Paradesi (L.V. Prasad) 1953

Paradesi (1953)

Director: L.V. Prasad; Writer: Sadasiva Brahmam, Malladi Krishna Sharma; Producer: P. Adinarayana Rao; Cinematographer: Kamal Ghosh; Cast: Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Anjali Devi, Sivaji Ganesan, Pandaribai, C. Vasantha, Kanakam, S.V. Rangarao, Nalla Ramamurthy, Relangi Venkataramaiah

The Anjali Pictures debut is an incest melodrama. Chandram (Nageshwara Rao) becomes a pauper on the death of his father. To support the widow and son of a childhood friend, he finds a job and meets the beautiful flower-girl Lakshmi (Anjali Devi) at a hill resort. Defying her conservative father, they marry. When Chandram has to leave for the city in a hurry, Lakshmi believes that he has deserted her. She is persecuted by a suitor who burns down her house, and when Chandram returns he believes his wife is dead. Years later Lakshmi’s daughter and Chandram’s adopted son fall in love. In addition, rumour has it that Chandram’s adopted son is in fact his illegitimate child by the widow he supported, making the incest motif yet more explicit.

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