Chandirani


Chandirani is a 1953 trilingual Telugu-Tamil-Hindi swashbuckler film, produced by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao under the Bharani Studios banner and directed by Bhanumathi Ramakrishna. It stars Bhanumathi Ramakrishna and N. T. Rama Rao in the lead roles and music composed by C. R. Subburaman & M. S. Viswanathan.

Plot

King Veerasimha was attracted towards a court dancer during his birthday celebrations. She delivers twin girls after their union. The Senani, Prachandudu, who also likes her, kills the dancer and imprisons the King. The minister saves one of the twins and sends her to the forest. Knowing this, Prachandudu kills him and takes charge of the kingdom. The other twin stays in the kingdom. Champarani in the kingdom, and Chandirani in the forest, grow up as two different personalities. The son of the minister Kishore and Champarani love each other. Mukund is the son of Prachandudu. Kishore goes to the forest and comes to know about Chandirani, and that she loves him. With the help of Mukund, Chandirani enters the fort and meets her father. She comes to know about the love between Champarani and Kishore. Meanwhile, Prachandudu arrests Kishore. Chandirani attacks the kingdom with the help of the people. During the conflict, Chandirani sacrifices her life eliminating Prachandudu, before dying she unites Champarani and Kishore.

Cast

The music was composed by C. R. Subburaman & M. S. Viswanathan.

Telugu songs

Lyrics by Samudrala Raghavacharya.

Tamil songs

Lyrics by K. D. Santhanam. The song "Vaan Meedhile Inba Then Maari Peiyudhe" is set in the Carnatic music raga 'Pahaadi'.

Hindi songs

Lyrics by Vishwamitra Adil.

Critical reception

M. L. Narasimham of The Hindu wrote, "Though there is nothing new in the story, the novelty lies in the manner it is narrated. Chandi's sword fight and the fight sequences with the tiger, the exchange of places by the siblings, went well with the audience."
Chandirani earned decent profits for the producers. It also holds the record for being the only movie to be released in three languages on the same day, with over 100 prints across the length and breadth of the country.