''Papam Pasivadu'' () is a 1972 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

adventure drama film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by V. Ramachandra Rao and written by

Gollapudi Maruti Rao Gollapudi Maruti Rao (14 April 1939 – 12 December 2019) was an Indian actor, writer and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre, and Telugu literature. Maruti Rao acted in over 250 Telugu films in a variety of roles. Hi ...

. A remake of the South African film '' Lost in the Desert'' (1969), it stars S. V. Ranga Rao,

Nagesh Nageshwaran Rao (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor and comedian mostly remembered for his comic roles in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in ov ...

, Master Ramu and

Devika Devika Devadoss (born Prameela Devi; 25 April 1943 – 2 May 2002) was an Indian actress who worked in Tamil cinema, Tamil and Telugu cinema, Telugu along with a few Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi films. She was one of the popular lead actresse ...

. The film revolves around a boy who gets lost in a desert, and his attempts to find his family. ''Papam Pasivadu'' released on 29 September 1972 and became a commercial success.

Plot

Venugopal and Janaki are a married couple. They soon have a baby boy named Gopi. During Gopi's childhood, he contracts

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. His family consults their doctor to obtain the best possible treatment for him and they decide to send him to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

with Gopi's uncle Pathy as their pilot. During the journey, Pathy suffers a sudden heart attack, and the plane crashes in

Thar Desert The Thar Desert (), also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent that covers an area of in India and Pakistan. It is the world's 18th-largest desert, and the world's 9th-large ...

. Gopi, with only his dog Tommy accompanying him, has to face several obstacles and finally survives to reunite with his family.

Cast

Production

Development

After the success of '' Mosagallaku Mosagadu'' (1971), which was shot mostly in deserts, its producer Atluri Purnachandra Rao wanted his next venture to also be desert-based.

Jamie Uys Jacobus Johannes Uys ( ; 30 May 1921 – 29 January 1996), better known as Jamie Uys, was a South African film director, best known for directing the 1980 comedy film '' The Gods Must Be Crazy'' and its 1989 sequel '' The Gods Must Be Crazy II ...

' South African film '' Lost in The Desert'' (1969) had just been released in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

, and caught Rao's attention; he commissioned

to write a story based on this film, which became ''Papam Pasivadu''. The film was produced by Rao's brother Atluri Seshagiri Rao under their home company Sri Lakshmi Productions, V. Ramachandra Rao was hired as director, M. Kannappa for cinematography, Balu for editing and S. Krishna Rao for direction.

Casting and filming

When Chukkala Veera Venkata Rambabu or "Ramu" first auditioned for the role of Gopi, he was rejected as the makers felt he was too young for the role. However, he was signed on after several negotiations. A Pomeranian named Tommy was cast as Ramu's dog of the same name. Principal photography took place in March 1972. The film was shot for 27 days in the

, during which Ramu and the dog playing Tommy were the only actors. It was shot near the villages in Sam Tehsil in

Jaisalmer district Jaisalmer district is the largest district in the Indian state of Rajasthan, and the third largest district in India. Located in Marwar (Jodhpur Division), the city of Jaisalmer is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is around ...

. The film unit stayed in tents erected in open spaces outside the villages. The scenes involving Gopi's uncle Pathy (

), Gopi's father Venugopal ( S. V. Ranga Rao), Gopi's mother Janaki (

), the airport official Chakrapani ( M. Prabhakar Reddy) and Venugopal's brother Narasimham (

Kaikala Satyanarayana Kaikala Satyanarayana (25 July 1935 – 23 December 2022) was an Indian actor, producer, and politician who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. He appeared in more than 750 films over six decades. He was a recipient of the Raghupathi Venkai ...

) were shot at studio sets matching the actual location, and on beaches near Madras. The forest scenes were filmed at

Mudumalai Mudumalai National Park is a national park in the Nilgiri Mountains in Tamil Nadu in southern India. It covers at an elevation range of in the Nilgiri District and shares boundaries with the states of Karnataka and Kerala. A part of this are ...

in Tamil Nadu. The makers bought an aircraft from Madras Flying Club which cost around 2

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

. Due to difficulty in obtaining further dates for Nagesh, the makers chose K. Chakravarthy to dub his voice. The final length of the film was 139 minutes, longer than ''Lost in The Desert'' which was 90 minutes long.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Satyam.

Marketing

''Papam Pasivadu'' was publicised through publicity pamphlets of the film being thrown from helicopters in various towns, a first for Telugu cinema.

Release and reception

''Papam Pasivadu'' was released on 29 September 1972 and became a commercial success.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1970s Indian films 1970s Telugu-language films 1972 films Films about aviation accidents or incidents Films about tuberculosis Films directed by V. Ramachandra Rao Films scored by Satyam (composer) Films set in deserts Films set in Rajasthan Films shot in Rajasthan Indian adventure drama films Indian remakes of foreign films Indian survival films Telugu films remade in other languages