Director: Harilal Desai; Writer: Haribhai Desai; Cinematographer: M.A. Rehman; Cast: B.R. Panthulu, P. Bhanumathi, M. Lingamurthy, Coconada Rajarathnam, Shanta, Venkatagiri, Kutumba Sastry, Annapurna, Kondala Rao, G.V. Sitapathy
Summary: Story paying tribute to the Varkari tradition of
Marathi saint poets. Radha (Bhanumathi), a
devadasi (South Indian form of ritualised
prostitution, in which the woman is wedded to
god), converts herself into a worshipper of the
saints. She is persecuted by the pimp Timmaya
Sastry (Kondala Rao) and the villainous Brahmin
Ramanujachari (Sitapathy). The hero Mohan
(Panthulu) joins her struggle for social reform.
When Ramanujachari has her framed for Mohan’s
murder, she is saved through divine intervention.
One of the best-known films of Haribhai Desai, a
Gujarati graduate of the New York Institute of
Cinematography as well as manager of Laxmi Pics
and the Suvarna Studio in Poona, and the founder
of the influential Bangalore-based Surya Film. This
studio became a conduit for other Bombay-based
directors (e.g. Sundarrao Nadkarni) to
work in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada cinemas,
bringing their influences of Marathi, Hindi and
Gujarati cinema to the South.

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