Paradesi (1953 film)
| Paradesi Poongodhai | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | L. V. Prasad |
| Produced by | |
| Written by |
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| Starring |
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| Music by | P. Adinarayana Rao |
| Cinematography | Kamal Ghosh |
Production company | |
Release dates | 14 January 1953 |
Running time | 190 mins |
| Country | India |
| Language | |
Paradesi in Telugu or Poongothai in Tamil is a 1953 bi-lingual film directed by L. V. Prasad.[1] A remake of the 1950 Hindi film Raj Rani, Paradesi was jointly produced by Anjali Devi and her husband P. Adinarayana Rao under the newly formed banner "Anjali Pictures". The film starred Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Anjali Devi in the lead. It launched the career of Sivaji Ganesan, who along with S. V. Ranga Rao, Pandari Bai and Vasantha played a prominent role. The film deals with incest relationship.[1]
Production
After splitting out from Aswini Pictures, Anjali Devi and her husband Adinarayana Rao formed their own production house and named it Anjali Pictures. They decided to remake the Raj Rani, a 1950 Hindi film directed by Satish Nigam, and bought the rights.[2] They decided to shoot the film in two languages—Tamil and Telugu, and appointed L. V. Prasad as the director. Prasad, however did not make a direct copy of the Hindi original; he made subtle changes to the screenplay to suit the audience.[2] The producers were looking for a new actor to play the second lead role.[2] P.A. Perumal Mudaliar, a leading film distributor suggested Sivaji Ganesan to Anjali Devi and her husband. Ganesan who was a prominent theatre artist acquired the prefix "Sivaji" after he played the role of Chatrapati Shivaji in a stage play. Ganesan was immediately chosen for the role and had a screen test for the first time. It was during this time that Parasakthi was made.[2] Perumal, the film's producer made a request to Anjali Devi that Parasakthi to be released before Paradesi. Anjali and Rao, the producers agreed and hence Parasakthi became Ganesan's first released film.[2]
Cast
Crew
The film's cinematography was handled by Kamal Ghosh. His idea to shoot a song sequence in "slow motion" was highly praised. The equipment to capture the sequence was lent by V. Shantaram.[2] Dance choreography and film score were performed by Vedantam Raghavaiah and Adinarayana Rao respectively. The film had four different people – T.V.S. Sarma, Vali, Thota Venkateswara Rao and A.K. Sekhar to look after the art direction.[2]
Reception
The film released on released on 14 January 1953. Both the versions did well in the run. The Tamil version Poongodhai received positive response from the critics.[3] In November 2013, M. L. Narasimhan of The Hindu noted that the film would be "remembered as the launch pad for Sivaji Ganesan".[2] Film critic and Telugu film director K. N. T. Sastry in his L.V. Prasad: a monograph described, "Paradesi is about urbanités" and not the conventional village-based subject.[3] He also noted that the screenplay was very fast.[3]
Notes
References
- Sastry, K. N. T. (1993). L.V. Prasad: a monograph. Wiley Eastern.
- Thoraval, Yves (2000). The cinemas of India. Macmillan India. ISBN 978-0-333-93410-4.
External links
- Paradesi at the Internet Movie Database
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