In the Sixties, not a single Telugu film got released without a song of Kosaraju Raghavaiah Chowdhary. It was, therefore, only natural that Bapu and Ramana, who had great admiration for the veteran lyricist, signed him to write two songs for Chitra Kalpana’s Buddhimanthudu (1969), produced by N S Murthy. Kosaraju had known Mullapudi Venkata Ramana since his stint as a reporter with Andhra Patrika . And Bapu was a classmate of Kosaraju’s son, Bhanu Prasad, at the Law College.
By then a proven hand at writing satirical comic songs, it was an easy task for Kosaraju to pen for the movie a light-bantered lyric, Allari pedathaare pillaa . This was the first song. For the second song, Bapu- Ramana briefed him beforehand that it was a crucial one which summed up the essence of the story. One evening, as Kosaraju was just thinking about the song, a car came to pick him up to the Geetha Lodge in Pondy Bazar, Madras. The writer-director duo, who were also stake holders in the movie, were there at that time.
Ramana explained to Kosaraju the scene for which the song was required. It was an argument between the elder brother, a temple priest, and his younger sibling, an atheist , on utilising the family property, for renovating the temple or for running a school for the village children, before a voting takes place to decide on it. Interestingly, both the characters were enacted by Akkineni Nageswara Rao. For any lyricist it was not an easy task to convincingly do the balancing act between the two opposing views and win over the audience.
Moreover, Kosaraju was told that he should complete the lyric that day itself, as the recording was fixed for the next morning at the Sarada Studios (formerly Majestic Studios). Kosaraju wanted to know whether music director K V Mahadevan would also be coming. The duo replied, “Maama (Mahadevan) has asked us to get the lyric from you and has said he would set the tune for it.”
The song
As it is the custom to give importance first to the elder brother, and also since he was a priest and his part of the song was to be shot in the temple precincts, Kosaraju started the lyric in the harikatha tradition:
Sri Madrama Ramana Govindo Hari--- Naayanalaaraa
And he proceeded with his argument for renovating the temple:
Badilo Yemundi? Devudi gudilone vundi / Bhakti Mukti kaavaalante/ Madhava seva cheyyaalante – Badilo Yemundee? Devudi gudilone vundi
The younger brother enacts a street play, batting for education, and replies:
Gudilo yemundee baboo badilone vundi/ Bhukti Shakthi kaavaalante/ Manava seva cheyyaalante/ Gudilo yemundee babu, badilone vundee.
By the time the opening lines (pallavi) were written, it was tea time. Kosaraju has said in an interview that, with an occasional input from Bapu-Ramana, he could complete writing half the lyric by the time they went for dinner.
The younger brother continues with his argument:
Devudi perita dopidi chese / Dalaarulendaro perigaaroo! Mukti mathhulo bhaktula munchi / Sarvam bhomchestunaaroo/ Noru leni aa devudu paapam/ Neeru gaari pothunnaadu/ Gudilo yemundee …
However, the priest wants to have his say:
Chaduvula perita gumastalanu/ thayaaru chestu vunnaaru/ Prabhuvullaaga brathike vaallanu/ Baanisalugaa chestunnaaroo/ Vudyogaalaku vetalaadamani/ Voolla paiki tholestunnaaru/ Badilo yemundee…
The song progresses further, reaching the climax in the voice of the younger brother:
Aa Hariye Sri Krishnudu gaa vachhi/ Badilo koorchuni chadivaadu/ Ee badilo koorchuni chadivaadu/ Chadivaadu… chadivaadu…chadivaadu.
By the time Kosaraju completed writing the song, it was 2 am. It was subsequently shot at Sri Sarathi Studios, Hyderabad.
The scene
Madhavacharya (played by ANR) is an ascetic temple priest. His younger brother Gopi (ANR), an atheist, supports educating the children in the village. When their ancestral wealth is unearthed, Gopi wishes it to be used to build a school, while Madhava wants it for the temple. Taking advantage of their differences and with an eye on the wealth, the village president (Nagabhushanam) suggests a voting on the issue. The song comes out as part of the canvassing for votes.
Kosaraju once shared an anecdote: “Before recording for the song, Ghantasala pulled me aside and said, ‘There seems to be some confusion in this song. Will it become popular? I feel it is too classy.’ I reminded him about the song I had written for the movie Sadaarama — Poocheti poolanni kaayalavuthaayaa? Mechhukunna vaadanthaa mogudouthaada? And I added let us do our duty, the result will depend on their luck (the producers!). When it reached the audience through the convincing expressions of ANR, the song became an instant hit.”
