Sita Rama Kalyanam (1961 film)

Sita Rama Kalyanam (transl. The marriage of Sita and Rama) is a 1961 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological film directed by N. T. Rama Rao in his directorial debut. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Haranath, Geetanjali, B. Saroja Devi, Kanta Rao, Sobhan Babu. The film was produced by N. Trivikrama Rao on 'National Art Theatres' banner. The music composed by Gali Penchala Narasimha Rao.
The film was a commercial success. It also won the Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Telugu at the 8th National Film Awards. The film was dubbed into Tamil with the same title and was released on 3 February 1961.
The film begins with Ravana visiting Kailasa, the abode of Shiva, at an inopportune time, causing Nandi to intervene. Consequently, a rift arises when Nandi curses Ravana, stating that a Vanara will distract his clan. Nevertheless, Ravana performs an immense penance that shakes the foundations of Kailasa. Pleased, Shiva grants him invincibility, making him unstoppable across the universe. On his journey, he becomes infatuated with the beauty of Rambha and molests her. When her fiancé Nalakuvara, learns of this, he curses Ravana, declaring that he will be destroyed if he tries to possess any women without her consent. However, Ravana’s actions reach their peak when all the creators bow before Vishnu, who assures that Ravana's destruction is inevitable.
Meanwhile, Lakshmi is born on earth as Mathulungi to King Padmaksha due to his devotion. Time passes, and Narada directs Padmaksha towards her Svayamvara, so he too can gain Vishnu's favor. Following this, he informs Ravana, who attacks and is about to capture Mathulungi, killing Padmaksha in the process. She disappears and is reborn as Vedavati to Kushadhvaja, where she performs penance. After some time, Ravana discovers her and becomes infatuated with her. In response, she sacrifices herself and curses that she will be reborn as the cause of his destruction. Ravana then takes her ashes, which appalls Mandodari. She discards the box containing the ashes and buries it on on the shores of the sea.
Dasaratha, the king of Ayodhya, is distressed by his childlessness, so he conducts the Putrakameshti with his 3 wives:Kausalya, Sumitra & Kaikeyi. As a result, Vishnu with Shesha, Shanku & Chakra incarnates as his 4 sons: Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata, & Shatrughna. Meanwhile, while tilling the ground, Janaka, the king of Mithila, finds a box containing a baby, whom he raises as Sita. Years pass, and Vishvamitra arrives, seeking to send Ram and lakshmana for the protection of his Yaga. He Soon bestows upon them powerful armaments, which they used to destroy Tataki & MarichaSubahulu and protect the Yaga. Janaka announces a Svayamvara for Sita, and Vishvamitra, accompanied by the brothers, travels to Mithila.
Amid their journey, they come across the ruined hermitage of Gautama when Vishvamitra turns back. Once, Brahma created a beautiful woman, Ahalya, and announced a contest to determine who would win her marriage, with the prize going to the first being to circle the three worlds. Although Indra is the first to complete the task, Narada declares that Gautama is the true winner because he circumambulates the wish-bearing cow Kamadhenu, which is considered equal to the task that Indra completed. One night, Indra, in the form of a hen, wakes Gautama before sunrise, and assuming the guise of her husband, seduces Ahalya. Upon discovering this, an enraged Gautama curses Indra to be disfigured with a thousand eyes and turns Ahalya into stone. Later, Rama relieves Ahalya from her curse with the touch of his feet.
The challenge at Sita's Svayamvara is to string the world-renowned bow of Shiva. However, Ravana arrives uninvited fails in the attempt, and is humiliated. At that moment, Rama successfully strings the bow and breaks it. Enraged, Parasurama arrives and confronts Rama. Parasurama Eventually, he realizes that Rama is his own reincarnation and offers his support. The story concludes with a joyous celebration of Sita and Rama's magnificent wedding.
N. T. Rama Rao's portrayal of the demon king Ravana (the antagonist of the Hindu epic Ramayana) in Bhookailas (1958) earned him critical acclaim. However, after the release of its Kannada-language version Bhookailasa in the same year which featured a different cast and crew, Rama Rao's portrayal was often compared with that of Rajkumar who played Ravana. This, along with Ravana's reputation as a renowned Shiva devotee, made Rama Rao consider reprising the role in another film which focused on a more layered representation of the character. He and writer Samudrala Sr. studied Ravana's arcs from various versions of Ramayana and other mythologies. Later, Rama Rao's friend Dhanekula Buchi Venkata Krishna Chowdhary came up with a story which they liked, and Samudrala wrote the dialogues, songs and poems. Though the film's narrative was centered around Ravana, Samudrala named the film Sita Rama Kalyanam after Ramayana's protagonists Rama and Sita.
Rama Rao's brother N. Trivikrama Rao decided to produce the film for his company National Art Theatre and approached the former's mentor K. V. Reddy to direct the film. Reddy declined the offer, saying that he could not envision Rama Rao playing a demon. Rama Rao then decided to direct the film himself, marking his directorial debut. He, however, refrained from crediting himself as the director and instead paid homage to his parents. When Trivikrama Rao suggested that Rama Rao should play a dual role as both Rama and Ravana, the latter refused and chose to work with younger actors. He met Haranath at Pondy Bazaar and signed him to play Rama. Sobhan Babu was cast as Rama's brother Lakshmana. Impressed with her cameo appearance in Rani Ratnaprabha (1960), Rama Rao cast Geetanjali for the role of Sita. B. Saroja Devi, Gummadi and V. Nagayya were cast in key supporting roles. Sita Rama Kalyanam also marked Kanta Rao's first on-screen appearance as Narada, a mythological character which he would reprise later in multiple unrelated Telugu films.
Rama Rao approached M. A. Rahman, the cinematographer of the former's acting debut Mana Desam (1949), to collaborate for this film as the director of photography. When Rahman was unavailable, he signed Ravikant Nagaich for the job, marking the latter's debut in Telugu cinema. S. P. S. Veerappa edited the film and I. N. Murthy served as the co-director. All the sequences were filmed in sets erected at the Vijaya Vauhini Studios in Madras (now Chennai). For filming the Ravananugraha sequence, Nagaich opted for using mask shots capturing varying expressions of Rama Rao instead of working with nine dummy heads. This took more than ten hours to shoot, and Rama Rao had to stay motionless for longer intervals.
S. Rajeswara Rao was signed to compose the film's soundtrack and score. He worked on the song "Kanarara Kailasa Nivasa" and a poem "Jayatwada Bravibhrama" before walking out of the film citing creative differences with Rama Rao. Gali Penchala Narasimha Rao replaced him and composed the score and the remaining songs. Samudrala wrote the lyrics for all the songs and composed the poems. Emani Sankara Sastry recited the veena for the Ravananugraha sequence. The soundtrack was released on 31 December 1961 and was marketed by His Master's Voice.
Sita Rama Kalyanam was released theatrically on 6 January 1961, in 28 centres, with an attempt to cash in on the Makara Sankranti holiday weekend. Due to good word of mouth, the film was a commercial success, completing a 50-day run in all the 28 centres. It also completed a 156-day run at the Sri Lakshmi Picture Palace in Vijayawada. It also won the Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Telugu at the 8th National Film Awards. The film was dubbed into Tamil with the same title and was released on 3 February 1961.