47 Rojulu

47 Rojulu (meaning “47 days”) is the Telugu version of the 1981 thriller written and directed by K. Balachander, made simultaneously in Tamil as 47 Natkal for Premalaya Pictures. Based on Sivasankari’s novel 47 Natkal, it stars Chiranjeevi and Jaya Prada as a couple whose marriage lasts only 47 days, with Anne Patricia, Sarath Babu and Rama Prabha. M. S. Viswanathan composed the music. The Telugu version was released on 3 September 1981, after the Tamil version on 17 July.

What the story is about

The film opens with the actress Saritha arriving in a small town to meet Vishali, whose life she wants to portray in a film. Vishali angrily refuses to see her, so her brother tells Saritha the story of Vishali’s marriage. Kumar, who lives in France, had insisted on marrying a girl from a small town, and after the wedding he took Vishali to his country manor in Férolles, outside Paris. Vishali, a simple, trusting young woman who had never left home and speaks neither French nor English, finds herself entirely dependent on her husband in a foreign country. Living on the top floor of the same house is Lucy, a French doctor whom Kumar introduces as a friend and their landlady, and Vishali soon begins to suspect that her husband is not what he seems.

Cast

• Chiranjeevi as Kumar
• Jaya Prada as Vishali
• Anne Patricia as Lucy
• Sarath Babu as Dr. Shankar
• Rama Prabha as a Tamil-speaking pickpocket
• Saritha as herself (uncredited)

Making the film

While shooting Ninaithale Inikkum (1979) in Singapore, R. Venkatraman of Premalaya Pictures told Balachander he wanted to produce a film in foreign locations nobody had used yet, and Balachander chose Sivasankari’s novel, which had been serialised in the magazine Idayam Pesukirathu; Sivasankari is also credited with the dialogue. The novel is set in the United States, but Balachander moved the story to Paris, and most of the filming took place in and around the city, completed within 35 days. The Tamil version was Chiranjeevi’s Tamil debut. Aatreya wrote the Telugu lyrics, and Kannadasan the Tamil ones.

Reception

Sindhu and Jeeva of the Tamil magazine Kalki reviewed the Tamil version unfavourably, finding it less entertaining and exciting than the novel. Wikipedia does not record the box-office performance of either version, so we do not characterise it.

Where to watch 47 Rojulu

We do not have a confirmed streaming platform for 47 Rojulu on file. The OTT details on this page will be updated when a platform’s own listing confirms it.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on 47 Natkal, which covers both versions, and the review it cites, linked above; Wikidata; our own cast and crew records.