''Jayabheri'' () is a 1959 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

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

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 ...

who co-wrote the script with

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 ...

. The film is based on the life of poet Kaasinath and stars

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The film was produced by Vasireddy Narayana Rao with music composed by

Pendyala Nageswara Rao Pendyala Nageswara Rao (6 March 1917 – 31 August 1984), known mononymously by his surname Pendyala, was an Indian composer, multi-instrumentalist, conductor, music producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema along with Tami ...

. ''Jayabheri'' won the Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Telugu at the

7th National Film Awards The 7th National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1959. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi ...

. The music from the film was widely played on the radio. The film was simultaneously released 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 ''

Kalaivaanan ''Kalaivaanan'' is 1959 Indian Tamil-language biographical film, based on the life of Karnataka poet Kaasinath, produced by Vasireddy Narayana Rao and directed by P. Pullayya. It stars A. Nageswara Rao and Anjali Devi, with music composed by ...

''.

Plot

The film is set during the 16001700s, during the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hinduism, Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana an ...

at Vidyanagaram. It is the hometown of high scholars and the elite communities where Kasinatha Sastry — an orthodox

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

— was brought up by his elder brother Viswanatha Sastry and his sister-in-law Annapurna. A low caste Bhagavatar called Bhachanollu is shown visiting Vidyanagaram. During this event, an extraordinary dancer, Manjulavani, challenged the people of Vidyanagaram. Soon after the dance, Kasinath competes and emerges victorious. Viswambhara Sastry — Kasi's mentor — admonishes him because he has dragged Goddess

Saraswati Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati. The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a go ...

onto the streets. Kasi argues that art has no caste or community and should hold public admiration. Viswambhara becomes furious and knocks Kasi out. Viswanatha berates and forces Kasi to apologize to his mentor. Kasi and Manju fall for each other. He gives a show, ignoring the ordinance of village heads and his elders for which he has been ostracised from the religion. Soon after, Kasi marries Manju, and they become beloved by the public with their performances. King Vijayananda Ramagajapati is impressed and invites them to his kingdom, where Dharmadhikari narrates the story of Kasi. It transpires that Kasi is ineligible for the honor, and Kasi strives for victory over all the scholars in the council. Even Viswambhara appreciates him. Keeping that grudge in mind, Dharmadhikari plots revenge by using a court dancer Amurthamba (Rajasulochana), who gets Kasi drunk. Once he gets drunk, Kasi is unable to sing in court and the King sends him to prison. Manju arrives in time and reveals the conspiracy of Dharmadhikari. Later, Kasi and Manju return to Vidyanagaram, but Kasi cannot get off his vices. He loses his wealth and starts ill-treating Manju. Learning of the developments, Annapurna reaches Kasi secretly and makes him repent and reform. Viswanatha Sastry does not allow Annapurna to return, so she commits suicide, but Kasi and Manju get her back with their devotional power. At last, the entire society realizes the couple's innocence.

Cast

as Kasinatha Sastry *

as Manjulavani *

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, ...

as Annapoorna *

Rajasulochana Chittajallu Rajeevalochana (15 August 1935 – 5 March 2013), better known as Rajasulochana, was an Indian classical dancer and actress. She has acted in more than 300 Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi language films. Early life She w ...

as Amrutha * Relangi as Bangarayya * S. V. Ranga Rao as Raja Vijayananda Rama Gajapati * Gummadi as Viswanatha Sastry *

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 Viswambhara Sastry *

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 Narayya * Suryakantham as Ratnam * Mukkamala as Dharmadhikari * Maddali Krishnamurthy *

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 Pekeru ...

as Sanjeevi * Chadalavada as Raghavulu *

Surabhi Kamalabai Surabhi Kamalabai (1913–1977) was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu theatre and Telugu cinema. She has the distinction of being the first Telugu actress in a talkie film with '' Bhakta Prahlada'' (1932), directed by H. M. Reddy. She play ...

as Ranganayaki

Soundtrack

Awards

;

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

: Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Telugu ;

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu The Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Telugu films. The award was first given in 1964 for films released around 1963. Here is a list of the award winners a ...

References

External links

* {{Filmfare Best Telugu Film 1959 films Best Telugu Feature Film National Film Award winners Films directed by P. Pullayya Films scored by Pendyala Nageswara Rao Indian black-and-white films