Tenali Ramakrishna (1956)

Interesting facts

• Awards: 1 · Nominations: 0. Including: National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu

Tenali Ramakrishna is a 1956 Indian Telugu-language political drama film produced and directed by B. S. Ranga based on Ch. Venkataramaiah's stage play of the same name. Produced for the banner Vikram Productions, it stars N. T. Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, V. Nagayya, P. Bhanumathi, and Jamuna. Ranga handled the cinematography with his brother-in-law B. N. Haridas while P. G. Mohan edited the film. Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy composed the soundtrack and background score.

Production

After the success of his first production venture Maa Gopi (1954), B. S. Ranga wished to produce and direct a historical film based on the life of the 16th century Telugu poet and scholar Tenali Ramakrishna, one of the Ashtadiggajas (a collective title given to the eight Telugu poets in the court of Krishnadevaraya, which literally translates as "eight great elephants").

Venkataramaiah's play was comical in nature, and focused on the life and times of Ramakrishna. Fearing it would fail to translate on-screen effectively, Samudrala and Kannadasan decided to incorporate political elements during the rule of Krishnadevaraya. While Samudrala focused on the administrative aspects of Krishnadevaraya, Kannadasan opted to "humanise" the king by writing scenes related to his personal life and preferences.

Ranga cast Akkineni Nageswara Rao to play Ramakrishna in Telugu, with Sivaji Ganesan replacing him in the Tamil version.N. T. Rama Rao and V. Nagayya were signed to play Krishnadevaraya and his minister Timmarusu, respectively. Mukkamala played the role of Tatacharya, the kingdom's royal priest. He was replaced by M. N. Nambiar in the Tamil version.

Ranga approached Bhanumathi Ramakrishna to play Krishnasani. Initially uninterested, Bhanumathi accepted the offer because of Ranga's association as a cinematographer for the films produced by her production company Bharani Pictures. Tenali Ramakrishna is the only film where Bhanumathi shared the screen simultaneously with both Rama Rao and Nageswara Rao. Vangara Venkata Subbaiah, Sandhya, R.

Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy were signed to compose the soundtrack and background score for both the versions. Ranga's brother-in-law B. N. Haridas worked as the cinematographer. However, Ranga was credited as the film's director of photography with Haridas. P. G. Mohan edited the film. Vali and Ganga were the art directors, and V. K. Srinivasan was the film's production manager. Chopra and Gopalakrishnan choreographed the dance sequences.

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