Bhimavarapu Anji Reddy presents
Jyothy Art Creations
Saptapadi (1981)
Technical:
Reels: 14
Color
Censor Date: 4th June
Duration: 2 hrs 8 minutes
Cast:
Girish ... Haribabu
Sabita Bhamidipati ... Hema
Ravikanth ... Gowrinatha Sastry
J.V. Somayajulu ... Yajulu
J.V. Ramana Murthy ... Avadhani
Dubbing Janaki ... Annapurna (Avadhani's Wife)
Jhansi ... Katyayani
Allu Ramalingayya ... Raju
Prameela Rani ... Karuna
Sivaparvathi ... Raju's sixth daughter
saakshi Rangarao ... Chayanulu
Other Cast: Phani, Maddali Susheela, Vani, Kumari, Seshu, Jitmohan Mitra, Ganeshwara Rao, Srinivasa Rao, G.S.R, Mallikarjuna Rao, Master Ravi, Master Subrahmanyam, Baby Vamsi Krishna
Story: K. Viswanath
Dialogues: Jandhyala
Lyrics: Veturi Sundararamamurthy
Playback: S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela, S. Janaki
Art: Thota
Dance Master: Seshu
Asst. Dance Master: Kumari
Editing: G.G. Krishna Rao
Camera: Kasturi
Asst. Cameraman: Sayyed meer, Babji, S.Ramachandra Rao, Ramakrishna
Music: K.V.Mahadevan
Asst. Music Director: Pugazhendi
Flute: Nanjappa
Asst. Directors: Adurti Bhaskar, P.Shivakumar Reddy, Kavuri Sambasivarao
Assoc. Director: Nanduri Vijay
Producer: Bhimavarapu Bucchi Reddy
Screenplay, Direction: K. Viswanath
Songs:
akhilaanDESwari, chaamunDESwari, paalayamaam gaurii!
 |
| Sabuta and Girish in Saptapadi |
Playback: S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela
Cast: Sabita
Om jaatavEdhasE (vEdam)
Playback: S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki
Cast: Sabita
nemaliki nErpina naDakalivE
Playback: S. Janaki
Cast: Sabita
nagumomu ganaleni naa jaali telisi...
tyaagaraja kRti
raagam: abhEri
Playback: S. Janaki
Cast: Prameela Rani
vrEpalliya eda jhalluna pongina ravaLi...
Playback: S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela
Cast: Girish, Sabita
marugElara, O raaghavaa!
tyaagaraaja kRti
raagam: jayantaSree
Playback: S. Janaki
Cast: Sabita
ayigirinandini nanditamOdini (mahiSaasuramardini stOtram)
aadiSankaraachaarya rachana
Playback: S.P. Balasubrahmanyam
Cast: Ravishankar
gOvullu tellana, gOpayya nallana, gOdhooLi errana, enduvalana?...
Playback: S. Janaki, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam
Cast: Jitmohan Mitra, Master Ravishankar, Baby Vamsi Krishna
bhaamanE satyabhaamanE...
Playback: S. Janaki
Cast: Sabita
E kulamu needanTE gOkulamu navvindi...
Playback: S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki
Story:
Yajulu’s daughter marries a dance master without her father's concern. She gives birth to a daughter and dies. Daughter Hema (Sabita) comes to Amaravathi with her father to give a dance performance in the temple. Yajulu likes her and fixes her marriage with his grandson Gowrinatha Sastry (Ravikanth). By then, Hema is already in love Haribabu (Girish), a harijan. Though Gowri marries Hema, he can only see goddess Durga in his bride. How things turn when Yajulu knows the truth is the rest of the interesting story.
About the film:
This is one of the best films of K. Viswanath. While making
Sankaraabharanam, Viswanath also directed a regular masala-filled commercial film titled
Alludu Pattina Bharatam, after which he made
Subhodayam. However, while working for
Sankaraabharanam, he wanted to make a film on the institution of marriage and
Saptapadi was born out of such an idea.
When I saw the film on TV for the first time, I was bowled over the photography, the music, and the narration of the film. The film opens with the M.S. Subbulakshmi's "vEnkaTESwara suprabhaatam" while showing a sunrise on the river Krishna, shot beautifully by cameraman Kastoori. The film's heroine probably had three or four dialogues on the whole film, it seemed. Though we observe the love between Haribabu and Hema, the film didn't have a single word to propose love, and they also don't touch each other (except in a scene where Haribabu washes Hema's anklets).
Real life brothers Somayajulu and Ramana Murthy act as father and son in this film. The film marked the debut of Ravikanth and Sabita; Girish acted in
Nelavanka and
Subhalekha earlier. While Ravikanth later acted in Sobhan Babu-Vijayashanti starrer
Devaalayam, Sabita did not act in any other movies after
Saptapadi. Jitmohan Mitra and his daughter Vamsi Krishna (a.k.a Lalita Subbalakshmi) appear in the song
gOvullu tellana...; Lalita Subbalakshmi, who completed her Masters program in Human Resources, now lives in Philadelphia, USA with her family. Master Ravishankar who also appears in the song - the boy who mediates between Hema and Haribabu - is Dialogue King Saikumar's brother, and is a leading dubbing artiste (better known as "Bommali" Ravishankar after the stupendous success of
Arundhati) and character artiste today. Today's popular character artiste Sivaparvathi plays a minuscule role as sixth daughter of Allu Ramalingayya. The film is one of the very best ones for Allu Ramalingayya; he had wonderful dialogues in the film about caste and religion. With memorable dialogues between Somayajulu and Allu Ramalingayya, and all through the film, Jandhyala shines as a writer even those this film has very few dialogues like Viswanath-Jandhayala combination
Sankaraabharanam.
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| Vushwanath directing Sabitha |
Flute by Nanjappa is a major plus for the film, particularly highlighting scenes such as the one in which Hema ties the toy-cradle to the tree while
DOlaayaam... plays on flute. With scenes like Hema seeing her engagement bangles as handcuffs, and Hema cleaning the front yard at dawn while raaga bhoopaala plays on flute, this film is a true poetry on celluloid as each scene is carefully crafted to make it authentic and appealing. Veturi's lyrics make the "poetry on celluloid" even more authentic! Who else can come up with lines of practical importance, like
aadi nunchi aakaaSam moogadi, anaadigaa talli dharaNi moogadi - naDuma vacchi urumutaayi mabbulu, ee naDamantrapu manushulakE maaTalu... inni maaTalu! or those of philosophical insights such as
EDu varNaalu kalisi indradhanusautaadi - annii varNaalakU okaTE ihamU paramunTaadi (with a
SlEsha on "varNam" which means color and also creed) or those that are poetic, such as
pillanagrOviki niluvella gaayaalu - allana mOvini taakitE gEyaalu ...all in one song?
Interestingly, at about the same time as
Saptapadi was made, Bapu made
Radha Kalyanam with Chandramohan, Radhika, and Sarath Babu (based on the Tamil film
Anta Ezhu Naatakal) and Dasari Narayana Rao made
Swayamvaram with Sobhan Babu, Jayaprada, and Dasari Narayana Rao himself in the lead roles. All these films - each one made by a top director of those times - had similar story with different ending and all the three films became good hits!
