Peddamanushulu (1954)

Peddamanushulu or Pedda Manushulu (Telugu: పెద్దమనుషులు) is a 1954 Telugu film directed by Kadiri Venkata Reddy. D.V. Narasa Raju, who wrote the dialogues, is said to have been inspired by Henrik Ibsen's The Pillars of Society, but Narasa Raju denied this.^[1] The film is themed on corruption, and portrays all peddamanushulu (influential people) as corrupt. Because of this film, the term peddamanushulu has negative connotations in Telugu culture.^{[citation needed]}

The plot

The main characters in the film are in the public service, most of them in corrupt, negative roles, and there are many villains instead of one main villain. Dharma Rao (Gowrinatha Sastry) is the Chairman of the municipality. The municipal contractor, a local businessman, and his associates make up the rest of the corrupt cast. They use their influence for their own personal ends in secret. The municipal counsellor, however, Ramadasu (Lingamurthy), who is also a newspaper editor, is honest and uncorrupted. What happens to all these characters makes up the plot of the movie.

Soundtrack

• Nandamaya Guruda Nandamaya Ananda Deviki Nandamaya (Singer: Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao)

 Award

This was the first Telugu film to receive a Rashtrapati Award.

 References

1. ^ Nostalgia-Peddamanushulu at Cinegoer.

 External links

• Peddamanushulu at the Internet Movie Database