''Daiva Balam'' () is a 1959

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

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-c ...

, produced and directed by Ponnaluru Vasanthakumar Reddy. It stars

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 ...

and Jayasri, with music composed by

Ashwatthama In the Hindu epic the ''Mahabharata'', Ashwatthama ( sa, अश्वत्थामा, Aśvatthāmā) or Drauni was the son of guru Drona and Kripi (sister of Kripacharya). He was the grandson of the sage Bharadwaja. Ashwatthama ruled the ...

. The film is the debut of

Shobhan Babu Sobhan Babu (born Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao; 14 January 1937 – 20 March 2008) was an Indian actor known for his works in Telugu cinema.Bangaru Panjaram in Venditera Paatalu, Krishnasastri Sahityam, third volume, Vishalandhra Publishing House ...

in the film industry. The film is known to be one of the earliest Telugu film containing sequences in

Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was on ...

Plot

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom called Malava. King Ugrasena (Gummadi) has a daughter, Rupa. According to the astrologer's prediction, Rupa marries an ordinary citizen. Ugrasena becomes furious and wants to change this fate so he finds the whereabouts of the boy (Chandrasena), through astrologers, and orders him eliminated. But the boy escapes and grows up at an ashram along with his mother Annapurna (Malathi). Years roll by, and, once, while hunting, Rupa (Jayasri) gets acquainted with Chandrasena (N. T. Rama Rao) and they fall in love. King Ugrasena announces a sports competition in the capital in which Chandrasena prevails and the king honors him. That night, Chandrasena secretly enters the fort, meets Rupa, and is captured by soldiers. At that moment, Annapurna pleads with the king to leave her son, but in vain Ugrasena recognizes him as the same and commands him to throw him into the cellar of demons. But Chandrasena kills the demon, reaches Rupa, and while escaping they drop into a dead house. Hence, the king announces whoever brings his daughter will be largess with a huge amount for which two guys, Takku (Relangi) and Tikku (Ramana Reddy) move. In the death house, Rupa is caught by an enchanter (Shobhan Babu) and takes her to their Queen Gandharva Rani (Mohana), and entrusts a challenge of getting a musical tree to Chandrasena from ''Chambala Island'', ruled by wizard Kanakaksha (Mukkamala) in exchange of Rupa. After setting off on an adventurous journey, Chandrasena reaches the island where Kanakaksha's daughter Champa (Girija) falls for him, trapping her, he succeeds in achieving the musical tree and relieves Rupa. But unfortunately, Kanakaksha takes Chandrasena back by transforming him into a garland. Helpless, Rupa was seized by Takku-Tikku. Parallelly, on the island, Kanakaksha demands Chandrasena to marry his daughter, but he refuses, so, he keeps him in the prison and tortures him. Fortunately, Rupa escapes from Takku-Tikku and gets back to the death house, reaches ''Chamba Island'' with the help of the musical tree, and lets Chandrasena free. Chandrasena eliminates Kanakaksha, blasts the island and both of them return Malava kingdom when Ugrasena also realizes no one can change the fortune. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the marriage of Chandrasena and Rupa.

Cast

as Chandrasenudu *Jayasri as Rupa *

as Enchanter *

Gummadi Gummadi (Telugu: గుమ్మడి) is an Indian given name and surname. It may refer to: * Gummadi (actor) Gummadi Venkateswara Rao (9 July 1927 – 26 January 2010), known mononymously by his surname Gummadi, was an Indian actor and prod ...

as Ugrasena * Relangi as Takku *

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 Relang ...

as Tikku *

Mukkamala Mukkamala may refer to: * Mukkamala (actor) * Mukkamala, East Godavari district Mukkamala is a village in Ambajipeta mandal of East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Eminent Astrophysicist Appadvedula Lakshmi Narayan, known as A. L. N ...

as Kanakasha * Vangara as astrologer Jaganatha Pandit *

Kasturi Siva Rao Kasturi Siva Rao (6 March 1913 - 24 February 1966) was an Indian actor, comedian, playback singer, producer and director known for his works in Telugu cinema. He was one of the first star comedians of Telugu cinema.26lettersto24frames.wordpress. ...

as Madhava * Girija as Champa *Malathi as Annapurna *Mohana as Gandharva Rani

Soundtrack

Music composed by

References

{{Reflist 1950s Telugu-language films