''Jagadeka Veeruni Katha'' () is a 1961 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 ...

-language

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

swashbuckler film Swashbuckler films are a subgenre of the action film genre, often characterised by swordfighting and adventurous heroic characters, known as swashbucklers. Real historical events often feature prominently in the plot, morality is often clear-cu ...

, produced and directed by

K. V. Reddy Kadiri Venkata Reddy (1 July 1912 – 15 September 1972) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who primarily worked in Telugu cinema. He is considered as one of the greatest directors in the history of Telugu cinema. He d ...

under the Vijaya Productions banner. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, B. Saroja Devi with music composed by

Pendyala Nageswara Rao Pendyala Nageswara Rao (6 March 1917 – 31 August 1984), known mononymously by his surname Pendyala, was an Indian composer, multi-instrumentalist, conductor, music producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema along with Tami ...

. The film was subsequently dubbed into Tamil (''Jagathalaprathapan''), Kannada (''Jagadekaveerana Kathe''), Bengali, Oriya, and Hindi languages. Released on August 9, 1961, the film was a box office success.

Plot

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom Udayagiri, its king (Mukkamala) has two sons Pratap (N. T. Rama Rao) a valiant man and Jagajithu (Lanka Satyam), a poltroon man that envies his brother. Pratap's life ambition is to couple up with ''Devakanyas'' the angels ''Jayanthi/Indrakumari (B. Saroja Devi), Nagini/Nagakumari (L. Vijayalakshmi), Varuni/Varunakumari (Jayanthi),'' and ''Marichi/Agnikumari (Bala)''. Knowing it, the angered king ostracizes him from the country. Right now, Pratap starts his adventurous journey towards the angels with the blessings of his mother (Rushyendramani). On the way, he becomes acquainted with a clown Rendu Chintalu (Relangi) who helps him to land at a pond wherein the angels bathe. Just as, Pratap secretly observes them when Jayanthi Indrakumari makes him a statue. Here,

Goddess Parvathi Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi in ...

(Kannamba) appears as an old woman and restores him. Thereupon, she reveals a secret of Jayanthi she has a curse to marry a person who steals her saree and she will stay on earth until he holds it. So, Pratap steals her saree which the goddess hides in his leg and proclaims not to hold with him to the battlefield. At present, Pratap weds Jayanti and proceeds towards the Kamakura Kingdom where its king Threesoka (Rajanala), a debaucher, keeps a bad eye on Jayanthi. So he plots, with his wicked minister Badarayana Praggada (C. S. R) and embraces Pratap. Afterward, to discard they send him to Naga, Varuna, and Agni Lokas on the pretext of fetching medicine where Pratap knits the angels. After some time, Pratap ceases Threesoka and Badarayana and delegates the kingdom to Rendu Chintalu. Meanwhile, at Udayaagiri, Jagajithu conquers the kingdom and captivates his parents but somehow they abscond and reach their son. Currently, Pratap moves to regain their kingdom when he frees the saree and asks his mother to safeguard it. Noticing, the angels acquire it by hoodwinking and leave to heaven. Being cognizant of it, Pratap becomes grief-stricken, after crossing many hurdles he lands in heaven where Indra (Mikkilineni) tests his efficiency and capability. Finally, Pratap succeeds in getting back his wives to Earth and rules his kingdom happily.

Cast

* N. T. Rama Rao as Pratap * B. Saroja Devi as Jayanthi/Indra Kumari * Rajanala as Threesoka Maharaju * Relangi as Renduchintalu * C. S. R. as Badarayana Praggada * Mikkilineni as

Indra Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...

* Mukkamala as Maharaju * Vangara as Paata Mantri Buddisagar *Lanka Satyam as Jagajithu *

Kannamba Pasupuleti Kannamba (''Pasupulēţi Kannāṃba'') (5 October 1911 – 7 May 1968) was an Indian actress, playback singer and film producer of Telugu cinema, of Andhra Pradesh, India. She acted in more than 170 films and produced about 25 films ...

Rushyendramani Rushyendramani (1 January 1917 – 17 August 2002) was an Indian actress, singer, dancer, and playback singer from South India. She had more than 150 movies to her credit and acted in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films from the 193 ...

as Maharani *

L. Vijayalakshmi Lakshmanan Vijayalakshmi is an Indian actress and classical dancer whose career was from 1959 to 1969. She appeared in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi films. Early life and training Vijayalakshmi was born in Ernakulam and was ...

as Nagini / Naga Kumari * Girija as Ekaasa * Jayanthi as Varuni / Varuna Kumari *Bala as Mareechi / Agni Kumari *"Gemini" Chandra - Dancer

Production

K. V. Reddy's next project after '' Pellilnati Pramanalu'' (1958) was the Vijaya Productions' fantasy film ''Jagadeka Veeruni Katha''. The film was adapted from a popular Tamil

folktale A folktale or folk tale is a folklore genre that typically consists of a story passed down from generation to generation orally. Folktale may also refer to: Categories of stories * Folkloric tale from oral tradition * Fable (written form of the a ...

on which a previous film,

Pakshiraja Films {{Use Indian English, date=February 2018 Pakshiraja Films was an Indian Movie production company based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.It was owned and operated by Film Director S. M. Sriramulu Naidu.From 1937 to 1945 the company released movies ...

’ '' Jagathala Prathapan'' (1944) was also based. Screenwriter Pingali and K. V. Reddy took the core plot from ''Jagathala Prathapan'', but added new characters, made other changes to the story and prepared the script of ''Jagadeka Veeruni Katha'' which made it quite distinct from the 1944 film.

Soundtrack

Music composed by

. Lyrics were written by

Pingali Nagendra Rao Pingali Nagendra Rao (29 December 1901 – 6 May 1971), known mononymously by his surname Pingali, was an Indian screenwriter, lyricist, and playwright who worked in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. Famous for his witty and romantic lyrics, he a ...

Box office

* The film has celebrated 100 days in 30 centres. The Centenary celebrations were held at Naaz theater in

Guntur Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. ...

city. The film unit felicitated an individual who saw the movie 100 times. The film ran well even in each of the subsequent releases.

References

External links

* * - a song from the Tamil dubbed version sung by

Sirkazhi Govindarajan Sirkazhi Govindarajan (19 January 1933 – 24 March 1988) was an Indian Tamil Carnatic vocalist and a leading playback singer of Indian cinema. Early life Govindarajan, was born on 19 January 1933 at Sirkazhi (a small town in present day Ma ...

{{Kadiri Venkata Reddy 1961 films 1960s Telugu-language films Indian historical fantasy films Films about royalty Indian black-and-white films Films directed by K. V. Reddy Films scored by Pendyala Nageswara Rao Indian swashbuckler films 1960s historical fantasy films