Directing
Drawing the history of the Indian talkie, starting with Alam Ara in 1931, this documentary short provides a cross-section of viewpoints from luminaries of the film industry, which give some insight into the contemporary commercial cinema and the parallel stream.
Janaki, an educated and progressive woman, often challenges the orthodox beliefs of Somalingam, a conservative bachelor who dislikes modern women. When her stepmother arranges her marriage to her cousin Ramana Rao, who abandons his lover Lalitha for the alliance, Janaki runs away and seeks refuge in Somalingam’s quarters. Rumors spread about their relationship, leading to both being thrown out. Disheartened, Somalingam joins an ashram, while Janaki faces hostility from locals and eventually ends up there after being assaulted. As Somalingam nurses her back to health, the two gradually develop feelings for each other. Meanwhile, Ramana Rao arrives with the police and takes Janaki away. In the end, misunderstandings are resolved, Somalingam abandons his rigid views, and Janaki’s father approves their union. The story concludes happily with the marriage of Janaki and Somalingam.
A Princess is tricked into marrying a naive and illiterate youth.
The story revolves around Selvam, an easygoing youngster who befriends many girls without the intention of marrying any of them.
An anthology bringing alive the various hues of anger, telling the stories of four ordinary people belonging to different socio-economic backgrounds.
Ragu is a blind violinist who leads an independent life. When Nancy learns about him, she decides to cover his inspiring story. Soon, love blossoms between the two, egged on by her grandfather.
A woman's marriage is filled with upheaval and conflict, but she makes many compromises for the sake of her struggling family. How will she react to her husband's ultimatum, that she must choose him and his family over her own, otherwise he would take their daughter and leave forever?
A little princess, Ranjani is tattooed with the royal insignia as part of tradition, and the same night, the child is kidnapped by one of the members of the tattoo gang who brings her up as a gypsy girl renaming her Rani. Unaware of her royal lineage, she grows up hawking things on the street and getting into brawls with no punches pulled. She falls in love with a soldier and the story progresses with twists. After several hardships, she realises the truth, and all is well that ends well.
A middle-class government clerk Raghu lives happily with his wife Manjula until his scheming mother Venkamma, along with his sister Kamakshi and her cowardly husband, moves into his house. Venkamma appropriates all of Raghu's earnings and Kamakshi plots to have Manjala blamed for all that goes wrong in the household.
A love story between a Tamil man a North Indian woman, who are neighbours in Goa. They come from totally different backgrounds and can hardly speak the other's language. Their parents despise each other and they have regular skirmishes. When they admit their love, there is chaos in their homes, and their parents reject the idea.
A period fantasy that told of the ageing king of Kamarpur, and his two rival queens, Navbahar and Dilbahar, and their rivalry when a fakir predicts that Navbahar will bear the king's heir. Dilbahar unsuccessfully tries to seduce the army chief Adil (Vithal) and vengefully destroys his family, leaving his daughter Alam Ara (Zubeida) to be raised by nomads. Eventually, Alam Ara's nomad friends invade the palace, expose Dilbahar's schemes, release Adil from the dungeon and she marries the prince of the realm.
1947 Movie in Telugu language
Manohara produced by M. Somasundaram. The Sivaji Ganesan-L. V. Prasad production was distinct, becoming a cult classic. Karunanidhi virtually rewrote Mudaliar’s play, introducing interesting changes like the climactic sequence for which he drew inspiration from “Samson and Delilah”, especially the part where the blind Samson pushes the pillars down. Mu. Karunanidhi’s writing was superb with a contemporary touch. His dialogue had punch, satire, wit and humour. Sivaji Ganesan was excellent in his dialogue delivery and P. Kannamba who played the queen mother was equally brilliant. Her line, ‘Poruthathu podhum, pongi ezhu, maganey’, became quite famous.
Desperate to earn money, Mohan, a married man, tells a lie in order to secure a job at Mr Rai's firm. However, his life complicates after he attracts the attention of Radha.
Kamala and Vimala are twin sisters. While Kamala leads a normal life and is married to a lawyer studying in London, Vimala joins a band of robbers. Kamala's husband returns home to find his wife terminally ill.
Somu, who is a criminal, marries Meena. Unable to expose Somu because of her love and devotion to him, she tries to transform him. In a separate storyline, Ravi, a six-year-old boy, learns that his father Suppanna is a criminal, and leaves his home. Suppanna also has a daughter, Bhama, who fails in her attempts to reform her father's ways.
No description available.
Widower Bhagat Ram lives a wealthy lifestyle in a small village in India, along with his son, Shyam, who is an Advocate in Bombay, and makes a living as a Hindu Priest. He receives a marriage proposal from Choudhury Bishan Swaroop Singh for Shyam, the girl in question is Bishan's son-in-law, Raju's sister, Shobha. Hoping to get a dowry of Fifty thousand Rupees, he agrees and the marriage takes place. After the ceremony he is handed a Promissory Note, and angered he and Shyam return home, leaving a devastated Shobha and the Singh family to deal with this crisis.
Bhakta Prahlada is the first full length Telugu talkie film based on the story of Narasimha and Prahlada in Hindu epics. The film is now lost; surviving artefacts include a few stills, advertisements, and reviews.
Sharda, a nurse and single mother, raises her daughter Swati as an independent, articulate young woman. Swati is a strong advocate of women's rights in a society where there is significant male domination. Swati deals with eve teasers firmly, sometimes with considerable force. When a married friend of hers gets raped in the presence of her husband, she acts as a counsellor and helps them adjust to the reality of a society that blames the victim and not the rapists. Swati takes on a huge transformation when she meets a political activist and falls in love with him. She embarks on a project of matchmaking for her mother and engineers a wedding with a widower who has a grown-up daughter.
