Swargaseema

1945 Drama 118 minutes Directed by B.N. Reddi

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About Swargaseema

Publisher Murthy (V. Nagayya) lives with his wife Kalyani (B. Jayamma) and their children until a village street play puts Subbalakshmi (Bhanumathi) in front of him. He tells her father to take her to Madras. She is given a lead and takes the stage name Sujatha, and Murthy drops his household for her. Kalyani supports the children with tailoring work. Murthy later admits the damage and returns home.

Cast & crew

More about Swargaseema

B. N. Reddi produced and directed it at Vauhini Studios from a story by Chakrapani, with dialogue by Samudrala Raghavacharya. Chakrapani reshaped Rouben Mamoulian's Blood and Sand (1941) for a Telugu audience, and Subbalakshmi's stage role took its cue from Rita Hayworth.

Themes

  • A marriage bent by a stage infatuation
  • Fame under a new name
  • A wife holding a household together
  • The street theatre and the Madras stage
  • street play
  • Madras theatre
  • stage name Sujatha
  • neglected family
  • tailoring
  • reconciliation

Background

It opened on 6 June 1945, while the Madras Presidency was still under British rule, and played in Telugu-speaking towns and in what are now Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka.

In film history

Bhanumathi's return after her 1943 marriage, and the first screen credits for Ghantasala as a playback singer and for Marcus Bartley as a cinematographer, sit on this film.

Making

Music is by V. Nagayya, who also plays Murthy, and Ogirala Ramachandra Rao. Lyrics are by Samudrala Raghavacharya and Balantrapu Rajanikanta Rao.

Reviews

Writing in The Hindu on 19 March 2018, M. L. Narasimham treated the film as the vehicle of Bhanumathi's comeback. The 'Oho ho Paavuramaa' sequence, shot by Marcus Bartley, is the passage later accounts single out.

Audiences

It ran 200 days in theatres across Telugu-speaking regions and in present-day Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka.

Look

Marcus Bartley, on his first feature, shot the 'Oho ho Paavuramaa' number, the sequence later writing treats as the film's showpiece.

Music

V. Nagayya and Ogirala Ramachandra Rao composed the score. Bhanumathi, Nagayya, Jayamma, and Ghantasala sing, including 'Gruhame Kada Swargaseema,' 'Madhura Vennelareyi,' and 'Oho Ho Pavurama.'

Preservation

A copy circulates as the Wikimedia Commons file Swarga Seema (1945).webm.

Notes

  • Ghantasala's first film work as a playback singer is on this picture; he shares 'Oh Naa Raaja' with Bhanumathi.
  • Marcus Bartley photographed a feature for the first time.
  • Bhanumathi had stopped acting at 18 after marrying P. S. Ramakrishna Rao. Reddi brought her back in 1944.
  • For 'Oho ho Paavuramaa' she hummed a Spanish tune she remembered from Blood and Sand, 'Varde Luna,' and the composers built the song from it.
  • Balantrapu Rajanikanta Rao wrote lyrics under the name Nalinikath. One lyric, 'Jo Achutananda Jojo Mukunda,' is credited to Annamacharya.
  • A Telugu University history lists it among the first Telugu films shown at an international festival, in Vietnam.
  • The reception notes that Sivaji Ganesan watched the 'Oho ho Paavuramaa' sequence repeatedly for Bhanumathi's performance.
  • V. S. Narayan edited.

Scenes

  • Murthy watches Subbalakshmi in the village street play and sends her father toward Madras.
  • Bhanumathi sings 'Oho ho Paavuramaa,' the number Bartley shot and that Bhanumathi seeded from a tune in Blood and Sand.

Influenced by

  • Blood and Sand (1941)

Also available

  • Wikimedia Commons (Swarga Seema (1945).webm)