''Vemulawada Bheemakavi'' is a 1976 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

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

, produced by

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for seven years over three terms. He starred ...

under his Ramakrishna Cine Studios banner and directed by D. Yoganand. It stars

Nandamuri Balakrishna Nandamuri Balakrishna (born 10 June 1960), simply known as Balakrishna or Balayya or NBK, is an Indian actor, producer and politician. He appeared in more than 100 Telugu cinema, Telugu films over forty years in a variety of roles and establis ...

and music composed by Pendyala Nageswara Rao.

Plot

The film is based on the life of the 9th-century famous Telugu poet

Vemulawada Bheemakavi Vemulawada Bhima alias 'Vemulawada Bheemakavi' was a hugely popular Telugu poet (11th century AD) for his style of poetry and is considered to be a demi-god for his powers. The poet's life was mentioned in the first of its kind, 1829 AD 's work- ...

. Wherever society is spoilt by superstitions, crime levels increase in the name of religion, and great people are born to protect piety and reform society. One among them is Vemulawada Bheemakavi. The story begins with Machamma, a child widow, whose husband, an old man, marries her for sake of children, but dies before his wish is fulfilled. Machamma lives in her brother's house like a slave. Machamma once goes to Bhimeshwara temple in Vemulawada and innocently prays to him to fulfill her husband's wish. Bhimeshwara feels happy about her innocent wish and promises her that she will give birth to a baby boy. When Machamma becomes pregnant, society rejects her, and she gives birth to Bheemakavi. Society casts out Bheemakavi and he could not get any education. He observes himself and also fellow outcasts and their plights. He says all are humans and to be treated equally and starts debating in the streets and the people used to abuse him as an illegal child. Once he goes to ''Kaalipuja'' and he is thrown out. Bheema asks his mother to tell him about his father, she replies to go and ask Lord Bhimeshwara. Bhima goes to the temple and asks God and warns if he is not going, to tell the truth, he will commit suicide before him. Lord Siva appears, tells him that he is the gift given to his mother, and gives him a boon that ''Whatever he says becomes True''. Bheema comes to the ritual ground, recites a poem, and says that Rice becomes lime, ''Appam'' sweet becomes a frog and it happens. All poets and priests fall on his feet, agree that Machamma is a noble lady, and take them into their societies' fold. Bheemakavi visits many kingdoms and makes miracles. In a kingdom, the King dies before crowning his son Kalinga Gangu. There arises a lot of criminal elements which create unrest in the kingdom. People revolt and attempt to murder Kalinga Gangu. At this juncture, Bheemakavi enters the king's court. But the king asks him to come later. Bhimakavi becomes angry and curses that he will lose his kingdom in 32 days and it happens. After some time, Bheemakavi sees Kalinga Gangu on the streets, sympathizes with him, and assures him that he will get back to his kingdom by the next full moon day. The rest of the story is about how it happens.

Cast

* Satyanarayana * Rajanala * Kanta Rao *Thyagaraju *

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 '' Pe ...

*K. V. Chalam *K. K. Sarma * Shavukaru Janaki *

Vijayalalitha Vijayalalitha or Vijaya Lalitha was an Indian actress who appeared in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films in the 1960s and 1970s. She is best known for her appearances in '' Rani Mera Naam'' (1972), ''Baazigar'' (1972) and '' Saaks ...

* Girija *

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 ''Thend ...

Soundtrack

Music composed by Pendyala Nageswara Rao. Lyrics were written by

C. Narayana Reddy Cingireddi Narayana Reddy (29 July 1931 – 12 June 2017), popularly known as CiNaRe, was an Indian Telugu-language poet and writer. Reddy had produced over eighty literary works including poems, prose-plays, lyrical plays, translations, a ...

. Music released on AVM Audio Company.

References

{{D. Yoganand Films scored by Pendyala Nageswara Rao 1970s Telugu-language films Films directed by D. Yoganand