''Jeevitham'' ( en, Life) is a 1950 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

social guidance film Social guidance films constitute a genre of educational films attempting to guide children and adults to behave in certain ways. Originally produced by the U.S. government as "attitude-building films" during World War II, the genre grew to be a co ...

produced by A. V. Meiyappan with his company

AVM Productions AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappan. It is the final oldest survived studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...

and directed by M. V. Raman. The film stars

Vyjayanthimala Vyjayanthimala (born 13 August 1936) is a former Indian actress, dancer and parliamentarian. She is the recipient of several accolades, including two BFJA Awards and five Filmfare Awards. She made her screen debut at the age of thirteen with ...

in her

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...

debut with

S. Varalakshmi Saridey Varalakshmi (13 August 1925 – 22 September 2009) was an Indian actress and singer who worked in Telugu and Tamil-language films. She was popular for her roles and songs in Telugu films like ''Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam'' (1960) and '' ...

, T. R. Ramachandran and

C. H. Narayana Rao C. H. Narayana Rao was an Indian actor and producer known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He starred in more than fifty films in a variety of roles. His notable works include classics such as ''Chenchu Lakshmi'' (1943), ''Mugg ...

forming an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

, with many actors appearing in other significant roles. Actresses Lalitha and Padmini made

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other p ...

s as stage dancers. The film was a remake of the 1949 Tamil film '' Vazhkai'', which was also produced and directed by A.V. Meiyappan with

in the lead. Following the success of ''Vazhkai'' and ''Jeevitham'', it was remade in Hindi a year later by A. V. Meiyappan as '' Bahar'', however the Hindi version was directed by M. V. Raman, who was the writer in the Tamil and Telugu versions. Vyjayanthimala is the only star to reprise her role in all three versions, where she made her screen and regional debut through all films.

Plot

Mohini is the daughter of Sivashankaralingeswara Prasad, who marries Durgamma following Mohini's mother's death. Durgamma's brother Murthy wants to marry Mohini. Meanwhile, Mohini falls in love with Ashok, who is none other than her neighbour Pati, but she is not aware of that. When Murthy asks Prasad for Mohini's hand in marriage, he is refused by Mohini. An angry Murthy goes to the village and spends some time with Lakshmi and leaves her. When Lakshmi becomes pregnant, she comes to the city in search of Murthy. Before she can find Murthy, she gives birth to a boy in the hospital. She meets Murthy and requests him to accept her and the child. But Murthy refuses, so she leaves the child in Pati's car, and goes to the sea to commit suicide. In the meantime, Murthy plans to cancel Mohini's marriage to Pati by using the child. Due to his claim that the child is Pati's and Lakshmi's, the marriage is cancelled. The rest of the story is about how Pati faces problems from Murthy, and how he reunites with Mohini.

Cast

as Rani *

as Varalakshmi * T. R. Ramachandran as Pathi *

as Murthi *

Chilakalapudi Seetha Rama Anjaneyulu Chilakalapudi Seeta Rama Anjaneyulu (11 July 1907 – 8 October 1963), popularly known as C. S. R., was an Indian method actor, and thespian best known for his works in Telugu cinema, and Telugu theater. He acted in many stage dramas and portray ...

as Shivashankara Lingam Prasad * Kanchi Narasimha Rao as Basawayya * K. Doraswamy as Venkata Subbiah * A. Narayana Rao as Veeraswamy *

P. D. Sambandam P. D. Sambandam was a comic actor who has performed many supporting and minor roles in Tamil films. Filmography References

Male actors in Tamil cinema Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Li ...

as Seenu * A. L. Narayana Rao as Bandivadu * Venkumaba as Bangaramma * Baby Vimala as child artiste * Baby Narayanan as child artiste * Baby Meena as child artiste * Baby Annapoorna as child artiste * Padmini as dancer * Lalitha as dancer

Production

For the lead female role actress

was selected to reprise her role from the original version. She was assisted by her father, M. D. Raman, who coached her in the Telugu language to prepare her for the role. Similarly, actor T. R. Ramachandran, who also acted in the original version was chosen to reprise his role. However, during the filming his Tamil-tinged Telugu accent made the makers hesitate in using his voice, getting it dubbed by a Telugu speaking dubbing artist.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by R. Sudarsanam. Dialogues and Lyrics were by

Toleti Venkata Reddy Chakri Toleti is an Indian American business executive who is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of care.ai, a health technology company. Before this, Toleti was the Founder and President of HealthGrid, an enterprise patient engage ...

. Singers are T. R. Ramachandran &

Playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

s are D. K. Pattammal, T. S. Bagavathi, M. S. Rajeswari,

M. S. Rama Rao M. S. Ramarao (3 July 1921 – 20 April 1992) was an Indian singer and composer. He was popular for his devotional songs.He was the very first play back singer in the Telugu filmdom. Singing career Rama Rao debuted at World Telugu Conference h ...

& A. G. Rathnamala.

Box office

The film became a hit at the

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

similar to the Tamil version, which was released one year earlier. Subsequently, A. V. Meiyappan made the film in Hindi as '' Bahar'' the following year, which was directed by M. V. Raman with

reprising her role in all three versions. At the end of its theatrical run, ''Jeevitham'' completed its 200th day and was the highest grossing Telugu film of 1950.

References

External links

* {{AVM Productions 1950s dance films Indian dance films Indian black-and-white films 1950s romantic comedy-drama films Indian romantic comedy-drama films Telugu remakes of Tamil films 1950s Telugu-language films01743718283 1950 comedy films 1950 films 1950 drama films