Mangalya Balam

Mangalya Balam
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Adurthi Subba Rao
Produced by D. Madhusudhana Rao
Written by Acharya Aatreya (dialogues)
Screenplay by Adurthi Subba Rao
D. Madhusudhana Rao
Acharya Atreya
Story by Ashapoorna Devi
Based on Agni Pariksha
Starring Akkineni Nageswara Rao
Savitri
Music by Master Venu
Cinematography P. S. Selvaraj
Edited by A. Sanjeevi
Production
company
Distributed by Navayuga Films
Release date
  • 7 January 1959 (1959-01-07)
Running time
 177 mins
Country India
Language Telugu

Mangalya Balam (English: Power of the Wedding Chain) is a 1959 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film, produced by D. Madhusudhana Rao under Annapurna Pictures and directed by Adurthi Subba Rao. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Savitri in the lead roles, with music composed by Master Venu.[1][2] The film is a remake of the Bengali film Agni Pariksha, which was simultaneously remade in Tamil as Manjal Mahimai; both movies were made simultaneously by the same banner and director; some of the scenes and artists are the same in both versions. Later it was remade in Hindi as Chhoti Si Mulaqat with slight changes, starring Uttam Kumar and Vyjayanthimala in pivotal roles.

Plot

Zamindar Papa Rao (S. V. Ranga Rao) lives in town with his wife Kantham (Suryakantam), mother Parvathamma (Kannamba) and two children Suryam & Saroja. Kantham is an aggressive woman who, always ill-treats her mother-in-law. Papa Rao has a sister named Sita (G. Varalakshmi), who has married a poor man named Rangaiah (A. V. Subba Rao) and they live in the village of which Papa Rao is the Zamindar. Sita eventually suffers a serious illness and is nearing her last days. This prompts Parvathamma to reach their village along with Suryam & Saroja.

To fulfil Sita’s last wish, Parvathamma performs her eight-year-old Saroja’s (Baby Sasikala/ Savitri) marriage with Sita’s ten-year-old son Chandram (Master Babji/Akkineni Nageswara Rao) in the absence of Papa Rao and Kantham.

On coming to know about what has transpired, Papa Rao and Kantham take away their son and daughter to the town in an effort to destroy the relation.

An infuriated Kantham even removes the wedding chain (Mangalsutra) from Saroja’s neck.

The children grow up in different places and meet at a hill station, fall in love, not knowing they were cousins and wedded during their childhood. But Parvathamma reveals to Chandram about his childhood marriage. Saroja’s brother Suryam (Ramana Murthy) also tells his sister that she was already married to her cousin and gives her the wedding chain, Mangalsutra that their mother threw away. Unaware that Sekhar whom she loved and Chandram are one and the same, Saroja keeps a distance from him. Meanwhile, her marriage is fixed with distant relative Kailasam (Relangi), who is in love with Meenakshi (Rajasulochana). To reunite with Saroja, Chandram along with Kailasam enacts a drama and brings the story to a happy ending.

Cast

Crew

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Master Venu. He borrowed only one tune from the Bengali film’s composer Anupam Ghatak, for the song "Penu Cheekataye Lokam" from its original version "Ke Tumi Amare Dako".[3]

Telugu songs
The Telugu songs were written by Sri Sri. Playback singers were Ghantasala, Madhavapeddi Satyam, P. Suseela, Jikki & K. Jamuna Rani.

Telugu track list
No.TitleArtist(s)Length
1."Chekkili Meeda"Madhavapeddi Satyam, Jikki02:58
2."Aakaasha Veedhilo"Ghantasala, P. Susheela03:51
3."My Dear Meena"Madhavapeddi Satyam, Jikki03:16
4."Thirupathi Vengkateshwara"K. Jamuna Rani03:55
5."Vaadina Poole"Ghantasala, P. Susheela03:32
6."Avunthaaraa"P. Leela, P. Susheela04:43
7."Haayiga Alumagalai"P. Susheela03:32
8."Theliyani Aanandham"P. Susheela03:25
9."Penucheekataye Lokam"Ghantasala, P. Susheela03:14
Total length:30:26

Production

Bhavanarayana, producer of Meghasandesham suggested to Dukkipati Madhusudhana Rao to watch the Bengali film Agni Pariksha (1954). Madhusudhana bought the remake rights after being impressed with the film and approached Atreya to write the screenplay and dialogues for the film. One of the major changes the maker brought in was while in the original version the girl’s father dies of shock, in Mangalya Balam, his character was retained till the last frame. Mangalya Balam was said to be the first Telugu film to shoot in Ooty and it was also Savitri’s first visit to the hill town. The Tamil version Manjal Mahimai was simultaneously made retaining all the leading actors and technicians with two changes to the cast – Thangavelu and Balaji replacing Relangi and Ramanamurthy respectively.[3]

Release

Mangalya Balam was released on 7 January 1959 and for the first time in the history of Telugu cinema, the hundred days function was held in an open arena, the Municipal High School grounds, Vijayawada with thousands of cine-fans participating and presided over by the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Kasu Brahmananda Reddy. The Tamil version Manjal Magimai was released on 14 January 1959 and ran for a hundred days.[3]

Awards

National Film Awards

Filmfare Awards South

References

  1. ↑ Mangalya Balam (1959) - IMDb
  2. ↑ Mangalya Balam (1958) Telugu_MHCe DVD5_No Subs [DDR] - DesiTorrents - #1 Desi Community In The World Archived 28 February 2014 at Archive.is
  3. 1 2 3 "BLAST FROM THE PAST - Mangalyabalam (1959)". Hindu. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "6th National Film Awards". International Film Festival of India. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  5. ↑ The Times of India directory and year book including who's who. Times of India Press. 1984
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