| Mayuri | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Singeetam Srinivasa Rao |
| Written by | Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Ganesh Patro |
| Produced by | Ramoji Rao |
| Starring | Sudha Chandran |
| Cinematography | Srihari Anumolu |
| Music by | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 142 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
Mayuri (transl. Peacock) is a 1985 IndianTelugu-languagebiographicaldance film directed bySingeetam Srinivasa Rao and produced byRamoji Rao. Based on the life ofSudha Chandran, the film stars her in the title role whileP. L. Narayana,Nirmalamma,Y. Vijaya,Potti Prasad, K. K. Sharma, S. R. Raju andSuthi Veerabhadra Rao played supporting roles.[1][2]
The film was premiered at the 198510th IFFI,[3] and retrospectively at the45th IFFI in the Celebrating Dance in Indian cinema section.[4] The film won 14Nandi Awards the most by any otherTelugu film. It was dubbed intoMalayalam andTamil asMayoori,[5] and remade asNaache Mayuri (1986) inHindi.[6]
Mayuri is a real story of classical dancerSudha Chandran, who lost her leg in an accident on her way fromTrichy toMadras in June 1981. The story depicts how she got aJaipur foot and fights her way back as a dancer and succeeds in life.
In May 1981, at about 16 years old, in Tamil Nadu, Sudha Chandran met with an accident in which her legs were wounded. She received initial medical treatment of her injuries at a local hospital and was later admitted to Vijaya Hospital at Madras. After doctors discovered thatgangrene had formed on her right leg, amputation was required.[7] Chandran says that this period was the toughest time of her life. She subsequently regained some mobility with the help of a prostheticJaipur foot.[8] She returned to dancing after a gap of two years and performed inIndia,Saudi Arabia,United States,UK,Canada,UAE,Qatar,Kuwait,Bahrain,Yemen andOman.[9]
The film's producer Ramoji Rao who came across this story in an article fromAnand Bazaar newspaper asked Atluri Ramarao to gather information about the dancer as he felt the subject had the potential to be made into a film to inspire lot of people. Ramarao approached writer Ganesh Patro to develop a story on this idea.[10] Patro wrote the dialogues who also co-wrote the screenplay with Singeetham Srinivasa Rao.[11] He took only the basic plot of the dancer succeeding against the odds and added characters such as P. L. Narayana and Nirmalamma who is inspired from Patro's grandmother.[12] The film's cinematography and editing was handled by Hari Anumolu and Gautam Raju.[10]
Ramoji Rao chose Singeetham Srinivasa Rao as director who suggested Sudha Chandran to enact her character onscreen. Though they were excited by the idea but were unsure "if we could find and convince her or that her performance would be impressive" hence they were in search of girls from dance schools for the lead role and found one for it. After tracing Chandran's family, Singeetham who gathered information about the incident from her decided Sudha for the role due to her expressive face. The voice for Chandran was given by actressSaritha. It became the first Indian film where a person appeared in a film based on their life.[11] DoctorsP. K. Sethi and Kasiwala who operated prosthetic foot on Chandran appeared in the film as themselves.[11]
The film was launched on 10 November 1984 where the first shot was taken on Chandran, Baby Varalakshmi, Chakri Toleti at the office of Ushakiron Movies.[11] The song "Gaurishankara" was shot at Govind Dev Temple, Amberpore Palace, Ramgadh Dam, Rambagh Palace, and the rest of the song was shot at Golconda Fort while the song "Mounam Gaanam" was shot at Galta.[11] The climax was shot atAtluri Purnachandra Rao's guesthouse in Madras.[11]
The music was composed byS. P. Balasubrahmanyam and the Telugu lyrics were written byVeturi and Tamil lyrics were written byVaali.[13] The song "Ee Paadam" was reused as "Pag Paadam" in the film's Hindi remakeNaache Mayuri.
| Song | Singers |
|---|---|
| "Ee Paadam" | S. P. Sailaja |
| "Gourisankara Sringam" | S. Janaki, Chorus |
| "Idi Naa Priya Narthana" | S. Janaki |
| "Kailasamlo Thaandavamaade" | S. Janaki, Chorus |
| "Mounam Gaanam Madhuram" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki, Chorus |
| "Vennello Muthyama" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki, Chorus |
Reviewing Tamil dubbed version, Balumani ofAnna praised acting, music and direction.[15]
