''Soudamini'' is a 1951 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

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

K. B. Nagabhushanam Kadaru Nagabhushanam or K. B. Nagabhushanam (1902 – 18 October 1976) was an Indian film director and producer in the 1940s to 1960s, working in Telugu and Tamil cinema. He was the husband of P. Kannamba. They established Rajarajeshwari Fi ...

, and presented by

Kannamba Pasupuleti Kannamba (''Pasupulēţi Kannāṃba'') (5 October 1911 – 7 May 1968) was an Indian actress, playback singer and film producer of Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ...

. 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 ...

S. Varalakshmi Saridey Varalakshmi (13 August 1925 – 22 September 2009) was an Indian actress and singer who worked in Telugu and Tamil-language films. She was popular for her roles and songs in Telugu films like ''Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam'' (1960) and '' ...

and Kannamba, with music composed by

S. V. Venkatraman Sozhavanthan Varadharajan Venkatraman (Tamil: சோழவந்தான் வரதராஜன் வெங்கட்ராமன்) (25 April 1911 – 7 April 1998), also known as SVV, was an Indian actor, singer, and music director, wh ...

. The film was a box office hit.

Plot

Once upon on a time, there was a kingdom Malwa, King Vikramasena & Queen Soudamini are perturbed as childless. But with the blessings from sage Bodhayana the queen Soudamini conceives. Here sadly, Vikramasena goes into the clutches of court dancer Vilasavati one that falsifies the illicit relationship between Chief Minister Mahamathi & Soudamini. As a result, Vikramasena charges the death sentence to Mahamathi and exiles Soudamini from the kingdom. Fortunately, Soudamini is protected by a good Samaritan Gopala and she gives birth to a baby boy Udayasena. Meanwhile, promiscuous Vilasavati claws chief commander Kampala too who prisons the King and stamps out his eyes. Being cognizant of it, Soudamini sends Udayasena to protect his father. According to her ordinance, Udayasena reaches a kingdom Kuntala where he is acquainted with its princess Hemavati and they fall in love. Knowing it, King Surasena captures them, but somehow, they abscond. But unfortunately, they get separated when Hemavati is seized by a wizard. Eventually, Soudamini reaches Malwa when Kampala recognizes and rounds up her. Meanwhile, Udayasena with the help of an angel gets divine flowers from heaven to retrieve his father's vision. Parallelly, he protects Hemavati, and lands at Malwa when he was caught and sentenced to death. At last, the angel rescues him when he defeats the plotters, gets back his father's eyesight, and reunites his parents. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the marriage of Udayasena & Hemavati.

Cast

as Udayasena *

as Hemavathi * C.S.R. as Vikramasena Maharaj *D. S. Sadasiva Rao as Mahamantri Mahamathi *S. B. Acharya as Maharshi Bodhayana *K. Prabhakara Rao as Kamapala *

as Maharani Soudamini *T. R. Rajini as Vilasavathi *Vanaja as Devayani

Production

The film was also made in Tamil with a different cast and was released as ''

Saudamini ''Saudamini'' ( ta, சௌதாமினி) is a 1951 Indian, Tamil language film directed by K. B. Nagabhushanam. The film featured M. K. Radha, P. Kannamba and Akkineni Nageswara Rao. Plot A Maharshi (sage) blesses King Vikramasenan and Q ...

''.

Soundtrack

Music composed by

. Lyrics were written by

Samudrala Sr. Samudrala Raghavacharya (19 July 1902 – 16 March 1968), also known as Samudrala Sr., was an Indian screenwriter, lyricist, playback singer, director, and producer known for his works in Telugu cinema. Samudrala Senior made his screen debut in ...

Reception

Andhra Patrika Andhra Patrika was the weekly newspaper of the nationalist movement in the Telugu speaking region founded by Kasinadhuni Nageswara Rao in 1908. It later transformed into a daily newspaper before it closed down in 1991. It helped to shape both mod ...

'' praised the acting skills of the cast. It critiqued the songs as not that natural and that some of them imitated Kannada and Hindi songs. The portrayal of Akkineni Nageswara Rao's mental status as a closed door was inspired from a 1945-film, ''Spellbound'', and questioned whether the audience understood it, the review continued. It criticised the film for not having enough novelty. ''

Zamin Ryot ''Zamin Ryot'' ( te, జమీన్ రైతు, Jamīn Raitu) is an Indian Telugu-language weekly newspaper published from Nellore. It was started by N. Venkatrama Naidu in . It has been called the longest continuously running Telugu newspap ...

'' reviewed the film as a typical film which contains errors, improvements and the storyline of a virtuous wife which are found in other Telugu films. It reviewed that film is engaging despite not having a speciality in the storyline. It has the ethos that the

Telugu people Telugu people ( te, తెలుగువారు, Teluguvāru), or Telugus, or Telugu vaaru, are the largest of the four major Dravidian ethnolinguistic groups in terms of population. Telugus are native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh ...

would find satisfactory, the review continued. It left a mix of praise and criticism of the cast but appreciated sound and photography.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0246220 Films based on Indian folklore Films scored by S. V. Venkatraman Indian epic films