Santha (1961 film)

Santha is a 1961 Indian Telugu-language drama film, produced by M. R. Jayaram under the Santhikala Films banner and directed by Manapuram Appa Rao. It stars N. T. Rama Rao and Anjali Devi, with music composed by Ramesh Naidu.

Plot
Shanta is a naïve girl lusted by a landlord, Rangaiah, who attempts to molest her. Whereat, her father dies, and she absconds, but a mobster, Dayanidhi, clutches her and skips from him. Amid this, an Advocate, Srinivas, a widower, acquaints and shelters her. Hereupon, his son Kumar assumed Shanta was his mother, and she reciprocated with doting affection. Following, Srinivas endears Shanta and knits her, and the two are blessed with a son, Venu. On occasion, Shanta is terrified of viewing Dayanidhi as Srinivas's friend but quiets. Next, Dayanidhi cabals will slay Srinivas via maid Rajyam by poisoning. Tragically, Kumar dies, which incriminates Shanta when fierce Srinivas expels her. Dayanidhi is about to snatch Shanta, who escapes and seeks to kill herself. Then, she hears the baby cry and spots Shyamala, whom Dayanidhi victimizes. Before dying, she entrusts the baby's responsibility to Shanta and fosters her as Saroja. Once, Srinivas spots them and suspects Shanta's chastity. Years roll by, and destiny makes Venu & Saroja collegians, and they crush. Srinivas denies it by looking at Shanta, who begs him to state the fact, but in vain. The rest of the story is about how the truth comes forward and how the family is reunited.

Cast

 * N. T. Rama Rao as Srinivas
 * Anjali Devi as Shanta
 * Kanta Rao
 * Relangi
 * Gummadi
 * Chalam as Venu
 * K. V. S. Sarma
 * Balakrishna
 * Krishna Kumari
 * Suryakantham
 * Chaya Devi
 * Girija as Saroja
 * Surabhi Balasaraswathi

Soundtrack
Music composed by Ramesh Naidu.