Ardhangi

Ardhangi (English: Wife) is a 1955 Telugu drama film, produced and directed by P. Pullaiah under the Ragini Pictures banner. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Savitri in the lead roles and music jointly composed by Master Venu & B. Narasimha Rao. The film is based on the Bengali novel Swayamsidda, written by Manilal Banerjee. The film was recorded as a Super Hit at the box office. The film has received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu and the Filmfare Award for Best Film - Telugu.[1]

Ardhangi
Theatrical release poster
Directed byP. Pullaiah
Produced byP. Pullaiah
Written byAcharya Atreya
Screenplay byP. Pullaiah
Story byManilal Banerjee
StarringAkkineni Nageswara Rao
Savitri
Music byMaster Venu
B. Narasimha Rao
CinematographyMadhav Bulbule
Edited byB. Narasimha Rao
Sri Raamulu
Production
company
Ragini Pictures
Distributed byRajasri Pictures
Release date
  • 26 January 1955 (1955-01-26)
Running time
152 mins
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu

The film was remade in Tamil as Pennin Perumai, in Hindi twice as Bahurani in 1963 and as Jyoti in 1981.[2] The story of Swayamsiddha was also similar to the Kannada novel Mallammana Pavaada by B. Puttaswamayya, which was adapted into 1969 movie titled Mallammana Pavaada, for which the screenplay was written by the director of this movie P. Pullaiah, based on this movie. The Kannada novel Mallammana Pavaada also inspired the 1987 Tamil movie Enga Chinna Rasa, which went on to be remade in Telugu as Abbaigaru, in Hindi as Beta, in Kannada as Annayya and in Odia as Santana (1998).

Plot

Zamindar Bhujangarao (Gummadi) has two sons. The elder son Raghunath Rao (Akkineni Nageswara Rao) born to his first wife is retarded. After her death, he married Rajeswari (Santha Kumari) and the couple has a son Nagendra Rao / Naagu (Jaggaiah) a man of vices. Impressed by the way Padma (Savitri), a village girl faced Naagu when he threatened to take their farmlands, the Zamindar fixes Naagu's marriage with her. But Rajeswari vetoes the alliance and suggests to perform her marriage with Raghu. After marriage, Padma learns that Raghu became retarded due to the opium used during his childhood to put him to sleep by the maid, Ayamma (Vijayalakshmi). She takes up the task of making him normal and also keeping the whiplashing-Naagu at a distance from Raghu. The Zamindar rewrites the will in Raghu's name and dies. But Raghu leaves the property to the peeved Rajeswari and Nagu and goes to the village with his wife. Naagu brings his paramour Neelaveni (Surabhi Balasaraswati), who along with her entourage (Sivaramakrishnaiah, Kasipathi, and Gangarathnam) eye Naagu's property. When he learns that the farmers paid the tax to Raghu, an enraged Naagu goes to the village with a rifle. At the same time, Raghu brings the money to give it to him. A repentant Rajeswari along with Raghu reaches the village, to bring sense to Nagu. When she fails, she takes the rifle and aims at him. But Padma shields him when Naagu realizes his mistake.

Cast
  • Akkineni Nageswara Rao as Raghunatha Rao / Raghu
  • Savitri as Padma
  • Gummadi as Zamindar
  • Santha Kumari as Rajeswari Devi
  • Jaggaiah as Nagendra Rao / Nagu
  • Surabhi Balasaraswathi as Neelaveni
  • Chadalavada as Bheemudu
  • Nagabhushanam as Veeraiah
  • Dr. Sivaramakrishnaiah as Appala Sivakamaiah
  • Dr. Kamaraju
  • Doraiswamy as Bhushaiah
  • B. Narasimha Rao

Crew
  • Art: Khandavalli Subba Rao
  • Choreography: Vempati
  • Dialogues - Lyrics: Acharya Atreya
  • Playback: Ghantasala, P. Leela, Jikki, Akula Narasimha Rao
  • Music: Master Venu, B. Narasimha Rao
  • Story: Manilal Banerjee
  • Editing: B. Narasimha Rao, Sri Raamulu
  • Cinematography: Madhav Bulbule
  • Producer - Director: P. Pullaiah
  • Banner: Ragini Films
  • Release Date: 26 January 1955

Soundtrack
Ardhangi
Film score by
Master Venu & B. Narasimha Rao
Released1955
GenreSoundtrack
Length20:51
ProducerMaster Venu & B. Narasimha Rao

Music composed by Master Venu & B. Narasimha Rao. Lyrics were written by Acharya Atreya. Music released on Audio Company.

S. No.Song TitleSingerslength
1 "Intiki Deepam Illale" Akula Narasimha Rao 2:39
2 "Ekkadamma Chandrudu" Jikki 2:37
3 "Pelli Muhurtham Kudirindha" P. Leela 2:40
4 "Edche Vallani Edavani" P. Leela 3:35
5 "Radhanu Rammanadu" Akula Narasimha Rao 2:16
6 "Raka Raka Vachavu" Jikki 1:57
7 "Vodduraa Kannayya" Jikki 1:58
8 "Tharalirava" Ghantasala 2:09

Box office

The film ran for more than 100 days in 5 centers in Andhra Pradesh.[3]

Awards

Other versions

The story line has been an inspiration for various movies and has had various remakes in Indian film industry.

YearTitleLanguageDirectorCast
Step-motherSonWife
1955ArdhangiTeluguP. PullaiahSantha KumariAkkineni Nageswara RaoSavitri
1956Pennin PerumaiTamilP. PullaiahSantha KumariSivaji GanesanSavitri
1963BahuraniHindiT. Prakash RaoLalita PawarGuru DuttMala Sinha
1969Mallammana PavaadaKannadaPuttanna KanagalAdvani Lakshmi DeviRajkumarB Sarojadevi
1975SwayamsiddhaBengaliSushil MukherjeeRanjit MallickMithu Mukherjee
1981JyothiHindiPramod ChakravortyShashikalaJeetendraHema Malini
1987Enga Chinna RasaTamilK. BhagyarajC. R. SaraswathyK. BhagyarajRadha
1992BetaHindiIndra KumarAruna IraniAnil KapoorMadhuri Dixit
1993AbbaigaruTeluguE. V. V. SatyanarayanaJayachitraVenkateshMeena
1993AnnayyaKannadaD. Rajendra BabuAruna IraniV. RavichandranMadhoo
1998SantanOriyaSnigdha MohantySiddhanta MahapatraRachana Banerjee

References
  1. "3rd National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  2. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/ardhangi-1955/article6086551.ece
  3. ANR's 100 days films list at Idlebrain.com Archived 26 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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