavali Katha'' was released on 5 January 1962. The film was commercially successful, and contributed to Rama Rao's streak of successful films.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0263402 1960s fantasy adventure films 1960s Telugu-language films 1962 films Films about royalty Films based on One Thousand and One Nights Films directed by N. T. Rama Rao Indian black-and-white films Indian fantasy adventure films Indian swashbuckler films Polygamy in fiction