Rechukka is a 1954 Telugu film directed by Ghantasala Balaramaiah and P. Pullaiah

P. Pullaiah

P. Pullaiah or P. Pullayya B.A. is a Telugu film director and producer. He was recipient of Raghupathi Venkaiah Award for his contributions to Telugu cinema. He married veteran actress P. Santha Kumari in 1937...

 and produced by Ghantasala Krishnamurthy. N. T. Rama Rao

N. T. Rama Rao

Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao , also known as NTR and fondly referred to as Anna Garu, was an Indian film actor, director, producer, and a politician...

 acted in the lead role as prince. Devika

Devika

Devika or Prameela Devi was a popular Tamil and Telugu actress. She is regarded as a versatile and graceful heroine of her era. She was known for her natural beauty which was the key in her casting in mythological films like Karnan, thiruvilaiyadal...

 debuted in the film as Princess. The story is created being inspired by The Prince Who Was A Thief (1951) starring Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...

.

The film remade into 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...

 by Kalyanaraman

Kalyanaraman

Kalyanaraman or Kalyana Raman may refer to:*Kalyanaraman , a Tamil film starring Kamal Haasan*Kalyanaraman , a Malayalam film starring Dileep*Srinivasan Kalyanaraman...

 entitled Nattutara. It was also commercial hit.

The plot

The story is set in a kingdom. The chief minister wants his daughter to marry the King's only son, the future prince. The King refused the idea, and the angry minister captures and arrests the King and runs the Kingdom. A loyal countryman Veeranna (Nagabhushanam) takes the Prince and leaves him in the forest away from the evil minister's hands, but gets captured himself. The Prince, grows up as the forest chief's adopted son Kannayya (N.T. Rama Rao). Veeranna's daughter is Nana (Anjali Devi). Both of them grows up as thieves. The old King escapes finally and stays at Nana's house. Nana steals the Princess Lalita Devi's (Devika) necklace and Kannayya returns it to her. The princess falls in love with him. Nana also falls for the Kannayya too. He gets to know his true identity, defeats his enemies and gets back his Kingdom.

Cast

Actor	Character
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao	Kannaiah / Yuvaraju
Anjali Devi Anjali Devi Anjali Devi is a veteran Telugu actress and producer. She is well known for her mythological role as Sita in Lava Kusha and roles in movies like Suvarna Sundari and Anarkali.- Biography :...	Nana, daughter of Veeranna
Mukkamala Krishna Murthy	King
Prameela (Devika Devika Devika or Prameela Devi was a popular Tamil and Telugu actress. She is regarded as a versatile and graceful heroine of her era. She was known for her natural beauty which was the key in her casting in mythological films like Karnan, thiruvilaiyadal... )	Lalita Devi
Nagabhushanam Nagabhushanam Nagabushanam was a comedian, villain, and character actor in Telugu cinema and theatre fields. His first film was Palletooru under the direction of Tatineni Prakash Rao. He acted in about 395 films during the 1950s to 1980s...	Chitti Veeranna
Sadashiva Rao	Minister
Peketi Sivaram Peketi Sivaram Peketi Sivaram is famous South Indian actor and director.-Life sketch:He was born on October 8, 1918 in Pekeru village in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India....	Annayya
Jogarao	Chandrayya
Y. V. Raju	Nagulu
Akkineni Nageshwara Rao	(Guest actor)
Kanchi Narasimham
Lingam Subba Rao
Kakinada Rajaratnam

Production

The Rechukka film is an outcome of Ghantasala Balaramaiah, Telugu film producer of Pratibha Pictures and General Manager and Production Executive of the company Thopalli Venkata Sundara Shivarama Sastry (better known as Pratibha Sastry). Sastry has seen the English film entitled A Prince Who Was a Thief in Mount Road. Balaramaiah prepared a story to suit local audience. The story was given to Malladi Ramakrishna Sastry, who wrote the screenplay, dialogues and lyrics for the film.

The shooting was started with N. T. Rama Rao

N. T. Rama Rao

Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao , also known as NTR and fondly referred to as Anna Garu, was an Indian film actor, director, producer, and a politician...

, Anjali Devi

Anjali Devi

Anjali Devi is a veteran Telugu actress and producer. She is well known for her mythological role as Sita in Lava Kusha and roles in movies like Suvarna Sundari and Anarkali.- Biography :...

 and supporting staff and Ashwathamma as Music director. After shooting three reels including two songs, Ghantasala Balaramaiah died suddenly due to Heart attack on October 29, 1953. Ghantasala Krishna Murthy, the elder son of Balaramaiah has taken the charge of Pratibha pictures. The film is completed with the financial involvement of Sunderlal Nahata and director P. Pullaiah

P. Pullaiah

P. Pullaiah or P. Pullayya B.A. is a Telugu film director and producer. He was recipient of Raghupathi Venkaiah Award for his contributions to Telugu cinema. He married veteran actress P. Santha Kumari in 1937...

.

Most of the film was shot at Revathi Studios at Madras. Prakash Studios was used for few important scenes. The forest scenes are pictured at Jamal Gardens (Now Vijaya Gardens).

For the role of Lalitha Devi, they wanted to take new actress. They have chosen Prameela, the grand daughter of Raghupathi Venkaiah

Raghupathi Venkaiah

Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu was a Indian artist involved photography and in many aspects of the Cinema of India...

 to portray the character besides N.T.Ramarao. She changed her name as Devika

Devika

Devika or Prameela Devi was a popular Tamil and Telugu actress. She is regarded as a versatile and graceful heroine of her era. She was known for her natural beauty which was the key in her casting in mythological films like Karnan, thiruvilaiyadal...

 and became a big star later years.

Songs

• Aa Manasemo Aa Sogasemo (Lyrics: Malladi Ramakrishna Sastry
  Malladi Ramakrishna Sastry
  Malladi Ramakrishna Sastry M.A. was an eminent Telugu writer.-Lifesketch:He was born in Chitti Guduru village near Machilipatnam in Krishna district in 1905 to Narasimha Sastry and Kanakamma. Their family has settled in Bandar during his childhood. He has passed B.A. in Machilipatnam and M.A. in...
  
  ; Singer: Jikki Krishnaveni; Cast: Prameela)
• Aaye Sambarame (Lyrics: Malladi Ramakrishna Sastry; Singer: P. Leela; Cast: Anjali Devi)
• Ayyo Bangaru Saami (Lyrics: Malladi Ramakrishna Sastry; Cast: NTR and Anjali Devi)
• Bhale Bhala Paavurama (Lyrics: Malladi Ramakrishna Sastry; Singer: Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao; Cast: NTR and Anjali Devi)
• Ekkadidi Ee Andam Evvaridi Ee Andam (Lyrics: Malladi Ramakrishna Sastry; Singer: Jikki Krishnaveni; Cast: Prameela and others)
• Etu Choosina Bootakale Evaraadina Naatakale (Lyrics: Malladi Ramakrishna Sastry; Singer: P. Leela; Cast: Anjali Devi, Akkineni and NTR)
• Neesari Nevanamma Vayyari (Lyrics: Malladi Ramakrishna Sastry; Cast: Prameela, Anjali Devi and Others)
• Ontarontariga Poyedana (Lyrics: Malladi Ramakrishna Sastry; Singer: Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao; Cast: NTR and Anjali Devi)

Box-office

The film was commercial hit and ran for more than 100 days in three centres in Andhra Pradesh. Centenary celebrations are organized at Vijayawada.