Anthuleni Katha
Encyclopedia
Anthuleni Katha (meaning story without ending) is a 1976 Telugu
film directed by K. Balachander
. The film is a remake of the 1974 Tamil film Aval Oru Thodar Kathai. This is Jayaprada's first starring role and is considered to be one of her best films. This was also Rajnikanth
's first major role. Kamal Hassan played an extended cameo. This film was shot in black-and-white.
and his family. Her father abandons the family and becomes a saint. Her brother not only does not take responsibilities, but also creates additional problems for her.
She has a longtime boyfriend, who wants to marry her, but she doesn't because of her commitment to her family. His eyes now wander to Saritha's widowed younger sister (Sripriya
) who reciprocates his feelings. Saritha, after reading her boyfriend's love letter to her sister, arranges for them to get married, thus giving up her chance of having a life with him. She eventually accepts a marriage proposal of her boss (Kamal Hassan), when she realizes that her brother has become responsible enough to take care of her family. She also helps her distressed friend, played by Phataphat Jayalaksmi to settle in life. She decides to resign from hard work, but could not as the result of turning point in a typical Balachandar style climax.
super hit film Aval Oru Thodar Kathai (1974), also directed by K. Balachander
. It was also shot on black & white film. Sujata
played the role of Jayaprada, Jai Ganesh did the role of Rajnikanth
, Kamal Haasan
played the role of Narayana Rao
. Same tunes were used in both the languages. Sripriya
, Phataphat Jayalaxmi
and rest of the cast are same in both the versions. The Tamil
film was later was dubbed into Malayalam
as Aval Oru Thudarkatha (1975).
In 1977, Mala Sinha
starred in the Bengali
remake titled Kabita
playing the Jayaprada role. Kamal Haasan
made his Bengali
film debut with this film by acting in the same role that he played in the Tamil
original film. Bharat Shamsher directed the black-and-white film.
The film was remade in Hindi
as Jeevan Dhaara
(1982) by director Tatineni Rama Rao. Rekha did the role of Jayaprada. Rakesh Roshan
did the role of Kamal Haasan
, Amol Palekar
did the role of Narayana Rao
. Karan Razdan did the conductor role, Simple Kapadia
(sister of Dimple Kapadia
) did Phataphat Jayalaxmi role. The film was shot in color. The film was a decent hit.
In 1983, Balachander produced the Kannada
remake titled Benkiyalli Aralida Hoovu
directed by Chandulal Jain and starring Suhasini, whose real-life uncle Kamal Haasan
played the guest role of a bus conductor in this remake. The film was shot in color.
.
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
film directed by K. Balachander
K. Balachander
K. Balachander is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer. Balachander is known for his distinct film-making style. His films analyse unusual or complicated interpersonal relationships and social themes. He has directed nearly 80 films and has worked in 100 films either as director or...
. The film is a remake of the 1974 Tamil film Aval Oru Thodar Kathai. This is Jayaprada's first starring role and is considered to be one of her best films. This was also Rajnikanth
Rajnikanth
Rajinikanth is an Indian film actor, media personality, and cultural icon. He made his debut as an actor in the National Film Award-winning motion picture Apoorva Raagangal , directed by K. Balachander, whom the actor considers his mentor....
's first major role. Kamal Hassan played an extended cameo. This film was shot in black-and-white.
Plot
Saritha (Jayaprada) is a working woman in a middle class family. She works hard to support her widowed sister, unmarried sister, her blind younger brother, her mother, her drunkard brother Murthy RajnikanthRajnikanth
Rajinikanth is an Indian film actor, media personality, and cultural icon. He made his debut as an actor in the National Film Award-winning motion picture Apoorva Raagangal , directed by K. Balachander, whom the actor considers his mentor....
and his family. Her father abandons the family and becomes a saint. Her brother not only does not take responsibilities, but also creates additional problems for her.
She has a longtime boyfriend, who wants to marry her, but she doesn't because of her commitment to her family. His eyes now wander to Saritha's widowed younger sister (Sripriya
Sripriya
Sripriya is an actress who played leading roles in the 1970s and 1980s in South India. She has acted in Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam films, but her main contribution was in Tamil films, where she has acted in over 200 films.-Personal life:...
