''Vipra Narayana'' is a 1954

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 directed, produced and edited by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao under Bharani Studios banner. It stars

Akkineni Nageswara Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1923 – 22 January 2014), widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and producer, known for his works majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became on ...

, Bhanumathi, and Relangi with music composed by S. Rajeswara Rao. The film is based on the life of Tamil Vaishnava saint Vipranarayana. He led his life in devotion to

Lord Narayana Narayana (Sanskrit: नारायण, IAST: ''Nārāyaṇa'') is one of the forms and names of Vishnu, who is in yogic slumber under the celestial waters, referring to the masculine principle. He is also known as Purushottama, and is consi ...

and worked for the Lord by dedicating him with garlands. He is one of the twelve Alvars. The film is also dubbed in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

with the same title and released in 1955.

Plot

Vipra Narayana ''Vipra Narayana'' is a 1954 Telugu-language biographical film directed, produced and edited by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao under Bharani Studios banner. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Bhanumathi, and Relangi with music composed by S. Rajeswara R ...

, a staunch devotee of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

, lives in a hermitage on the banks of the river

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri (hill), Karnataka, Brahmagiri range in th ...

along with his disciple Rangaraju. He worships Vishnu in the form of

Ranganatha Ranganatha, also known as Ranganathar, Rangan, Aranganathar, Sri Ranga, and Thenarangathan, is a Hindu deity with his origin in South India, serving as the chief deity of the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam. The deity is a resting form of ...

, the presiding deity of the nearby Srirangam temple. Every day, Narayana makes garlands out of flowers from his garden and offers them to Ranganatha, and sings hymns in praise of him. One day, Devadevi, a devadasi, performs a dance recital at the court of the Chola King and is on her way back to home along with her sister Madhuravani. When Devadevi passes through the hermitage, Narayana does not notice her; this hurts Devadevi's vanity. She mistakes his devotion towards Ranganatha as arrogance and decides to teach him a lesson, ignoring Madhuravani's advice. Devadevi enters Narayana's hermitage as an orphan and narrates her woes, requesting a stay to support herself. Narayana agrees despite Rangaraju's objection and Devadevi becomes the former's disciple. In a turn of events, Rangaraju is expelled from the hermitage when he tries to send Devadevi away after realizing her intentions. As time passes, Narayana finds himself attracted to Devadevi and falls for her charms. Once her ego is satisfied, Devadevi begins to regret her actions. Madhuravani asks her to return and Narayana follows them. Devadevi's mother Rangasani, upon knowing that Narayana is penniless, throws him away. To help Narayana win, Ranganatha visits Devadevi's house in the disguise of Rangaraju. He presents a golden vessel from the kitchen of Srirangam temple as a gift from Narayana to Devadevi. The next day, the priests at the temple complain that the golden vessel is missing and find it at Devadevi's house. Narayana is accused of stealing the vessel and is produced in court. The King orders that Narayana's hands be amputated as a punishment for theft. Ranganatha appears at the scene and reveals the truth. Ranganatha adds that Narayana is an incarnation of Vyjayanthi, a garland that adorns him at his heavenly abode

Vaikuntha Vaikuntha ( sa, वैकुण्ठ, lit=without anxiety, translit=Vaikuṇṭha), also called Vishnuloka (), and Tirunatu (Tirunāṭu) in Tamil, is the abode of Vishnu, the supreme deity in the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism,Gavin Flood, A ...

, and that Devadevi is a

gandharva A gandharva () is a member of a class of celestial beings in Dharmic religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, whose males are divine performers such as musicians and singers, and the females are divine dancers. In Hinduism, they are ...

who took a human birth due to a curse. Narayana and Devadevi visit Srirangam temple and sing praises of the deity, before attaining salvation.

Cast

as Vipranarayana * Bhanumathi as Devadevi * Relangi as Rangaraju *

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 Mother of Devadevi *V. Sivaram as Maharaja *

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 r ...

*Sandhya as Madhuravani

Soundtrack

Music was composed by S. Rajeswara Rao. Lyrics were written by

Samudrala Sr Samudrala Raghavacharya (19 July 1902 – 16 March 1968), also known as Samudrala Sr., was an Indian screenwriter, lyricist, playback singer, director, and producer known for his works in Telugu cinema. Samudrala Senior made his screen debut in ...

Legend

The story revolves around a

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

who makes flower garlands. He devotes his life to Lord. He is seduced by a woman who is determined to make him break his vow.

1937 film

''Vipra Narayana'' was made in Telugu language for the first time in 1937 by Aurora Pictures. It stars Kasturi Narasimha Rao, Kanchanamala and

Tanguturi Suryakumari Tanguturi Suryakumari (13 November 1925 – 25 April 2005), also known by her married name Suryakumari Elvin, was an Indian singer, actress and dancer in Telugu cinema. She sang " Maa Telugu Thalliki", the official song of the State of Andhra P ...

, and was directed by Ahindra Chaudhari. It was made in Tamil too with Rajamadam G. Sundara Bhagavathar featuring as Vipra Narayana. The film was produced by Sri Gopalakrishna Films at Madras Sound Studios and was directed by K. Ranga Rao. T. Suryakumari featured as Andal in the film.

1938 film

''Vipra Narayana'' was made in the Tamil language again in 1938 by Srinivas Cinetone. It stars Kothamangalam Cheenu and T. V. Rajasundari, the film was produced and directed by A. Narayanan. Meena Narayanan did the audiography.

1954 film

''Vipra Narayana'' was made in both Telugu and Tamil, directed and produced by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao and

P. Bhanumathi P. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna (7 September 1925 – 24 December 2005) was an Indian actress, singer, film producer, director, music composer, and novelist. She is regarded as the first female super star of Telugu cinema. She is also considered the ...

Bharani Pictures Bharani Pictures is a film production company in Chennai, India. It was established by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao and Bhanumathi Ramakrishna in 1947. They later established Bharani Studios in 1950. It is named after their son Bharani. Dr. Bharani Palu ...

. The title role was played by

A. Nageswara Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1923 – 22 January 2014), widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and producer, known for his works majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became on ...

. S. D. Sundharam wrote the dialogues and lyrics for the Tamil version.

Awards

* The film won

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several ...

- Certificate of merit in 1954 at

2nd National Film Awards The 2nd National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1954. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New De ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{National Film Award Best Feature Film Telugu 1954 films Indian biographical films Best Telugu Feature Film National Film Award winners 1950s Telugu-language films 1950s Tamil-language films Films directed by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao 1950s biographical films Indian black-and-white films