''Subhalekha'' () is a 1982

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

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film, produced by

Allu Aravind Allu Aravind (born 10 January 1949) is an Indian film producer and distributor in Telugu cinema under his banner Geetha Arts. He co-owns the Indian Super League club ''Kerala Blasters FC''. A part of the Allu–Konidela family, Aravind is th ...

and V. V. Sastry under the Prasanthi Creations banner and directed by

K. Viswanath Kasinadhuni Viswanath (born 19 February 1930) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor, known for his works primarily in Telugu cinema. He is recipient of five National Film Awards, seven state Nandi Awards, ten Filmfare Awards South ...

. It stars

Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu language, Telugu, as ...

and Sumalata , with music composed by

K. V. Mahadevan Krishnankoil Venkadachalam Mahadevan (14 March 1918 – 21 June 2001) was an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician known for his works in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Malayalam cinema, Malayalam, and Kann ...

. The film was recorded as a ''Super Hit'' at the box office. It was the first time they worked together; after this success, they went on to make two more movies: ''

Swayamkrushi ''Swayamkrushi'' () is a 1987 Indian Telugu-language drama film written and directed by K. Viswanath. The film stars Chiranjeevi and Vijayashanti in main leads, while Sarvadaman D. Banerjee, and Sumalatha in other pivotal roles. The film chro ...

'' in 1987 and ''

Aapadbandhavudu ''Aapadbandhavudu'' () is a 1992 Indian Telugu-language drama film written and directed by K. Viswanath. Produced by Edida Nageswara Rao's Poornodaya Movie Creations, the film stars Chiranjeevi and Meenakshi Seshadri while Jandhyala, Sarath Babu ...

'' in 1992. The film was made at a time when Chiranjeevi had started getting lead actor roles and followed the immensely successful film ''

Intlo Ramayya Veedilo Krishnayya ''Intlo Ramayya Veedilo Krishnayya'' () is a 1982 Indian Telugu-language film directed by debutant Kodi Rama Krishna and produced by K. Raghava starring Chiranjeevi, Madhavi and debutant Gollapudi Maruthi Rao. Released on 22 April 1982, The fi ...

''. After making ''Saptapadi'', in which he dealt with the

social stigma Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, rac ...

of the caste system,

followed up with this film in which he dealt with the social malady of the dowry system and is inspired by famous writer Gurazada Venkata Apparao's work ''

Kanyasulkam ''Kanyasulkam'' is a Telugu play written by Gurajada Apparao in 1892.20th Century Telugu Luminaries, Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, 2005 It is one of the earliest modern works in an Indian language, and it is the first Telugu play ...

''. The film is the debut of famous actor ''

Subhalekha Sudhakar Suravajhala Sudhakar (born 19 November 1960), known by his stage name Subhalekha Sudhakar, is an Indian actor who works in Telugu and Tamil language films and television. Sudhakar's first Telugu film '' Subhalekha'' (1982) gained him wide reco ...

'', his character in the film became so popular that after that, he has been credited with this feature title before his name.

Plot

Narasimha Murthy (

) is a multi-talented person who works as a waiter in a star hotel, (filming location: Dolphin Hotel, Visakhapatnam) since he is unable to pass his B.A. exams. He meets Sujatha ( Sumalata), a lecturer who works in a college run by councilor Ankella Adiseshayya ( Satyanarayana). Mohan (Girish), who is an engineer and elder son of Adiseshayya, comes to Sujatha's place with his father for a marriage proposal. During this, Sujata stands up and has an argument with Adiseshayya when the latter demands exorbitant amounts as dowry. This creates a rift between Sujata and her parents who fear that this act of Sujatha might ostracize them from society. Adiseshayya also dismisses Sujatha from her job. During this difficult phase, Murthy, as a friend, provides solace to Sujatha; their relationship is mistaken as an affair and Sujatha is forced to leave her home. Murthy creates a big ruckus during the felicitation function of Adiseshayya and humiliates him. Adiseshayya retaliates by hiring goons to beat up Murthy and also gets him dismissed from his job. Left with no choice, Murti takes Sujatha to Hyderabad and meets Rao (Arun), whom he had met during the latter's stay in the hotel where Murti worked. Rao, who is in a senior post in Allwyn, hires Sujatha. Back home, Lakshmi (

Tulasi ''Ocimum tenuiflorum'', commonly known as holy basil, ''tulsi'' or ''tulasi'', is an aromatic perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and widespread as a cultivated plant throughout the Southeast Asian ...

), younger sister of Sujatha, falls in love with Murali (

), who is the younger son of Adiseshayya. Murali threatens his father with suicide and forces his father to let him marry Lakshmi. Left without a choice, Adiseshayya, who had dreamed of getting a lot of dowries since his son is a doctor accepts the proposal with the very little dowry. After marriage, Lakshmi leaves to Sujatha's place where Murthy arranges for a marriage between Sujatha and Rao. Lakshmi, with consent from her husband, files a suit against Adiseshayya to surrender his son, Murali to her since she paid for him during her marriage to teach Adiseshayya a lesson. Seeing this notice, Adiseshayya, his son, and Lakshmi's parents come to Hyderabad just before Sujatha's marriage. The climax deals with how Adiseshayya is taught a lesson and also ends with the marriage of Murthy and Sujata as per the wishes of the latter. Adiseshayya returns home to find that his elder son Mohan had married the widowed cousin of Murthy.

