Plot
The film begins with showing a wealthy, conjoined family. Advocate Kutumba Rao is their paterfamilias, who is an introvert and oblivious. He resides with his wife Annapurna and their progeny. Ramanaiah, his younger brother, looks after their farms in the village with his virago wife, Anasuya. Besides, Kutumba Rao raises his cousin Satyam, an idealist who knits benevolent Susheela, and they have a son, Babu. Annapurna is very fond of Babu, whom she rears above her own. Since she is ailing, Susheela takes up the family tasks and operates them in a disciplined way. After civilizing, Satyam was appointed in their rice mill, led by his venomous distant relative Vaikuntam. Soon, he resigned, being unable to tolerate fraud therein. On the eve of Dasara, they invite Ramanaiah's family when Anasuya envies Susheela's esteem. Ergo, she slowly sows vicious seeds in Annapurna, creating a rift that makes Satyam's family quit, and they walk to the village. Now, Anasuya clutches the household authority and usurps the entire wealth. Parallelly, Vaikuntam entraps Ramanaiah via his amour Navaneetam and made him an addict to all vices. Following his ideals, Satyam cultivates barren lands with Susheela, associates with all the jobless peasants, and conducts communal agriculture. Besides, Ramanaiah and Vaikuntam spoiled the land, which was planned by Anasuya. They also snatched an amount from a client, Tirupataiah, by forging Kutumba Rao’s signature, which was about to be claimed. After learning it, Satyam clears it by mortgaging Susheela’s jewelry to shield his brother’s honor and handing over the counterfeited document. Meanwhile, Anasuya’s intrigues break out when Annapurna becomes angry and collapses, making Anasuya reform. It is time for harvest when Ramanaiah and Vaikuntam plot to grab it on behalf of Kutumba Rao. Satyam hinders it, and the government seizes the crop when he summons Kutumba Rao. Being unaware of the fact, enraged Kutumba Rao heads to the village, where he rebukes and is about to neck out Satyam. Simultaneously, Ramanaiah and Vaikuntam covetously try to destroy the proof but are caught. At that point, Kutumba Rao comprehends the virtues of Satyam and Susheela. He welcomes them back, and permanently allocates their lands to the farmers. At last, they return home when Ramanaiah’s family is to exit, and Susheela changes their intention. Finally, the movie ends happily with the family’s reunion.Cast
Telugu cast
Tamil cast
Production
After the success of '' Donga Ramudu'', its producer D. Madhusudhana Rao wanted to continue its success streak by again collaborating with Nageswara Rao and wanted K. V. Reddy to direct the film. However Reddy was busy with prior commitments and suggested Adurthi Subba Rao as director. However Nageswara Rao claimed it was he who suggested the name of Subba Rao as the director. Being an avid fan of literature, Madhusudhana Rao bought the rights of the Bengali short novel ''Nishkriti'' by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay. He wrote the screenplay along with Acharya Athreya and Subbarao by retaining the major characters and situations from the original novel while also making changes to suit local sensibilities by bringing changes such as changing character of second brother from lawyer to caretaker of agriculture fields. The film was simultaneously made in Tamil as ''Enga Veettu Mahalakshmi'' with the same lead actors and slightly different supporting cast such as Thangavelu and Nambiar replacing Relangi and Jaggayya. Atreya and Sridhar wrote the dialogues for Telugu and Tamil versions respectively. Most of the filming was held at Janapastram, a village near Gudur.Soundtrack
Music was composed by Master Venu. ;Telugu Track List ;Tamil Track ListAwards
At the 5th National Film Awards, ''Thodi Kodallu'' won the Certificate of Merit for Second Best Feature Film in TeluguRelease
Both ''Thodi Kodallu'' and ''Enga Veettu Mahalakshmi'' became commercially successful and ran for hundred days in five centres.Notes
References
External links
* * {{National Film Award Best Feature Film Telugu 1950s Indian films 1950s multilingual films 1950s Tamil-language films 1950s Telugu-language films 1957 drama films 1957 films Best Telugu Feature Film National Film Award winners Films based on Bengali novels Films based on works by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Films directed by Adurthi Subba Rao Films scored by Master Venu Indian black-and-white films Indian drama films Indian multilingual films Tamil-language drama films Tamil-language Indian films Telugu-language drama films