Within two decades of attaining independence, the nation saw the rise of many sections of the middle class turning rich as a result of their hard work and profitable enterprise. The period also saw a change in the lifestyles of those born to these neo-rich parents — flaunting their wealth and spending lavishly — with no regard to the hard toil of their elders.
These changes in society perhaps made the well-known Tamil screen writer of the time, Ma. Ra, to pen the story of a rags to riches person, who, peeved at the pretentious behaviour of his wife and children, teaches them a lesson in life with the help of his former employee. Ma. Ra’s story appealed to actor-producer-director B.R. Panthulu, who gave a celluloid presentation of it in Kannada, titled Dudde Doddappa (1966) with himself and M.V. Rajamma in the lead. Its success prompted him to remake it in Tamil ( Namma Veettu Lakshmi ) the same year with him and Rajamma reprising their roles.
It was the time when Panthulu’s Padmini Pictures and S. Krishnamurthy’s Venus Pictures took on lease Vijaya Studios for a brief period, as they were then engaged in continuous film production. As part of their production plan, Venus Pictures chose to remake Dudde Doddappa in Telugu under the banner Venus-Padmini Combines, with T. Govindarajan as the producer and T.V.S. Sastri as the associate producer.
The duo signed V. Madhusudana Rao to direct the Telugu version, Lakshmi Nivaasam (1968), roping in Arudra as the writer and S.V. Rangarao and Anjali Devi to lead the cast.
The story
A have-not Subbaiah (played by S.V. Rangarao) turns rich with his sheer hard work. His only wish is that his children should not suffer from poverty as he had during his younger days. But things go the other way as his wife Sarada (Anjali Devi), sons, Chandram (Krishna) and Raju (Padmanabham) and daughter Kalpana (Bharathi) lead an ostentatious life.
The last straw for Subbaiah which compels him to take action is when his wife holds a grand party for her dog. Subbaiah stages a drama with the help of his former employee Gopal (Nagaiah) and his children Anand (Sobhan Babu) and Asha (Vanisri), to teach his wife and children a lesson and bring them to their senses.
Cast and crew
It was a cakewalk for a veteran like Veeramachaneni Madhusudana Rao to direct such a topical social theme. A stickler to perfection, he was a no nonsense man when it came to work on the sets. This writer was a witness to an incident during the shooting of the song sequence, Soda...Soda... Andhra Soda... As Padmanabham was pulling the cart filled with wooden cases of soda, VMR found a big flower pot obstructing his path. Earlier he had ordered it to be removed. But the unit hand forgot to do that. He shouted at the man and even before he could come to take it out, VMR himself removed the pot and placed it in a corner. ‘ Lakshmana Rekha ’ N. Gopalakrishna and Ghantasala Chiranjeevi worked as his assistants.
Arudra’s dialogues added pep to the movie. For example: when SVR tells his daughter, Deepaalu pette loga intiki raavaalamma , she replies, Deepaalu pettakebayatiki vellenu naannaa ; and the musician to Padmanabham, Yendukandi ilaavamaanistaaru, naaku sangeethamlo rendu degreelu unnaayi and Padmanabham replies: Aa unnaayi thermometer lo koodaa degreelu . V. Ramamurthy cranked the camera for all the three versions.
Anjali Devi flashing her riches in the role of an impetuous woman, Sarada, was something the audience were in for a surprise. But to their relief she soon returns to her pious role of Sarada, which showcased her prowess one more time. Rammohan played the conman Giri who traps Kalpana (Bharathi) for her money. Sobhan Babu and Vanisri as brother and sister played to the script of bringing a change of heart in the spoilt brats Chandram, Raju and Kalpana, the roles essayed well by Krishna, Padmanabham and Bharathi.
Bharathi enacted the role in all three versions while Vanisri starred in the Tamil version too. Vijayalalitha did a sympathetic role as an artiste in Padmanabham’s drama troupe.
However, the movie rested on the shoulders of the protagonist – Subbaiah. Needless to say, SVR excelled in the character, leaving beehind a syllabus of acting for future generation actors.
Another contributing factor for the film’s success was its music composed by K.V. Mahadevan for Arudra’s lyrics. The popular songs were Dhanameraa annitikimoolam... (rendition by Ghantasala), Ille kovela challani valape devatha (S. Janaki) and Soda soda Andhra soda ... (Pithapuram Nageswara Rao) besides the duet by P. Susheela and P.B. Srinivos, Oho voorinche ammayee...
Trivia
The song, dhanameraa annitiki moolam was shot at Vijaya Studios, giving the impression that it was shot in outdoor location (art director: S. Krishna Rao).
Ravi Kondala Rao acted as the writer for Padmanabham’s drama troupe. He once said that he had mimicked eminent writer and playwright Malladi Venkata Krishna Sarma’s smoking style for the role. Sarma who had written for Paradesi and other movies, was more popular for his play, ‘Mayabazaar’ staged by Surabhi Nataka Samajam.
A song featuring Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Jayalalitha from Manushulu Mamathalu was shown in Lakshmi Nivaasam when Krishna books the entire theatre to view the movie. Released on July 19, 1968 Lakshmi Nivaasam had a fairly good run.