Cast

as Narasimha Murthy * Sumalata as Sujatha * Satyanarayana as Ankella Adiseshayya *

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 rec ...

as Lawyer Chillara Bhavani Sankaram * Ramana Murthy as Jagannatham *

Sudhakar Sudhakar is an Indian name and may refer to: * Sudhakar (actor) (born 1959), Indian actor * Patel Sudhakar Reddy (died 2009), member of the central committee of the Communist Party of India * Sudhakar Chaturvedi (born 1897), Vedic scholar in Banga ...

as Murali * Rallapalli as Gurnadham *

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 Bhavanarayana * Girish as Mohan * Arun as Rao * Potti Prasad as Server Subba Rao * Vankayala Satyanarayana as Principal Challeswara Rao * Hemasundar as Hotel Properter Bhatt * C.H.Krishnamurthy as Srinivasa Rao * Jeet Mohan Mitra as Kesava Rao * Krishna Chaitanya * Dham as Peon *

as Lakshmi * Pushpakumari as Sujatha's mother * Anupama as Satyavathi * Malini *

Nirmalamma Nirmalamma (18 July 1920 – 19 February 2009) was an Indian actress in the Telugu cinema. She has acted in more than 800 films. She was well known for her grandmother roles in several films.She won two Nandi Awards. Early life She was born in ...

as Narasimha Murthy's grandmother

Crew

* Dialogues:

Gollapudi Maruti Rao Gollapudi Maruti Rao (14 April 1939 – 12 December 2019) was an Indian actor, screenwriter, dramatist, playwright, columnist and dialogue writer known for his works in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre and Telugu Literature. Rao acted in over 250 ...

* Lyrics:

Veturi Veturi Sundararama Murthy (29 January 1936 – 22 May 2010), known mononymously by his surname Veturi, was an Indian poet, lyricist and journalist who is popular for writing Telugu songs. His career in the Telugu cinema spanned more than four de ...

and

Annamayya Tallapaka Annamacharya (Telugu : తాళ్ళపాక అన్నమాచార్య) (IAST: taḷḷapāka annamācārya; 22 May 1408 – 4 April 1503), also popularly known as Annamayya, was a 15th-century Hindu saint and the ear ...

* Music:

* Playback singers:

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

, S. P. Sailaja & Poornachander Rao * Choreographer: Parupalli Seshu * Assistant Music Director: Puhalendi * Art:

Thota Tharani Thota Tharani is an Indian film art director and production designer who has predominantly worked in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam cinema and Bollywood. As of 2013, he has won two National Film Awards, two Filmfare Awards South and four Tamil ...

* Cinematography:

Lok Singh Lok Singh was an Indian cinematographer who primarily worked in Telugu movies mostly in the 80s and 90s. He worked for over 31 movies with Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, f ...

* Editor: G. G. Krishna Rao * Producers:

& V. V. Sastry * Story - Screenplay - Director:

* Production Company: Prasanthi Creations * DVD release: S.V. Entertainments

Soundtrack

Music was composed by

. Music was released on SAREGAMA Audio Company.

Awards

;

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

, - , 1982 ,

(for 1st time) ,

Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actor ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, an ...

, , - , 1982 ,

Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu The Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu is presented by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Telugu films. The awards were extended to "Best Director" in 1972. Film world, p 43 Superlatives *K. Visw ...

, ;

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are the awards that recognise the excellence in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre and Telugu television, and Lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. Presented annually by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the award is named after ...

* 1982 -

Nandi Award for Best Story Writer The Nandi Award The Nandi Awards are the awards that recognise the excellence in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre and Telugu television, and Lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. Presented annually by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the awar ...

- ''

''(in

)

Reception

* The movie was very well received by both critics and audiences and did very well at the box office and perhaps would have done even better if it had been released a bit later: It was released within five weeks of ''Intlo Ramayya Veedilo Krishnayya'' which was running very successfully at that time. * Was remade into Hindi as ''

Shubh Kaamna ''Shubh Kaamna'' () is a 1983 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film directed by K. Vishwanath and produced by V. V. Shastri. It stars Rakesh Roshan, Rati Agnihotri, Vinod Mehra, Sujit Kumar, Utpal Dutt, Om Prakash and music for the film was sc ...

'' (1983) by actor

Rakesh Roshan Rakesh Roshan (born 6 September 1949) is an Indian film producer, director, screenwriter, and actor who works in Hindi films. He is the son of Indian music director Roshan and Indian Bengali singer Ira Roshan. He had appeared in 84 films throu ...

who played the role played by

in the direction of

. Rakesh Roshan had earlier remade ''Subhodayam'' into Hindi as ''

Kaamchor ''Kaamchor'' is a 1982 Bollywood drama movie. Produced by Rakesh Roshan, the film was directed by K. Viswanath, a remake of his Telugu film ''Subhodayam'' (1980). The film stars Rakesh Roshan, Jaya Prada, Tanuja, Sujit Kumar, Suresh Oberoi, Shr ...

''.

References

External links

* {{Kasinathuni Viswanath 1980s Telugu-language films 1982 films Films directed by K. Viswanath Telugu films remade in other languages Films scored by K. V. Mahadevan Geetha Arts films