''Dharma Patni'' or ''Dharmapatni'' ( Wife) is a 1941 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

-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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

produced and directed by P. Pullayya under the Famous Films banner. It stars Santha Kumari, Bhanumathi, Uppuluri Hanumantha Rao and C. Hemalatha. The film marks the debut of

Akkineni Nageswara Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1924 – 22 January 2014), known as ANR, was an Indian actor and film producer in Telugu cinema. Over his seven decade career, he became a prominent figures in the industry, and is among most influential ac ...

, who played a minor role as one of the ten school children in a song sequence, and also that of the writer

Chakrapani Chakrapani may refer to: * Chakrapani, a name of the Hindu deity Vishnu, the chakra hand d(pani) People with the surname * Aluri Chakrapani Aluru Venkata Subbarao (5 August 1908 – 24 September 1975), popularly known by his pen name Chak ...

. The film was shot at Shalini Cinetone Studios,

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Kolhapur is one of the most significant cities in South Maharashtra and has been a hub of historical, religious, and cultural a ...

. Most of the technicians including cinematographer S. K. Pai, music director Annasaheb Mainkar, art director H. S. Gang Naik and editor Baburao Barodkar were from

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. The film was a commercial success.

Plot

Five-year-old Radha's dying mother hands the custody of Radha to the devadasi Sridevi, who promises henceforth she would lead a pure life. Sridevi teaches the child the virtues of a housewife. In the school, Radha befriends Mohan and as they grow, love blossoms between Radha and Mohan. Mohan takes her to the temple and pledges before the deity that she shall be his wife. The lecherous Ananda Rao informs Mohan's father that his son was seeing the daughter of a harlot Sridevi. Mohan's father forces his son to marry Uma from a rich family. Uma traces Mohan's disinterest in her to Radha and leaves him. Leela, a victim of Ananda Rao saves Uma from Rao's trap. Ananda Rao murders Leela and implicates Mohan. Radha, in order to save Mohan, decides to meet Ananda Rao, who assures her he had the evidence to prove Mohan's innocence. Finally, truth gets out and Mohan is saved from the gallows. His parents accept Radha. Uma realizes her folly and unites with Mohan.

Cast

* Bhanumathi as Uma * Santha Kumari as Radha * Uppaluri Hanumantha Rao as Mohan * C. Hemalatha * Rallabandi Kutumba Rao as Ananda Rao * K. Lakshmi Narasimha Rao * Achari * Adinarayanayya as Mohan's father * Peddapuram Raju as Sridevi * Chalapathi Rao * Narimani * Susheela * Master Kumar as Child Mohan * Baby Lakshmi as Child Radha *

Production

Development

When P. Pullayya decided to make his first drama film, his friends from the Marathi film industry and his partner at Famous Films, Shiraz Ali suggested the works of popular

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

writer

Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar (11 January 1898 – 2 September 1976) was a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India. He was the first Marathi author to win the prestigious Jnanpith Award. Early life Khandekar was born on 11 January 1898 in S ...

. Pullayya picked up ''Dharmapathni'' from Khandekar's stories and wrote a scenario.

Cast and crew

Pullayya took his wife

Santhakumari Santha Kumari (born Vellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producer P. Pullayya. Early years Vellaala Subbamma was born in Proddatur tow ...

for the

title role The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piëce. The title o ...

and after watching '' Vara Vikrayam'' (1939), he felt that Bhanumathi suited for the second heroine Uma's character, as Uma was as assertive and modern thinking like Bhanumathi’s character from ''Vara Vikrayam.'' For the male lead, Hanumantha Rao, son of popular stage actor Uppuluri Sanjeeva Rao was signed. He later acted two more movies, ''Bheeshma Pratigna'' and ''Vandemataram'' before settling down as a Municipal Health Officer in

Bhimavaram Bhimavaram is a city and headquarters of West Godavari district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Bhimavaram mandal in Bhimavaram revenue division. It is a part of Eluru Urban Development Authorit ...

. ''Dharmapathni'' also marked the debut of one of Telugu cinema's later day doyen

in a small role. Nageswara Rao's brother Ramabrahmam took him to Kolhapur hoping he would get the male lead's childhood character. Since Nageswara Rao was too old for the role, Pullayya signed him as one of the ten school children for the song sequence "Anandamayega mana Mohanudu". Viswanatha Satyanarayana was initially signed to write the dialogues. But since they were too grammatical,

, then already popular for his Telugu translations of Bengali writer

Sarat Chandra Chatterjee Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (anglicised as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee; 15 September 1876 – 16 January 1938) was a Bengali novelist and short story writer of the early 20th century. He generally wrote about the lives of Bengali family and socie ...

's works, was hired. Most of the technicians were from

cinematographer S. K. Pai, music director Annasaheb Mainkar, art director H. S. Gang Naik and editor Baburao Barodkar.

Filming

The film was shot at Shalini Cinetone Studios,

Songs

Music was composed by Annasaheb Mainkar. Lyrics were written by Daita Gopalam. * "Anuraagam Leka Anandamunda" (Lyrics: Daita Gopalam; Singer: P. Bhanumathi) * "Nilu Niluma Neelavarnaa" (Lyrics:

Balijepalli Lakshmikantham Balijepalli Lakshmikantha Kavi (23 December 1881 – 30 June 1953) was an Indian playwright, novelist, poet, screenwriter, actor and freedom fighter. He is remembered for the magnum opus ''Satya Harischandriyamu'', a play written in 1924, and f ...

; Singer: P. Bhanumathi)

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 0255925
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1940s Telugu-language films 1941 films Indian black-and-white films Films directed by P. Pullayya Indian drama films 1941 drama films Films scored by Annasaheb Mainkar Films scored by Timir Baran