''Manchi Kutumbam'' () is a 1968 Indian Telugu-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 ...

co-written and directed by V. Madhusudhana Rao. The film 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 ...

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, Tel ...

, Kanchana,

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

and

Vijaya Nirmala Vijaya Nirmala (born Nidudavolu Nirmala; 20 February 1946 – 27 June 2019) was an Indian actress, director, and producer known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema along with a few Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning over si ...

, with music composed by S. P. Kodandapani. It is a remake of the

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

film ''

Grahasti ''Grihasti'' is a family drama produced by Sphere Origins, that aired on Star Plus during weekday afternoons. The show premiered on 25 February 2008 and aired until 27 March 2009. Synopsis ''Grihasti'' is based upon the Khurana family. After t ...

'' (1963) itself based on the American film '' The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker'' (1959). ''Grahasti'' was earlier remade into

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 ''

Motor Sundaram Pillai ''Motor Sundaram Pillai'' is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by S. S. Balan and written by Veppathur Kittoo. A remake of the Hindi film '' Grahasti'' (1963), itself based on the American film '' The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker ...

'' (1966).

Plot

Venu Gopal Rao, a wealthy person, leads a happy family life with his ideal wife Shanta and eight children and his widowed elder sister Seetamma, nephew Pandu stays along with them. He spends four days of the week for work and halts on the weekend for his family. Venu Gopal Rao's elder daughter Kamala marries Gopi, on a condition by Gopi's father that the couple must live separately until the completion of his son's education. But once, Gopi arrives without his parents’ knowledge and spends some time with Kamala. Meanwhile, two other college-going daughters Mala and Nirmala, fall for two handsome men Mohan and Shankar respectively; Pandu loves Station Master Bhushanam's daughter Bala and the elders fix their alliance. During the time of engagement, a young lad Chinna lands at their house claiming himself as Venu Gopal Rao's son, and conveys that he spends weekly five days with them. Venu Gopal Rao accepts it and reveals his second wife and family. Listening to it, Shanta and her family are devastated and the engagement breaks up. Now everyone accuses Venu Gopal Rao, including his family, one thing led to another, Kamala's father-in-law warns him to drop her in their house and he does so. Eventually, Shanta wants to know about her husband's second wife, so, she visits their house where she learns that the second wife has died and collapses looking at her photograph. Surprisingly, Venu Gopal Rao's second wife is none other than Shanta's younger sister Sarada. Parallelly, Venu Gopal Rao calls the groom's parents to resolve the conflicts, thereupon, Kamala's in-laws overtake to discard her as she is pregnant. Here Venu Gopal Rao loses his cool and starts revealing his past, he is brought up by a wise person who has two daughters Shanta and Sarada when he approaches Venu to marry his daughter when he assumes it as Sarada, as the two are in love with each other. Later Sarada realizes Shanta too admires Venu, so, she sacrifices her love and complies with him to marry Shanta. Soon after the marriage, the couple leaves for a job in Rangoon. As it is the period is WW II, during a bombing raid, Venu assumes Shanta is dead, so, gets back to India when Shanta's father discovers the love affair between Venu and Sarada and performs their marriage. Now a complication arises, Shanta is alive in Rangoon, knowing it, her father makes a promise from Venu on his deathbed that he will not let know about one other as each may sacrifice their life for each other, due to which Venu Gopal Rao has to suffer and maintain secrecy all these years. After he ends up the narration, Gopi also admits his mistake and everyone apologizes to Venu Gopal Rao. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the families, in-laws, brides, and grooms participating in the wedding processions.

Cast

as Venu Gopal Rao * Showkar Janaki as Shantha * Kanchana as Sharada *

as Mohan *

as Mala * Chandra Mohan as Shankar * Gummadi as Venu Gopal Rao's father-in-law * Mikkilineni as Principal *

Allu Ramalingaiah Allu Ramalingaiah (1 October 1922 – 31 July 2004) was an Indian character actor, comedian, and producer known for his works in Telugu cinema. In 1990, He was honoured with the Padma Shri for his contribution to Indian cinema. In 1998, he r ...

as Station Master Bhushanam * Chalam as Pandu *Ram Mohan as Gopi *Thyagaraju as Gopi's father *

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 Bala *

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 Seetamma *Pushpa Kumari as Gopi's mother *

Vijayasree Vijayasri was an Indian actress who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema in the 1970s. She acted in many movies opposite Prem Nazir and have also worked in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Biography Her first appearance onscreen ...

as Vimala *Kanaka Durga as Kamala

Soundtrack

Music was composed by S. P. Kodandapani. The song "Manase Andhala Brundhavanam" is set to the Carnatic raga

Hindolam Hindōḷaṃ is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāgam (or ''owdava'' rāgam, meaning pentatonic scale). It is a ''janya'' rāgam (derived scale), as it does not have all the sev ...

, and is based on "Maname Muruganin" from ''Motor Sundaram Pillai''.

Reception

On 17 March 1968, a critic from '' Visalaandhra'' gave a positive review, appreciating the way drama was handled in the film. Veeraiah Chowdhary writing for ''

Andhra Prabha ''Andhra Prabha'' - ''Journalism first'' is a Telugu language daily newspaper of India sold mostly in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The newspaper is one of the oldest running Telugu-language daily newspapers of India. The newspaper ...

'' on 7 April 1968 appreciated the performances of the lead cast, in addition to the soundtrack.

References

External links

* {{V. Madhusudhana Rao 1960s Telugu-language films 1968 drama films 1968 films Films based on adaptations Films directed by V. Madhusudhana Rao Indian drama films Polygamy in fiction Telugu remakes of Hindi films