''Ramadasu'' is a 1964 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, based on the life of

Kancharla Gopanna Kancharla Gopanna ( te, కంచర్ల గోపన్న) ( – 1688), popularly known as Bhakta Ramadasu or Bhadrachala Ramadasu ( te, భద్రాచల రామదాసు), was a 17th-century devotee of the Hindu god Rama, a sain ...

, produced and directed by

V. Nagayya V. Nagayya (born Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma; 28 March 1904 – 30 December 1978) also known as Chittoor Nagayya was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. ...

. It stars Nagayya, with

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 List of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh fo ...

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 ...

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ga ...

and Anjali Devi in special appearances, with music composed by Ashwathama. The blockbuster film has garnered the

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 ...

, and has garnered several state awards.National Film Awards (1964)
/ref>

Plot

Kancherla Gopanna's uncles, Akkanna and Madanna are ministers in Golconda ruled by Tanisha. Ramadasu marries Akkanna's daughter Kamala. In Bhadrachalam, Gopanna meets Kabir, a Rama devotee who renames him Ramadasu. Impressed by his selfless service, Tanisha appoints Ramadasu as the Tehsildar, the tax collector of Bhadrachalam. Ramadasu spends the tax money to build a temple for Rama. The letter he sends explaining this does not reach the Tanisha, due to a plot hatched by the Dharmakarta. A furious Tanish has Ramadasu imprisoned, but on the day of his hanging, Lord Rama and Lakshmana appear in disguise before Tanisha, and pay him the amount due from Ramadasu. Tanisha realizes his folly and rushes to save Ramadasu from the gallows.

Cast

/ Ramadasu * Gummadi as Kabir das * Relangi as Badi Panthulu *

Ramana Reddy Ramana Reddy (1 October 1921 – 11 November 1974) was an Indian character actor, comedian and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. In a career spanning 24 years, he acted in more than 200 movies. Ramana Reddy and Relangi ...

as Ahmak Shah * C.S.R as Pratap Giri Panthulu *

Mudigonda Lingamurthy Mudigonda Lingamurthy, shortly Lingamurthy ( Telugu: ముదిగొండ లింగమూర్తి) (10 October 1908 – 24 January 1980), was an Indian film character actor known for his works in Telugu cinema and theater. Life ...

as Madanna *A. V. Subba Rao as Akkanna *Pasala Surya Chandra Rao as Tanisha *

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 ...

as Kamalamba *

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 Shyamalamba *

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 ...

as Sitara Begam *Prabhavathi as Chand Bibi

Special appearances

as Lord Rama *

Lord 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" within t ...

Lakshmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja () ...

* Anjali Devi as

Goddess Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with '' Maya'' ("Illusion"). A ...

Soundtrack

Music composed by Aswadhama. Music released on HMV Audio Company.

Awards

; National Film Awards *

- 1964

Other

* VCDs & DVDs on - VOLGA Videos,

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

References

{{National Film Award Best Feature Film Telugu 1964 films 1960s Telugu-language films Indian biographical films Indian epic films Hindu devotional films History of India on film 1960s biographical films