Bommala Pelli

Bommala Pelli
Theatrical release poster
Directed byR. M. Krishnaswamy
Screenplay byAcharya Aatreya
Produced byM. Radhakrishnan
R. M. Krishnaswamy
StarringSivaji Ganesan
Jamuna
Mynavathi
CinematographyC. A. Madhusudhan
Edited byR. M. Venugopal
Music byK. V. Mahadevan
Production
company
Aruna Films
Distributed bySubbu & Co. (Tamil)
Release dates
  • 11 January 1958 (1958-01-11) (Telugu)
  • 3 May 1958 (1958-05-03) (Tamil)
Running time
131 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguagesTelugu
Tamil

Bommala Pelli (lit.'Wedding of dolls'; colloquially: Fake wedding) is a 1958 Indian Telugu-language film, directed by R. M. Krishnaswamy. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Jamuna and Mynavathi. It was simultaneously produced in Tamil as Bommai Kalyanam.

Plot

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Suryam / Kannan is a playful teenage boy, in the cusp between puberty and adolescent, the son of the famous and well-to-do lawyer Perayya / Varatharajan and Parvathamma / Thangam. While playing football, he meets Radha, the daughter of a well respected freedom fighter family of Simhadri / Veeramuthu and Seshamma / Maragatham. At first sight both fall in love.

Perayya / Varatharajan is a modest man, but Parvathamma / Thangam is a greedy woman. Parvathamma / Thangam wishes to marry off Suryam / Kannan to her brother Chalamayya / Sonachalam's and Bhadramma / Perundevi's daughter Bullemma / Kannamma and invites them to her place. Bullemma / Kannamma is a naïve girl and Thimaiyya / Mannar, Bhadramma / Perundevi's brother loves her. Perayya / Varatharajan likes the simplicity of Simhadri / Veeramuthu's family and agrees on the alliance of Suryam / Kannan and Radha. When Parvathamma / Thangam opposes this, Perayya / Varatharajan, in order to carry on with the wedding, lies to her that Simhadri / Veeramuthu will present a large dowry. The wedding takes place.

After the wedding, Bhadramma / Perundevi, who is furious that Bullemma / Kannamma is not the bride, instigates Parvathamma / Thangam to query regarding the dowry. A scuffle takes place between the two families and Parvathamma / Thangam wishes to send back Saroja / Radha to her parents place, but Suryam / Kannan sides with Saroja / Radha and accepts her whole-heartedly. Meanwhile, Chalamayya / Sonachalam wishes to leave home, but Bhadramma / Perundevi, who is in agony, decides to stay back and plans to create hatred between Parvathamma / Thangam and Radha. In turn, Parvathamma / Thangam tortures Saroja / Radha in every possible way, but Saroja / Radha fights back and keeps calm. Matters get worse when Perayya / Varatharajan dies, but not before seeking a promise from Suryam / Kannan not to disobey Parvathamma / Thangam. Suryam / Kannan and Radha's marriage life hits a roadblock. When coming to know that Parvathamma / Thangam treats Saroja / Radha very badly, Simhadri / Veeramuthu steps in and takes Radha, who is driven away by both Parvathamma / Thangam and Bhadramma / Perundevi, away to his place.

When Suryam / Kannan comes back, Parvathamma / Thangam and Bhadramma / Perundevi lie to him that Saroja / Radha had gone to her parents place along with Simhadri / Veeramuthu, without seeking their consent. That night, Saroja / Radha tries to meet Suryam / Kannan, but Parvathamma / Thangam would not let Saroja / Radha in. Meanwhile, Bullemma / Kannamma unwittingly lets know Suryam / Kannan regarding this incident and Suryam / Kannan goes to Simhadri / Veeramuthu's place to explain, in order to take back Radha. Simhadri / Veeramuthu spells out to Suryam / Kannan clearly that Saroja / Radha would not go to Suryam / Kannan's place as long as Parvathamma / Thangam is there. Taking this opportunity, Parvathamma / Thangam and Bhadramma / Perundevi force and arrange Bullemma / Kannamma to be married to Suryam / Kannan. Observing all this, Chalamayya / Sonachalam and Thimaiyya / Mannar attempt to abduct Bullemma / Kannamma, but fail. To make matters worse, Parvathamma / Thangam sends a letter to Saroja / Radha informing that Suryam / Kannan would remarry and restricts Saroja / Radha not to interfere in Suryam / Kannan's life any more.

On the engagement day, Suryam / Kannan who is badly disturbed by the events, falls from the first floor of his balcony and is badly injured. Upon hearing this, Saroja / Radha rushes to Suryam / Kannan's place, was stopped by Simhadri / Veeramuthu, but later consents after hearing to Radha's plea. Suryam / Kannan is happy to see Saroja / Radha around, tells her not to leave him even though Parvathamma / Thangam mistreats her and Saroja / Radha assures this. At this juncture, Parvathamma / Thangam and Bhadramma / Perundevi further humiliate Simhadri / Veeramuthu to the worst, which drives him to sell his mansion to compensate with much dowry. Parvathamma / Thangam tries all her best to drive Saroja / Radha away, but to no avail and she becomes violent. Saroja / Radha hides in one of the rooms, but Parvathamma / Thangam tries to force open the door, when the door collapse onto Parvathamma / Thangam. At the same time, Simhadri / Veeramuthu parades the dowry items from his home throughout the streets, much to the residents' dismay and reaches Suryam / Kannan's place. Upon seeing all this, Bhadramma / Perundevi and Bullemma / Kannamma flee.

