''Vetagadu'' () is a 1979 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 action film, produced by M. Arjuna Raju and K. Sivarama Raju under the Roja Movies banner and directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. It stars N. T. Rama Rao and

Sridevi Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan (13 August 1963 – 24 February 2018), professionally credited with her stage name Sridevi, was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. Cited as the "First Fem ...

, with music composed by Chakravarthy. The film was remade 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 '' Nishana'' (1980). Both movies were made under the same banner and by the same director.

Plot

The film begins in a forest ''Abhayaranyam'' where Ananda Bhupathi belongs to a royal family and constructs a palace. Bhupathi dynasty possesses a heritage antique charm ''Rajkamal Necklace'' which his wife Gayatri Devi always wears. It allures their malice Diwanji Sivanandam who purports as trustworthy. So, he abducts Gayatri Devi in that chaos Kalyana Gajapathi a friend of Bhupathi seeks to save her but is brutally killed. In between Gayatri Devi hands over the necklace to a tribal, asks him to decorate it for their goddess, and maintains secrecy until her return. Now Diwanji misplaces Gayatri Devi and incriminates Gajapathi as he previously requested the necklace, thereby, rivalry arises. Bhupathi attributes the misfortune to the new building, orders to ruin it, and shifts to the city. Years roll by, and Raja a valiant, son of Gajapathi is fascinated by hunting and moves to the forest. On the way, he is acquainted with charming Roja the daughter of Bhupathi, which initiates a squabble that turns into a crush. Besides, at ''Abhayaranyam'' Diwanji conducts several crimes with his son Hari undercover in the screwed palace which is rumored as a demonic house. Every night Raja listens to a sad song from the palace which is supposed to be Gayatri Devi’s voice. So, twice he enters the house and encounters the evil deeds of the blackguards. Meanwhile, Raja & Roja back to the city and meets Bhupathi. Whereat, Diwanji arrives and reveals Raja’s identity when enraged Bhupathi knocks out him. Being cognizant of the past Raja pledges to prove his father guiltless. Hence, he rebounds to the forest when he rescues a tribal girl when her father honors him. At that point, Raja identifies the ''Rajkamal Necklace'' on their deity's neck and solicits for reality then he divulges the entire story. Hera, Raja gamely breaks out the mystery that Gayatri Devi is still alive and has been seized in the palace. At last, Raja ceases Diwanji, proves his father’s innocence when Bhupathi pleads pardon, and fairly submits the necklace to the goddess. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the marriage of Raja & Roja.

Cast

* N. T. Rama Rao as Raja *

as Roja *

Rao Gopal Rao Raavu Gopala Rao (14 January 1937 – 13 August 1994) was an Indian actor and producer known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. In a film career spanning more than twenty five years, Rao starred in over four hundred feature film ...

as Sivanandam * Satyanarayana as Hari *

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 ...

as Kanda *

Jaggayya Kongara Jaggayya (31 December 1928 – 5 March 2004) was an Indian actor, littérateur, journalist, lyricist, dubbing artist and politician known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He was known as ''Kanchu Kantham J ...

as Ananda Bhupati *

Kanta Rao Tadepalli Lakshmi Kantha Rao (16 November 1923 – 22 March 2009) was an Indian actor and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. Regarded as one of the finest method actors, Rao starred in more than four hundred feature ...

as Kalyana Gajapati *

Nagesh Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 fi ...

as Ponnu Swamy *

Chalapathi Rao Chalapathi Rao (8 May 1944 – 24 December 2022) was an Indian actor and producer known for comedy and villainous roles in Telugu cinema. He acted in different roles in more than 600 films. Personal life and death Rao hailed from Baliparru, K ...

as Tribal leader *Chidatala Appa Rao as Godugu *

Pandari Bai Pandari Bai (1930 – 29 January 2003) was an Indian actress who worked in South Indian cinema, mostly in Kannada cinema during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She is considered Kannada cinema's first successful heroine. She has acted as both heroi ...

as Ayah *Pushpalata as Gayatri Devi *Mamata as Dhillu *

Jayamalini Jayamalini (or Jaya Malini) is an Indian actress who has acted in more than 500 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi movies. Career She was introduced to Tollywood in 1975 by Vittalacharya in the movie he produced, ''Aadadani Adrustam' ...

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 ...

Production

The producers were not convinced with K. Raghavendra Rao's choice of the female lead being Sridevi because she was "very young". After Rao convinced N. T. Rama Rao, Sridevi was cast.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Chakravarthy. Lyrics were written by

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 ...

References

External links

* {{Jandhyala Subramanya Sastry Indian action films 1979 action films 1979 films 1970s Telugu-language films 1970s masala films Telugu films remade in other languages Films directed by K. Raghavendra Rao Films scored by K. Chakravarthy Films set in forests