''Prema Nagar'' () is a 1971 Indian Telugu-language

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

directed by K. S. Prakash Rao and produced by

D. Ramanaidu Daggubati Ramanaidu (6 June 1936 – 18 February 2015) was an Indian film producer known for his work in Telugu cinema. He founded Suresh Productions in 1964 which became of one of the largest film production companies in India. He was placed i ...

under the Suresh Productions banner. It 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

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 S ...

with music composed by K. V. Mahadevan. The film is based on a novel of the same name by Koduri Kausalya Devi. ''Prema Nagar'' was an all time blockbuster, grossing ₹1.45 crores at the box office. D. Ramanaidu whose earlier films had failed and was in financial troubles had a dramatic turnaround in his career with the stupendous success of ''Prema Nagar''. The film had a theatrical run of over 750 days. The film was remade 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 ''

Vasantha Maligai ''Vasantha Maligai'' () is a 1972 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed by K. S. Prakash Rao and produced by D. Ramanaidu. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and Vanisri, and is the Tamil remake of the 1971 Telugu film '' Prema Nagar''. ''V ...

'' (1972) and in

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 ...

as '' Prem Nagar'' (1974) by K. S. Prakash Rao himself.

Plot

Kalyan (Akkineni Nageswara Rao), the second son of a wealthy Zamindar family, is a happy-go-lucky guy who enjoys his life with wine and women. Latha (Vanisri) a middle-class woman working as an air hostess, lives with her father (Gummadi), mother (Hemalatha), two brothers, and a sister. Her elder brother (Kakarala) resides at home with his wife, but Latha is the highest-earning member of the family, so she decides to change her profession. She joins as a secretary to Kalyan. The next day Kalyan takes her to his estate, where she meets his mother (Shantha Kumari), elder brother Kesava Varma (Satyanarayana), and sister-in-law Indrani (S. Varalakshmi). Latha soon notices that Kalyan is an alcoholic and, therefore, wishes to resign, but a servant begs her not to because Kalyan's behavior has changed for the better since meeting her. Latha, assures Kalyan's mother, that she will try and stop Kalyan from drinking. One day Latha tries to stop Kalyan from drinking; she throws the glass after arguing with him, infuriating Kalyan into throwing a bottle at her, where he realizes his mistake, he destroys all his bottles, promising Latha that he will never drink again. After that, Kalyan starts loving Latha deeply and he contracts a new palace in the name of her love called ''Prema Nagar''. Kesava Varma witnesses all this and runs to tell his mother. He conjures a story about Latha having stolen his wife's jewelry. Hearing this, Kalyan becomes suspicious of Latha. He asks Latha about it, but she runs away utterly dejected that he could suspect her of such wrongdoing. Fortunately, Kalyan overhears his servant Dasu (Rajababu) whispering to another about Kesava's malicious plan. Kalyan confesses his ignorance and apologizes. But Latha will not forgive him. Kalyan loses his composure and becomes seriously ill. Meanwhile, Latha receives a marriage proposal. Kalyan's mother goes to apologize to Latha while Latha hands her an invitation to her wedding. She shows this to her son, who then decides to attend the wedding, and Latha is shocked to see him. She meets him privately to reconcile their differences but, unfortunately, her sister-in-law spots them and announces it to the guests. All depart, leaving Latha with her family. Then, all of a sudden, Kalyan's mother enters the room and declares that Latha should marry his son. When Latha arrives at the palace, she is shocked to see Kalyan's condition, that out of desperation and lovesickness he had poisoned himself. But anyhow Kalyan is rescued by taken to the hospital, leading to a happy ending.

Cast

as Kalyan *

as Lata * S. V. Ranga Rao as Kalyan's father * Gummadi as Latha's father * Satyanarayana as Kesava Varma * Raja Babu as Dasu *

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 Doctor * Dhulipala as Diwanji *

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 ...

*K. V. Chalam as Cook *

Raavi Kondala Rao Raavi Kondala Rao (11 February 1932 – 28 July 2020) was an Indian actor, screenwriter, playwright, and journalist who worked in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He acted in over 400 films. He won Nandi Award for Best Story Writer for '' ...

as School Teacher *

Sakshi Ranga Rao Sakshi Ranga Rao (born Rangavajhula Ranga Rao; 15 September 1942 – 27 June 2005) was an Indian character actor who worked in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He appeared in about 450 films over a career spanning four decades, majority of ...

as Priest *Kakarala as Latha's brother *

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 Kalyan's mother *

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 Latha's mother * Suryakantham *

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 '' ...

as Indrani *

Rama Prabha Rama Prabha is an Indian actress who performs in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. She has acted in more than 1,400 films and is credited as a character artist who shared screen space with superstars across all generation of South Indian Cinem ...

as Hamsa *

Jyothi Lakshmi Jyothi Lakshmi (2 November 1948 – 9 August 2016) was an Indian actress who appeared in more than 130 movies. In the early 1970s, she was well noted for her leading roles and songs in movies. She also acted in female-oriented movies and was a ...

item number In Indian cinema, an item number or item song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and ...

* Chalapathi Rao as doctor * Pushpalatha as Ayya *Pushpa Kumari as Gowri *Meena Kumari as Kamala * Master Venkatesh as Young Keshav Varma

Production

The film is based on the novel of the same name written by Koduri Kausalya Devi. K. S. Prakash Rao scripted the film with dialogue given by Acharya Aatreya. K. A. Marthand performed the editing while S. Venkataratnam handled the cinematography. S. Krishna Rao is the Art Director.

Soundtrack

Music composed by K. V. Mahadevan. Lyrics were written by Acharya Aatreya.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0067607, title=Prema Nagar 1971 films Telugu films remade in other languages Films scored by K. V. Mahadevan Films based on Indian novels 1970s Telugu-language films Films directed by K. S. Prakash Rao Suresh Productions films