First Talkie in Telugu Movies- Bhakta Pralada 1931

BHAKTHA PRAHLADA 1931

m.l. narasimham

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Munipalle Subbiah, Surabhi Kamalabai, Master Krishna, Doraswamy Naidu, B.V. Subba Rao, Chitrapu Narasimha Rao and L.V. Prasad.

Scene from Bhaktha Prahalada

Tasting huge success with India's first talkie, Alam Ara, (released on March 14, 1931) Ardeshir Irani planned talkies in Telugu and Tamil too, for the same year. He entrusted the job to his trusted and talented associate Hanumanthappa Muniappa Reddy known popularly as H.M. Reddy. An English teacher at Jagirdar College, H.M. Reddy in 1927 went to Bombay fearing the dreaded plague that struck Hyderabad then. He stayed with his brother-in-law H.V. Babu then an aspiring actor (later he became a director).

Reddy worked as a reflector boy at Sarada Film Company, and played bit roles in silent films before Ardeshir Irani spotted him. Finding the creative zeal in young Reddy, Irani took him under the wings of his Imperial Film Company and soon entrusted him with the job of directing two silent films – Prince Vijayakumar (1930) and A wager in love (1931) both starring Prithvi Raj Kapoor in the lead.

When Ardeshir Irani planned talkie films in Telugu and Tamil, naturally the mantle fell on H.M. Reddy to execute the projects. Mythology was ruling the stage and had huge patronage then. Reddy chose Bhaktha Prahlada's story for the first Telugu talkie. The most popular play among the 19 odd Prahladas staged then was the one written by Dharmavaram Ramakrishnamacharyulu. Reddy chose the play for his film and retained most of the actors from the same troupe – Surabhi Nataka Samajam that enacted the play- Munipalle Subbiah (Hiranyakasipa), Surabhi Kamala Bai (Leelavathy), Master Sindhoori Krishna Rao (Prahlada), Doraswamy Naidu (Indra), Chitrapu Narasimha Rao (Brahma and Chandamarkulu). L.V. Prasad (Modhabbai) too acted in the film. A leading actor with Surabhi troupe, Subbiah's original name was Valluri Venkata Subba Rao and he hails from Munipalle village. Born on stage while her mother was acting in a play, Kamala Bai rightly became the first heroine of Telugu Talkie. Interestingly she was the highest paid actor too receiving Rs.1,116 apart from travel expenses. Going by the film's title, the then nine year old Sindhoori Krishna Rao became the first protagonist hero of Telugu films. L.V. Prasad who was with the Imperial Film Company worked as an assistant director for the film as well as played a cameo as a classmate of Prahlada at Rakshasa guru Chandamarkula's school. A comic role and thus he became the first comedy actor in Telugu talkies.

H.R. Padmanabha Sastry of Prabhath Studios composed the music. Apart from Dharmavaram's lyrics and Pothana's Bhagavatham poems from the stage play, Sastry made room for three new lyrics written by Chandala Kesava Dasu. Parithapa Bhaarambu Bhariyimpa Tharama written by Dasu was the first song recorded thus making him a pioneer among Telugu film lyricists. Kamala Bai as Leelavathy, mother of Prahlada rendered the song in a scene where she had to give poison mixed food to his son. Playback singing was unheard of in those days and the actors themselves sang with the orchestra sat at a distance away from the camera. Though H.M. Reddy took Dharmavaram's play, he adopted slight changes while filming it.

H.M. Reddy took the actors to Bombay and shot the entire film at Imperial Studios in 20 shooting days and at a budget of around Rs.15,000. The length ran to 108 minutes. Though the exact date was not known, according to some the film was released on September 15, 1931 in Andhra Pradesh, Madras, parts of Karnataka and Orissa. People thronged to the theatres out of curiosity. Opinions expressed and carried by journals reveal that some felt as if they were watching a stage drama, because they had already seen the main actors playing the roles on stage. Added to that, there was this poor sound recording with high pitches at few places and sudden drops at some. The picture clarity was also not up to the mark.

But what counts is that with the available technology and resources, H.M. Reddy pioneered the advent of talkies in Telugu that has now assumed Hercules proportions. It is unfortunate that the negatives were lost and no print was preserved for posterity.

Bhaktha Prahlada was later made twice by Chitrapu Narayana Murthy – for Sobhanachala Studios in 1942 with Vemuri Gaggayya and G. Varalakshmi and in 1967 for AVM Productions with S.V. Ranga Rao and Baby Roja Ramani.

Remembered for: Being the first Talkie in Telugu and for L.V. Prasad who later became a doyen of Indian film industry.