Lava Kusa

For the sons of Rama, see Lava and Kusha

Lava Kusa
Directed by	C. Pullaiah C. S. Rao
Produced by	Shankar Reddy
Written by	Samudrala Raghavacharya
Starring	N. T. Rama Rao, Anjali Devi, T. L. Kanta Rao
Music by	Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao
Release dates	29 March 1963(Telugu)
Language	Telugu, Tamil
Box office	1 crore (US$160,000)

Lava Kusa (also spelled as Lava Kusha) is a 1963 Telugu and Tamil mythological film directed by C. S. Rao and Chittajallu Pullayya and written by Samudrala Raghavacharya.^[1] The blockbuster film has also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu for that year.^[2] It was also dubbed in Kannada, and later in Hindi in 1974. This movie was fully taken in Geva Color It was the first south Indian movie to get the collection of ₹10 million (with average ticket price ₹0.25 at that time).

Plot

This movie is based on Uttara Kanda which is the later part of Ramayana written by Valmiki Maharshi. It depicts the lives of Lava and Kusa, the sons of Rama and Sita. The story depicts Sri Rama Pattabhishekam and about the brief period of Rama Rajyam, Rama sending Seeta exile on hearing the accusations of a washerman, Birth of Lava and Kusha, their visit to Ayodhya, Ashwamedha Yagna and conflict between Rama and his sons and Pattabhishekam of Lava and Kusha and Rama finally ending his Avatar.

Cast

Crew

• Director: C. S. R. Rao and Chittajallu Pullayya
• Writer: Samudrala Raghavacharya
• Producer: Allareddy Shankar Reddy
• Production Company: Lalitha Siva Jyoti Pictures
• Cinematography: P. L. Roy
• Film Editing: A. Sanjeevi
• Art Direction: T. V. S. Sarma
• Choreography: Vempati Satyam
• Lyrics: Samudrala Raghavacharya, Kosaraju Raghavaiah and Vempati Sadasivabrahmam
• Music Director: Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao
• Playback singers: Jikki Krishnaveni, J. V. Raghavulu, K. Rani, Madhavapeddi Satyam, P. B. Srinivas, P. Leela, Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao, P. Susheela, Mallik

Soundtrack

The film has 37 songs and Poems (Padyam), many are very popular and memorable.^[4]

Box-office

• It was released in 26 centres and had run for 100-days in all the 26 centres.^[5]
• It had a 175-day run in 16 centres,grossing more than ₹ 10 million.^[6]

Awards

• National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu^[2]
• Rashtrapati Award- best acting N. T. Rama Rao and Tadepalli Lakshmi Kanta Rao.^[7]

^[8]

Trivia

• It's the first Telugu film to gross ₹10 million.^[6]
• This movie is considered to be the biggest blockbuster of all time in the annals of Telugu film history.
• Production began in 1958 but was stopped due to financial constraints. When it restarted, C. Pullaiah's health was deteriorating, so his son C. S. Rao took over.
• It is also produced in Tamil.
• This film was produced by Allareddy Shankara Reddy who went on to make other blockbusters - Rahasyam (starring Akkineni Nageswara Rao) and Sati Savitri (starring N. T. Rama Rao and Krishnam Raju). Prior to producing Lava Kusa, the Allareddy family produced Manavati and Charanadaasi under Lalita Siva Jyoti Banner.
• Master Nagaraju who played the role of Lava is the only son of popular stage and film actor A. V. Subba Rao. He started his career with Ramadasu of Chittor V. Nagaiah in 1964. He continued in the cine field and acted in Sepoy Kooturu, Tiger Ramudu, Annadammulu, Laxmi Kataksham, Sampoorna Ramayanam, Satynarayana Vrata Mahatyam, Bhishma, Seetarama Kalyanam, Antastulu, Shri Krishnavataram, Chakradhari, Shri Vinayaka Vijayamu, Ashtalakshmi Vaibhavam.^[9]
• Master Subramanyam who played the role of Kusha is son of V. Subba Rao. He has acted in films like Velugu Needalu, Seetarama Kalyanam, Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam. He is now established as tailor near Amalapuram.
• Lava Kusa is considered a landmark in Telugu Cinema history.^[10]

References

External links

• Lava Kusa at the Internet Movie Database