''Dharma Daata'' is a 1970 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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

, produced by Tammareddy Krishna Murthy under the Ravindra Art Pictures banner and directed by A. Sanjeevi. 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 ...

and Kanchana, with music composed by T. Chalapathi Rao. It is a remake of the Tamil film '' Enga Oor Raja'' (1968), and was a box office success.

Plot

The film begins with Raja Raghupathi Rao a generous Zamindar of Sripuram, well-renowned for his charity & humanity who leads a happy family life with his wife Suseela, sister Lakshmi, and two sons Shekar & Chakravarthy. Meanwhile, Bhageswaram Zamindar Bhujangam Rao envious of Raghupathi Rao, wants to grab his property by coupling up his son Raju with Lakshmi. During the time of the wedding, Raja Raghupathi Rao is unable to pay some part of the dowry as he is bankrupt for the charities. Right now, Raghupathi Rao mortgages his palace ''Srinilayam'' which he adores as a temple. Knowing it, Bhujangam Rao contempts him by pulling his shoulder cloth. Here enraged Raghunatha Rao challenges to regain his ''Srinilayam'' and make Bhujangam Rao touch his feet. Thereafter, Suseela passes away after giving birth to a baby girl Jaya when Lakshmi refuses to attend the funeral as bullied by Bhujangam. Therefrom, Raghupathi Rao & sons develop animosity towards her. Grief-stricken Raghupathi Rao reaches the city and takes an oath from his children that they will retrieve ''Srinilayam''. Years roll by, and Shekar, Chakravarthy, and Jaya grow up, they all work hard and make three-quarters of the money. Besides, Lakshmi tries to get close to her brother's family, as it is her husband's last wish. So, her daughter Padma makes acquaintance with Shekar and cleverly accommodates herself in their house, hiding her identity. Meanwhile, Lakshmi moves with the marriage proposal of her son Prasad with Jaya which Shekar refuses. Parallelly, a glimpse loves track of Chakravarthy with the princess of Vijayapur Rani. After a while, Shekar learns the truth regarding Padma and necks her out. Being cognizant of it, Lakshmi's intention Bhujangam Rao becomes furious when Padma makes him know that Raghupathi Rao is almost on the edge to win. So, he ploys to snatch ''Srinilayam'', makes the money vendor Seth Dayaram threaten Raghupathi Rao, and also steals their hard-earning. At that moment, Raghupathi Rao's sons accuse and leave him alone when he becomes mentally disturbed. Thereafter, through Padma, Shekar finds the evil design of Bhujangam Rao and retrieves their money. By the time, insane Raghupathi Rao reaches Sripuram to protect his ''Srinilayam'' when Bhujangam Rao intrigues to blast the building. At last, Raghupathi Rao teaches the lesson to Bhujangam Rao with the help of his sons and gets back his property. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the marriages of Raghupathi Rao's progeny.

Cast

as Raja Raghupathi Rao & Sekhar (Dual role) * Kanchana as Padma *

Nagabhushanam Nagabhushanam may refer to: *Shiva, major Hindu deity, also known as Nagabhushana (adorned with snakes) * Nagabhushanam (actor), Indian actor in Telugu cinema * T. D. J. Nagabhushanam, Indian agriculturalist * Nagabhushan Rao Machiraju, Indian-A ...

as Zamindar Bhujanga Rao * Relangi as Bhushanam * Padmanabham as Chakravarthy *

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 re ...

as Yedukondalu * Sakshi Ranga Rao as Bhaja Govindam *Vallam Narasimha Rao as Satyam *Venkateswara Rao as Seth Dayaram *Eeswara Rao as Prasad *

Sowcar Janaki Sankaramanchi Janaki (born T. Janaki; 12 December 1931), popularly known as Sowcar Janaki (Tamil) or Shavukaru Janaki (Telugu) or Sahukar Janaki (Kannada), is an Indian actress who has appeared in over 300, films, predominantly in Tamil, Telu ...

as Suseela *

Suryakantham Suryakantam or Sooryakantam (pronounced sūryakāntam) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 17th ''melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. I ...

as Vijayapur Rani * Geetanjali as Vijayapur Yuvarani *Anita as Jaya *Jhansi as Lakshmi *''Master'' Aadinarayana Rao as Young Sekhar *''Master'' Visweswara Rao as Young Chakravarthy

Music

Music was composed by T. Chalapathi Rao. Music released on Audio Company.

Box office

The film ran for 100 days in 13 centres and the celebrations were held at Shanti Talkies, Hyderabad.

Awards

* Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) – Tammareddy Krishnamurthy (1970).

References

External links

* {{Filmfare Best Telugu Film 1970 films 1970s Telugu-language films Films scored by T. Chalapathi Rao Indian drama films Telugu remakes of Tamil films