Jayabheri Art Enterprises
Devatalaaraa, Deevinchandi! (1977)
Technical:
35 MM
Black and White
Cinemascope
Duration: 2 hrs 15 minutes
Cast:
Ranganath ... Mohan
Chandramohan ... Muralikrishna
Murali Mohan ... Inspector (Guest)
Giribabu ... Upendra
Eswara Rao ... Giri
Madala Rangarao ... Ravindra
Haribabu ... Kubera Rao
Mada Venkateshwara Rao ... Driver
Prabha ... Savitri
Baby Varalakshmi ... Nagalakshmi
Jayamalini ... Phani
Other Cast: 'Saakshi' Rangarao, Anita, Vijayalakshmi, Baby Padma, Alluramalingayya (guest), Ramaprabha (guest)
Dialogues: Jandhyala
Lyrics: Gopi, Nagabhairava
Music: Chakravarthy
Playback: P. Susheela, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, Baby Geetha
Photography: P. Devraj
Associate Director: P.N. Ramachandra Rao
Producer: Maganti Venkateswara Rao, Annangi Nageswara Rao
Story, Screenplay, Direction: Kommineni
Songs:
naagulachavitiki nagEndraswaamI putta ninDaa paalu pOsEmu tanDrI!
Playback: P.Susheela
Cast: Prabha
kOnalOki vastaavaa kotta chOTu choopistaanu
Playback: P. Susheela
Cast: Jayamalini
O chelI, manOharI! nee kOsamE nEnunnadi!
Playback: S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela
Cast: Chandramohan, Jayamalini
amma oka bomma, naanna oka bomma - meekenduku ee rOju kOpamocchindi
Plyaback: Baby Geetha
Cast: Baby Varalakshmi
Srisaila malleeSwaraa, O kaaLahastISwaraa! (dEvatalaaraa, deevinchanDi!)
Playback: P. Susheela
Cast: Prabha
Story:
Mohan (Ranganath), Kubera Rao (Haribabu), Muralikrishna (Chandramohan), Giri (Eswara Rao), and Ravindra (Madala Rangarao) are friends. Kubera Rao finds about a hidden treasure in the Nallamala forest and urges that he and his friends should find it. They all go to forest and find the treasure in a Naga Temple. While at another temple on their way back home, they hurt a naagadEvata during a ritual, and Kubera Rao soon dies of a snake bite. On their way back, they meet Phani (Jayamalini), who is none other than the naagadEvata who takes human form to take revenge of the five friends. What happens next is the interesting story line.
Producer and Actor Giribabu speaks...
Though I started my career as an artist, I was always interested in filmmaking. This was my fist film as a producer. The basic story of the film was adopted from Nagin which was a huge hit in Hindi at that time. The character I did in the film does not exist in the Hindi version. Long before then, I saw the English film Naked Prey (1966) and I liked the hero's character in the movie. We adapted it to suit my role in the film - as Upendra, and it clicked! Though I die in the first half itself, it remained as a good character for me. The film was mostly shot in and around Nallamala forest, Mahanandi and other localities in the Rayalaseema region, and less than two months' shoot was done in studios in Madras.
Though the film had good star cast like Muralimohan in a guest role, Ranganath, Eswara Rao, Haribabu, Madala Rangarao, and Chandramohan, we didn't have any problems during the making of the movie, as all of us were of the same age group and were friends to each other. Made with less then 9.75 lakhs, the movie celebrated a 100-day run in many centers. Jayamalini, who played Nagin role in the film, became more famous doing a similar role in Jaganmohini next year, which was also a big hit!