Parvathamma / Thangam realises her error on her deathbed and seeks apology from Suryam / Kannan, Saroja / Radha and Simhadri / Veeramuthu then dies. Suryam / Kannan and Saroja / Radha reunite and live happily.

Cast

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Male cast Female cast
Cast (Tamil) Cast (Telugu) Role (Tamil) Role (Telugu) Ref. Cast (Tamil) Cast (Telugu) Role (Tamil) Role (Telugu) Ref.
Sivaji Ganesan Suryam Kannan [1] Jamuna Saroja Radha [1]
V. Nagayya Perayya Varatharajan Santha Kumari Parvathamma Thangam
S. V. Ranga Rao Simhadri Veeramuthu Mynavathi Bullemma Kannamma
Friend Ramasamy Ramana Reddy Sonachalam Chalamayya M. S. Sundari Bai Suryakantham Perundevi Bhadramma
Kaka Radhakrishnan Nalla Ramamurthy [te] Mannar Thimaiyya Rushyendramani Seshamma Maragatham
Telugu
  • Vangara Venkata Subbaiah as the sanyasi
  • Gauripati Shastri as Somayajulu
  • Y. V. Raju as Doctor
  • B. V. Ramanachari as Bhima
  • Bhavana Rishi as Sambhu
  • Lakshmi Devi as Kamala
  • Sitarammamma as Mangamma

Soundtrack

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The music was composed by K. V. Mahadevan.

Telugu songs[1]

Song Singers Lyrics Length
"Chitti Baava" Pithapuram Nageswara Rao & Swarnalatha Acharya Aatreya 03:27
"Raavo Kanaraavo" A. M. Rajah & Jikki Sri Sri 02:29
"Avunaa Idhi Thudiavunaa" Jikki Acharya Aatreya 02:53
"Haayigaa Theeyagaa" A. M. Rajah & Jikki Acharya Aatreya 03:31
"Raaramma Raaramma" Jikki Acharya Aatreya 02:56
"Chikkave Chindana" Pithapuram Nageswara Rao Acharya Aatreya 02:42
"Vasantham Inthenaa" Jikki Acharya Aatreya 03:00
"Ninne Ninne Meghama" P. Susheela & K. Jamuna Rani Acharya Aatreya 03:06
"Kalyaname Cheli Vaibhogame" A. P. Komala Acharya Aatreya 03:54
"Hareram Hareram" Acharya Aatreya 03:54
Tamil songs[2]

Lyrics were by & . The song "Nillu Nillu Megame" by P. Susheela, K. Jamuna Rani & Group did not take place in this film.

Song Singers Lyrics Length
"Aasai Vachchen" Seerkazhi Govindarajan & T. V. Rathnam Udumalai Narayana Kavi 03:27
"Anbe Nee Ange" A. M. Rajah & Jikki A. Maruthakasi 02:29
"Idhuvo Namgathi" Jikki Udumalai Narayana Kavi 02:53
"Inbame Pongume" A. M. Rajah & Jikki A. Maruthakasi 03:31
"Kalyaanam Kalyaanam" Jikki & Group Udumalai Narayana Kavi 02:56
"Ennam Pole Pennum" Seerkazhi Govindarajan Udumalai Narayana Kavi 02:42
"Vasandha Kaalam" Jikki Udumalai Narayana Kavi 03:00
"Nillu Nillu Megame" P. Susheela, K. Jamuna Rani & Group A. Maruthakasi 03:06
"Kalyaname Selvi Kalyaname" A. P. Komala & Group A. Maruthakasi 03:54
"Raajaadhi Rajan Vandhen" Kaka Radhakrishnan Udumalai Narayana Kavi 02:05

Release and reception

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Bommai Kalyanam was released by Subbu & Co.[3] Bommala Pelli fared slightly better than Bommai Kalyanam,[4] which ran for 50 days in theatres.[5] Bommai Kalyanam was panned by Kanthan of Kalki.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "బొమ్మల పెళ్లి" (PDF). Indiancine.ma (in Telugu). Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Bommai Kalyanam". Gaana. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  3. ^ "பொம்மை கல்யாணம்". Kalki (in Tamil). 4 May 1958. p. 59. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ "வீட்டை வாங்கி பார், மெட்டை போட்டு பார்!". Dinamalar (in Tamil). 2 December 2018. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ ஜெயந்தன், ஆர்.சி. (4 May 2018). "பொன்விழா: ஒரே ஆண்டில் 8 வெற்றிப்படங்கள்!". Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  6. ^ காந்தன் (18 May 1958). "பொம்மை கல்யாணம்". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 18–19. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2022 – via Internet Archive.
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