) who reciprocates his feelings. Saritha, after reading her boyfriend's love letter to her sister, arranges for them to get married, thus giving up her chance of having a life with him. She eventually accepts a marriage proposal of her boss (Kamal Hassan), when she realizes that her brother has become responsible enough to take care of her family. She also helps her distressed friend, played by Phataphat Jayalaksmi to settle in life. She decides to resign from hard work, but could not as the result of turning point in a typical Balachandar style climax.
Original and Remakes
The film is a remake of TamilTamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
super hit film Aval Oru Thodar Kathai (1974), also directed by K. Balachander
K. Balachander
K. Balachander is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer. Balachander is known for his distinct film-making style. His films analyse unusual or complicated interpersonal relationships and social themes. He has directed nearly 80 films and has worked in 100 films either as director or...
. It was also shot on black & white film. Sujata
Sujatha (actress)
Sujatha was a popular South Indian actress who has performed in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi language films, and was best known for restraint and subtlety in portrayal of varied emotions. Sujatha was introduced to the Tamil film industry by veteran director K. Balachander as a...
played the role of Jayaprada, Jai Ganesh did the role of Rajnikanth
Rajnikanth
Rajinikanth is an Indian film actor, media personality, and cultural icon. He made his debut as an actor in the National Film Award-winning motion picture Apoorva Raagangal , directed by K. Balachander, whom the actor considers his mentor....
, Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
played the role of Narayana Rao
Dasari Narayana Rao
Dr. Dasari Narayana Rao B.A. is a politician, film director, and film producer. Narayana Rao directed about 150 films, produced 53 films and worked in more than 250 films as a dialogue writer and as a lyricist.Beside graduating with a BA degree, he used to take part in scores of drama competitions...
. Same tunes were used in both the languages. Sripriya
Sripriya
Sripriya is an actress who played leading roles in the 1970s and 1980s in South India. She has acted in Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam films, but her main contribution was in Tamil films, where she has acted in over 200 films.-Personal life:...
, Phataphat Jayalaxmi
Phataphat Jayalaxmi
Phataphat Jayalaxmi or Fatafat Jayalakshmi was an actress in Telugu and Tamil films. She was born in Andhra Pradesh. Her notable films include Aval Oru Thodar Kathai, Anthuleni Katha, Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai and Mullum Malarum. She was married to the nephew of M.G.R. She committed suicide in...
and rest of the cast are same in both the versions. The Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
film was later was dubbed into Malayalam
Malayalam language
Malayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...
as Aval Oru Thudarkatha (1975).
In 1977, Mala Sinha
Mala Sinha
Mala Sinha is an Indian actress, who has worked in Hindi, Bengali and Nepali films. Recognised for her acting talent and beauty, she went on to become a popular leading actress in Hindi films from the early fifties till late seventies...
starred in the Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
remake titled Kabita
Kabita
Kabita is a 1977 Bengali language film starring Mala Sinha in the lead. The film is directed by Bharat Shamsher, and is a remake of the Tamil film Aval Oru Thodarkathai where Kamal Hassan had a supporting role as a neighbor. He played the same role in the Bengali remake, thus his only foray into...
playing the Jayaprada role. Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
made his Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
film debut with this film by acting in the same role that he played in the Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
original film. Bharat Shamsher directed the black-and-white film.
The film was remade in Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
as Jeevan Dhaara
Jeevan Dhaara
Jeevan Dhaara is a 1982 Indian Bollywood film directed by Tatineni Rama Rao. The film stars Rekha, Raj Babbar, Amol Palekar, Sulochana Latkar, Simple Kapadia and Rakesh Roshan. The movie belongs to Art Cinema genre, also known as Parallel Cinema. Rekha received a nomination for Filmfare Best...
(1982) by director Tatineni Rama Rao. Rekha did the role of Jayaprada. Rakesh Roshan
Rakesh Roshan
Rakesh Roshan Rakesh Roshan Rakesh Roshan (Hindi: राकेश रोशन (born Rakesh Roshan Lal Nagrath on 6 September 1949 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India) is a producer, director and former actor in Bollywood films who was born in a Punjabi Hindu Kayastha family...
did the role of Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
, Amol Palekar
Amol Palekar
Amol Palekar is an Indian actor of the 1970s and a director of Hindi and Marathi cinema.-Theater career:Palekar began in Marathi experimental theatre with Satyadev Dubey, and later started his own group, Aniket, in 1972 [citation needed]...
did the role of Narayana Rao
Narayana Rao
Sribhashyam Lakshmi Narayana Rao, known as Narayana Rao, was an Indian cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium-pace bowler who played for Andhra. He was born in Guntur....
