Ardhangi

Ardhangi (transl. Wife) is a 1955 Indian Telugu-language drama film, produced and directed by P. Pullaiah under the Ragini Pictures banner. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Savitri 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 minutes
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 developmentally disabled. After his first wife's death, the Zamindar marries Rajeswari (Santha Kumari) and the couple has a son Nagendra Rao / Naagu (Jaggaiah) who is shown to be a man of vices. Naagu is cruel to his half-brother. Impressed by the way Padma (Savitri), a village girl, faces Naagu when he threatens to take their farmlands, the Zamindar arranges for Naagu to get married to her. But Rajeswari vetoes the alliance and instead suggests that Raghu marry Padma instead. After the wedding, Padma learns that Raghu's disability is due to the opium used to put him to sleep as a child by the maid, Ayamma (Vijayalakshmi). Padma takes up the task of helping him, keeping the cruel Naagu at a distance from him. The Zamindar rewrites the will, leaving everything to Raghu before dying. But Raghu leaves the property to the peeved Rajeswari and Naagu. He then goes into the village to live there with his wife. Naagu brings his lover Neelaveni (Surabhi Balasaraswati), who along with her entourage (Sivaramakrishnaiah, Kasipathi, and Gangarathnam) are eyeing 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 convince Naagu to come to his senses. When she fails, she takes the rifle and aims at him. Padma shields him as Naagu realizes his mistake.

Cast

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 Rammannadu" Akula Narasimha Rao 2:16
6 "Raka Raka Vachavu" Jikki 1:57
7 "Vaddura 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. "Ardhangi (1955)". The Hindu.
  3. ANR's 100 days films list at Idlebrain.com Archived 26 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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