Chenchu Lakshmi (1958 film)

Chenchu Lakshmi is a 1958 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological film produced and directed by B. A. Subba Rao. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Anjali Devi, with music composed by S. Rajeswara Rao. Along with the Telugu version, it was simultaneously shot in Tamil, with most of the actors and scenes being the same in both the versions. Another Chenchu Lakshmi was earlier made in 1943 with a different cast and crew.

Plot
The film is based on the Hindu mythological story, which begins with the weddings of Vishnu & Lakshmi. During this, Durvasa is furious as he is uninvited and curses Mahalakshmi's parents, Samudra & his wife, to be born as tribals. After a while, Vishnu kills Hiranyaksha, donning a Varaha avatar. Learning it, his brother Hiranyakashipu, a ferocious, performs a vast penance. Exploiting it, Indra kidnaps his pregnant wife, Leelavathi, to destroy his heir. Narada safeguards her and sculpts Prahlada in her womb as an ardent devotee of Vishnu.

Meanwhile, Hiranyakasipa triumphs and gets a boon from Brahma: the absence of death of any weapon, human, animal, demon, or divinity. Now, he trounces the universe and moves in search of Vishnu, who absconds with Lakshmi. He transforms Lakshmi's glow into fruit and plants it on a tree. Samudra & his wife take birth as the tribals but are perturbed as childless. So, Narada tricks by bestowing the fruit to them and the couple is blessed with a baby girl, Chenchita. Besides, Prahlada's worship of Vishnu reaches esteem, and Hiranyakasipa makes several attempts to bar him but in vain. He challenges to show his God when Vishnu appears from the pillar as Narasimha, half man & half lion and slays Hiranyakasipa.

Narasimha is still raging with fury here, and no one can make him calm, including Lakshmi, because she does not obtain the glow. During that plight, Narasimha is acquainted with fearless Chenchita, who subsides his anger and turns into the handsome Narahari, and they knit. Being aware of it, Lakshmi displays grievance, and the two wives squabble. At last, Narada affirms Chenchita is her glows when they conjoin, and Samudra & his wife are also relieved from the curse. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the reunion of Vishnu & Lakshmi at Vaikuntha.

Soundtrack
Music was composed by S. Rajeswara Rao. All the tunes for all the songs for both languages are the same. Lyrics by Arudra, Tapi Dharma Rao, Kosaraju, Vempati Sadasivabrahmam, Samudrala Sr. & Pothana.

Tamil Songs
Lyrics by Papanasam Sivan, Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass & M. S. Subramaniam.

The 1943 film
Chenchu Lakshmi was made in 1943 directed by S. Soundararajan and starring C. H. Narayana Rao and Kamala Kotnis.