. Karan Razdan did the conductor role, Simple Kapadia
Simple Kapadia
Simple Kapadia was a Bollywood actress and costume designer.Simple Kapadia began her career when she was 18 years old. She made her acting debut in 1977 in the film...
(sister of Dimple Kapadia
Dimple Kapadia
Dimple Chunnibhai Kapadia is an Indian film actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 16, playing the title role in Raj Kapoor's teen romance Bobby . In that same year she married Indian actor Rajesh Khanna, and retired from acting. Kapadia returned to films in 1984 after her separation...
) did Phataphat Jayalaxmi role. The film was shot in color. The film was a decent hit.
In 1983, Balachander produced the Kannada
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
remake titled Benkiyalli Aralida Hoovu
Benkiyalli Aralida Hoovu
Benkiyalli Aralida Hoovu is a Kannada language film starring Suhasini in the lead role of the protagonist. She received a Filmfare award for her performance. Her real-life uncle Kamal Haasan has a guest role in the film as a bus conductor...
directed by Chandulal Jain and starring Suhasini, whose real-life uncle Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
played the guest role of a bus conductor in this remake. The film was shot in color.
Trivia
- In 2001, Jayaprada herself acknowledged the impact the film had in her personal life, as she very much related to the lead character.
Cast
- Jayaprada ... Saritha
- RajnikanthRajnikanthRajinikanth is an Indian film actor, media personality, and cultural icon. He made his debut as an actor in the National Film Award-winning motion picture Apoorva Raagangal , directed by K. Balachander, whom the actor considers his mentor....
... Murthy - Phataphat JayalaxmiPhataphat JayalaxmiPhataphat Jayalaxmi or Fatafat Jayalakshmi was an actress in Telugu and Tamil films. She was born in Andhra Pradesh. Her notable films include Aval Oru Thodar Kathai, Anthuleni Katha, Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai and Mullum Malarum. She was married to the nephew of M.G.R. She committed suicide in...
... Chandra - SripriyaSripriyaSripriya is an actress who played leading roles in the 1970s and 1980s in South India. She has acted in Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam films, but her main contribution was in Tamil films, where she has acted in over 200 films.-Personal life:...
... Bharathi - Narayan Rao... Prasad
- Kamal HaasanKamal HaasanKamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
... Arun (Cameo)
Crew
- Camera Assistant: R. Raghunatha Reddy
- Asssitant Directors: Ananthu, S.A. John
- Art: A. Ramaswamy
- Associate Director: Eranki Sarma
- Story: M.S. Perumallu
- Music: M.S. Vishwanathan
- Assistant Music Director: Joseph Krishnamurthy
- Dialogues and Lyrics: Acharya Atreya
- Camera: Lokanathan
- Producer: Rama Aranangal
- Story, Screenplay, Direction: K. BalachanderK. BalachanderK. Balachander is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer. Balachander is known for his distinct film-making style. His films analyse unusual or complicated interpersonal relationships and social themes. He has directed nearly 80 films and has worked in 100 films either as director or...
Soundtrack
All songs are penned by Athreya and the music is composed by M. S. ViswanathanM. S. Viswanathan
Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan , is a Tamil music director. He is popularly known as "Mellisai Mannar" . His major works over the past five decades have been in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films...
.
- Are Emiti Lokam, cast by Phaphat Jayalakshmi and voice by L. R. EswariL. R. EswariL. R. Eswari is a Veteran playback singer of the Tamil movie industry. She also sang in other languages like Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu, and English.-Early Life:...
- Tali Kattu Subhavela, cast by Narayana Rao and voice by S. P. Balasubramanyam
- Kallalo Unnadedo Kannulake Telusu, cast by Jayaprada and voice by S. JanakiS. JanakiS. Janaki is an Indian female playback singer. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has won four National Film Awards and 35...
- Ugutundu Nee Inta Uyyala, cast by Jayaprada and voice by P. SusheelaP. SusheelaPulapaka Susheela is an Indian playback singer. In a career spanning more than four decades, she has recorded songs in many Indian languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Sanskrit, Tulu, Badaga and Sinhalese.-Personal life:She is the daughter of Pulapaka...
- Devude Icchadu Vidhi Okkati, cast by Rajanikanth and voice by Jesudas.