Rechukka

Rechukka is a 1955 Indian Telugu-language swashbuckler film directed by  P. Pullaiah. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao, Anjali Devi with music composed by Aswatthama. The story was inspired by The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951), starring Tony Curtis.

The film was remade in Tamil and titled Naattiya Thara. The Tamil version was released in 1955. Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass wrote the dialogues and lyrics for the Tamil version, while G. Ramanathan scored the music. It was also a commercial hit. Aaroor Dass, who was a successful screenplay writer later, started his career as an assistant to Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass in 1955 and assisted in writing the dialogues for this film. He has said that he named his first child as Arokyamary and also gave a pet name, Thara Devi in remembrance of the film Nattiya Thara.

Plot
The film begins with King Devarayalu celebrating his son Kumararayulu's birthday when Mahamantri expresses his desire to knit his daughter Lalitha Devi with the Prince, but Devarayalu scorns him. Offended Mahamantri ploys with acolyte Nagulu and captured the King when Veeranna, an aide of the King, absconds with the Prince who split in between. Here, a snake bites Kumararayalu when a tribal leader, Jogulu, rescues him, who discerns him but is silent. Besides, devastated Veeranna, failing to find him, returns home, explains the turbulence to his wife & daughter Nana, and moves to extricate the King, but he too is caught.

Years roll by, and Kumararayalu grows up as Kanna. Nana becomes a busker. In prison, Veeranna passes away. Utilizing it, the King flees and takes shelter at Nana unbeknownst. Once, on Lalitha Devi's birthday, Nana entertains her when she notices Mahamantri bestowing a diamond necklace of the former queen to the princess and snatches it. Then, Kanna lands at the fort, pledges to retrieve it, and triumphs when he falls for Nana. At this, Lalitha, too, crushes for him. Knowing it, Kanna tries to convince Lalitha that he has no intention when soldiers catch him.

Meanwhile, Mahamantri & Nagulu are aware of King's existence, misconstrue Kanna as his ally, and torture him. Parallelly, Nana also detects the King who guides steals the royal assent, "Raja Mudra," which she does and acquits Kanna but gets nabbed. Being conscious of it, the King enrages Kanna when a battle erupts when he recognizes him as his son. Nevertheless, Kanna oaths to shield Nana, so he checks in but claws again. During that plight, the King reaches the tribals and surrounds the fort. Besides, Kanna, with a trick, ceases the baddies. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the marriage of Kanna & Nana.

Cast

 * N. T. Rama Rao as Kumarayalu / Kannaiah
 * Anjali Devi as Nana
 * Devika as Lalitha Devi
 * Mukkamala as Maharaju Devarayalu
 * Nagabhushanam as Veeranna
 * Sadasiva Rao as Mahamantri
 * Peketi Sivaram as Annayya
 * Joga Rao as Chandrayya
 * Y. V. Raju as Nagulu

Soundtrack
Music composed by Aswatthama. Lyrics by Malladi Ramakrishna Sastry. Music released by Audio Company.

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 The Prince Who Was a Thief in Mount Road. Balaramaiah prepared a story to suit the 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, Anjali Devi and supporting staff and Ashwathamma as Music director. After shooting three reels including two songs, Ghantasala Balaramaiah died suddenly due to Heart attack on 29 October 1953. Ghantasala Krishna Murthy, the elder son of Balaramaiah has taken the charge of Pratibha pictures. Nageshwara Rao wished to be a part of the film after the demise of his mentor Balaramaiah. He made a cameo appearance. The film is completed with the financial involvement of Sunderlal Nahata and director P. Pullaiah.

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 a new actress. They have chosen Prameela, the grand daughter of Raghupathi Venkaiah to portray the character besides N. T. Rama Rao. She changed her name as Devika and became a big star in later years.

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