''Raju Peda'' () is a 1954 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 film, produced and directed by

B. A. Subba Rao Bugata Venkata Subba Rao, better known as B. A. Subba Rao (died 1987), was an Indian film director and producer who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. He is recipient of Raghupathi Venkaiah Award for his lifetime contribution to Telugu cinem ...

. It stars N. T. Rama Rao,

Lakshmirajyam C. Lakshmi Rajyam or shortly Lakshmirajyam (1922–1987) was a South Indian film and drama actress and film producer in 1930s to 1970s.Nata Ratnalu, Mikkilineni Radhakrishna Murthy, Second edition, 2002, pp: 594–96 She is a native of Owk. She ...

S. V. Ranga Rao Samarla Venkata Ranga Rao (3 July 1918 – 18 July 1974), popularly known as SVR, was an Indian actor, producer, and director known for his works majorly in Telugu and Tamil films. He is regarded as one of the finest actors in the history of ...

and Master Sudhakar, with music composed by

S. Rajeswara Rao Saluri Rajeswara Rao (11 October 1922 – 25 October 1999) was an Indian composer, multi instrumentalist, conductor, singer, and music producer known for his works predominantly in South Indian cinema.M. L. Narasimham"Trend-setter in Light Music ...

. The film is based on

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

’s 1881 novel, '' The Prince and the Pauper'' and was later remade into the Hindi film ''

Raja Aur Runk ''Raja Aur Runk'' () is a 1968 Bollywood film, directed by Kotayya Pratyagatma and starring Sanjeev Kumar and Kumkum. It is an Indian adaptation of Mark Twain's 1881 novel, The Prince and the Pauper. Synopsis ''Raja Aur Runk'' is the story of ...

'' (1968) and dubbed into Tamil as ''Aandi Petra Selvan'' (1957).

Plot

Two identical boys are born on the same day to King Surendra Dev and to a thief Poligadu. Twelve years later, the sick King decides to crown the Prince Narendra Dev. His lookalike Narigadu tortured by his father for refusing to beg, leaves home without informing his mother Achi and sister Malli. He is caught by the palace guards, but is saved by the Prince. They exchange clothes and find that they look identical. Narigadu falls asleep on the Prince's bed. Mistaking him for Narigadu, the guards throw the prince out. Thus they accidentally exchange places. Soon the prince leaves Poligadu's house. Sudhir, a valiant soldier who is in love with Malli, takes care of him. Meanwhile, the king dies. The army commander Vikram Dev plots to usurp the kingdom. He learns the truth about Narigadu and compels him to act as the prince. He also plots to kill the real prince, but Poligadu and Sudhir thwart his plan. In the fight that follows, Poligadu kills Vikram. Narendra Dev is crowned as the king. He orders Poligadu and his family to stay with him in the palace.

Cast

* N. T. Rama Rao as Pooligadu *

as Achamma *

as Maharaju Surendra Dev * Relangi as Sudhir *

R. Nageswara Rao Rajanala Nageswara Rao ( te, రాజనాల నాగేశ్వరరావు) (1928–1959) was an Indian actor known for his works in Telugu cinema, and was one of the lead actors of his time. He is best known for his works in award-wi ...

as Vikram * Dr. Sivaramakrishnaiah as Bhugolam Panthulu * V. C. Kamaraju as Vijay * Lakshmaiah Chowdary as Subedhar * Chelamaiah Chowdary as Raja Guruvu * Jaya Rami Reddy as Bhaskar * Lakshman Rao as Prabhakar * Ammaji as Malli *

T. D. Kusalakumari Thanjavur Damayanthi Kusalakumari (6 December 1937 - 7 March 2019) was an Indian actress and dancer. She featured in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam language films. Early life Born in Thanjavur, Kusalakumari is a niece of T. R. Rajakumari. Her bir ...

as dancer * Master Sudhakar as Narendra Dev & Naarigadu: (dual role)

Soundtrack

;Telugu The music of the film was composed by

. Lyrics were by Tapi Dharma Rao, Aatreya and

Kosaraju Kosaraju Raghavayya (23 June 1905 – 27 October 1987), known mononumously by his surname Kosaraju, was an Indian lyricist and poet known for his works in Telugu cinema. He wrote about 3,000 songs in 350 films. His lyrics are steeped in Telu ...

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

Ghantasala Ghantasala may refer to: People * Ghantasala (musician) (Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao, 1922-1974), Telugu singer and composer * Ghantasala Balaramayya (1906 - after 1952), Telugu film producer and director * Ghantasala Sai Srinivas, professionally ...

, Madhavapeddi Satyam, Jikki, K. Rani, P. Susheela and T. Sathyavathi. ;Tamil Music for the Tamil version was composed by T. Chalapathi Rao and the lyrics were penned by Kuyilan and Puratchidasan.

s are

T. M. Soundararajan Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan (24 March 1923 – 25 May 2013), popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 fi ...

, S. C. Krishnan, Jikki, P. Leela,

R. Balasaraswathi Devi Raavu Balasaraswathi Devi (born 28 August 1928) is an Indian singer and actress who performed from 1930 to the 1960s in Telugu and Tamil cinema. She was the first light music singer on All India Radio and the first playback singer in the T ...

M. S. Rajeswari M. S. Rajeswari ( ta, எம். எஸ். ராஜேஸ்வரி; 24 February 1932 – 25 April 2018) was an Indian playback singer who has recorded over 500 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films. Early life She ...

, T. Sathyavathi and Kamala.

Awards

*This film was one of N. T. Rama Rao's finest performances, for which he was awarded the Rashtrapati Award for his role.

References

External links

* - Song sung by Jikki in Telugu * - Same song in Tamil * {{The Prince and the Pauper 1954 films 1950s Telugu-language films Indian black-and-white films Telugu films remade in other languages Films directed by B. A. Subba Rao Indian drama films 1954 drama films