The launch of a Superstar

Adurthi Subba Rao’s trendsetter ‘Tene Manasulu’ has completed 50 years. Incidentally, the film also marks the cine golden jubilee of Superstar Krishna.

50 years ago, ace director Adurthi Subba Rao, who always stood in forefront when it came to innovation and setting new trends, wanted to make a film with newcomers.The onus of initial selections fell upon Mullapudi Venkata Ramana who was the scriptwriter for the film and K Viswanath, who was the Assistant Director. The advertisement to this effect was released and several wannabe actors applied. Among them were the likes of Hemamalini and Jayalalitha. Krishna, a young chap from Burripalem, Guntur district, had just returned to his village after struggling for roles in movies.

But, the advertisement prodded him to try his luck again. As luck would have it, he got a call for audition and he was selected to play the lead role straightaway. The young dashing youngster went on to become the Superstar of Telugu cinema, Krishna. And, the first film of his illustrious career came to be ‘Tene Manasulu’. Rammohan was selected to play the other hero. The film completed 50 years of release on March 31. It also marks the golden jubilee of Superstar Krishna’s illustrious career.

Interestingly, Hemamalini who was rejected went on to become a top heroine in Hindi cinema. In contrast, the two lead actresses chosen to act in ‘Tene Manasulu’, Sandhya Rani and Sukanya did not see much success in later films. Incidentally, the director signed the four lead actors again for his next film, ‘Kanne Manasulu’ which too turned out to be a hit.When the film released, film experts of the time felt that Rammohan, the other male lead, could be the Devanand of Telugu films. However, luck did not favour and he too could not make a mark even though he had several opportunities that came his way, later on.

Much of the cast was new. In addition to the lead cast were 18 others to play character roles and other supporting roles. The story was adapted from a Telugu novel, ‘Vakrinchina Sarala Rekhalu’. Mullapudi gave the story the required cinematic touches, Atreya wrote the dialogues and songs and the shooting began. It is a simple story of two couples – Krishna is college champion. His father arranges his marriage without his consent. He, however, walks away from the marriage and refuses to even see the bride. Sukanya, who plays the bride, manages to make Krishna fall in love with her. Rammohan, on the other hand is married to Sandhya Rani and then goes to the US only to return a spoilt brat. He leaves his wife and starts to woo Sukanya who works in his office. The film ends with the clever Sukanya teaching both the heroes a lesson. The shooting was going on well. But, Adurthi Subbarao spent several sleepless nights wondering how the audience would react to the new team.

Eventually it was decided that the film will be shot in colour. The b&w reels shot until then were trashed. ‘Tene Manasulu’ thus became the first social drama in Telugu films to have been shot in colour, the only one to be made after the magnum opus, ‘Lava Kusa’. Songs like ‘Divinundi bhuviki’, ‘Na mundu neevu’ and ‘Purushudu nenayi puttali’ were all hits. Another interesting sidelight of the film is that comedy actor Padmanabham gave playback for one of the songs shot on Krishna, ‘One Two Three Four’ as it needed a humourous touch. The new actors stood up to the expectations as far as performances went. The different storyline, refreshing style of film making and music struck a chord with the audience and despite the fear of failure, the film went on to become a hit. Looking back at the film, one feels that novelty did make a difference then.

The winner of several national awards Adurthi Subba Rao made landmark films that include ‘Thodi Kodallu’, ‘Mangalyabalam’, ‘Velugu Needalu’, ‘Dr Chakravarthi’, ‘Mooga Manasulu’, ‘Chaduvukunna Ammayilu’ etc. And by no measure, does ‘Tene Manasulu’ count amongst his best films. But one can say that he knew the pulse of his audience. He realised they wanted change and were looking forward to something new. And he had the guts and vision to be the change. And in a way, ‘Tene Manasulu’ set the trend for later Telugu films where directors looked beyond ANR and NTR, and there was a major shift as the industry moved away from b&w and chose to do more and more films in colour.

By Rajeshwari Kalyanam