| Poola Rangadu | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Adurthi Subba Rao |
| Written by | Ranganayakamma(dialogues) |
| Screenplay by | Adurthi Subba Rao |
| Story by | Mullapudi Venkata Ramana |
| Based on | Beyond This Place byA. J. Cronin |
| Produced by | D. Madhusudhana Rao |
| Starring | Akkineni Nageswara Rao Jamuna Sobhan Babu Vijaya Nirmala |
| Cinematography | P. S. Selvaraj |
| Edited by | T. Krishna |
| Music by | S. Rajeswara Rao |
Production company | |
Release date |
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Running time | 165 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
Poola Rangadu is a 1967 IndianTelugu-languagecrime drama film, produced byD. Madhusudhana Rao underAnnapurna Pictures and directed byAdurthi Subba Rao and produced byD. Madhusudhana Rao. It starsAkkineni Nageswara Rao,Jamuna,Sobhan Babu,Vijaya Nirmala, with music composed byS. Rajeswara Rao. The film, loosely based onA. J. Cronin's novelBeyond This Place, was released on 24 November and became a box office success. It was remade inTamil in 1970 asEn Annan and inHindi in 1972 asJeet.[1][2]
Ranga Rao is a carefree jovial person and is better known as Poola Rangadu. He makes a living pulling horse carts and is in love with Venkatalakshmi. When both he and his sister were children, their father Veerayya used to work as a manager at a mill, owned by Purushotham. Purushotham was murdered by his business partners Dharma Rao and Chalapathi. Veerayya is framed by them and is sentenced to life imprisonment leaving his children completely helpless. Despite hardships, Ranga has managed to raise his sister Padma with great care and loves her very much. Venkatalakshmi's no-good brother, Narasimhulu, has an eye for Padma, but she falls in love with Dr. Prasad. Ranga gets her married to the doctor. However, he happens to be the son of Purushotham. A vengeful Narasimhulu uses the fact that Padma is Purushotham's alleged murderer Veerayya's daughter to poison her mother-in-law against her who promptly throws the now pregnant Padma out of the house. Ranga becomes furious at this and beats up Narasimhulu. This ends up getting Ranga arrested and he is sent to prison for a year. In jail, Ranga bumps into his father who tells him about how he was framed. Once his one-year sentence is up, Ranga decides to prove his father's innocence at all cost. With this intention, he makes his way into Dharma Rao's house where he cleverly stirs up trouble between Dharma Rao and Chalapathi. Through various schemes, Ranga finally manages to prove his father's innocence. Padma is reunited with her husband and Ranga marries Venkatalakshmi.
ProducerD. Madhusudhana Rao sought to work on the adaptation of theA. J. Cronin novelBeyond This Place, on the suggestion ofGollapudi Maruti Rao. He hiredMullapudi Venkata Ramana to write the story taking a basic plot point from the novel whileRanganayakamma provided the dialogues. Prisons scenes were shot at real locations atChanchalguda andMusheerabad Central Prisons inHyderabad with the permission of the state government. Though the film was predominantly shot in black-and-white, the "Nee Jilugu Paita" song sequence alone was in colour.[2]
The music was composed byS. Rajeswara Rao.[3]
| Song Title | Lyrics | Singers | length |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Neetiki Nilabadi Nijayiteega" | Kosaraju | Ghantasala | 4:13 |
| "Neevu Raavu Nidura Raadu" | Dasaradhi | P. Susheela | 3:49 |
| "Nee Nadumupaina Cheyi Vesi" | C. Narayana Reddy | Ghantasala, P. Susheela | 3:50 |
| "Chigurulu Vesina Kalalannee" | C. Narayana Reddy | P. Susheela, Mohan Raju | 4:11 |
| "Chillara Rallaku Mokkutu" | Kosaraju | Ghantasala,V. Nagayya | 3:24 |
| "Misamisalade Chinadana" | C. Narayana Reddy | Ghantasala, P. Susheela | 3:59 |
| "Siggenduke Pilla" | C. Narayana Reddy | Madhavapeddi Satyam, Vasantha | 3:18 |
| "Eyra Sinnodeyra" | C. Narayana Reddy | P. Susheela | 3:49 |
| "Burrakatha" | C. Narayana Reddy | Ghantasala. P. Susheela | 6:08 |
Griddaluru Gopalrao ofZamin Ryot, in his review dated 1 December 1967, criticised the film for its poor direction and performances.[4] The film ran for more than 100 days in 11 centres inAndhra Pradesh.[5]
Mullapudi Venkata Ramana won theNandi Award for Second Best Story Writer (1967).[6]
