Mutyala Muggu

Mutyala Muggu (“A Rangoli of Pearls”) is a 1975 Telugu drama from the writer-director pair of Mullapudi Venkata Ramana and Bapu, a modern retelling of the Uttara Ramayana. Sangeeta, Sreedhar, Kanta Rao, Rao Gopal Rao, Mukkamala, Allu Ramalingaiah and Nutan Prasad star, with music by K. V. Mahadevan. It runs 165 minutes and won two National Film Awards.

What the story is about

Raja Rao Bahadur heads a wealthy, generous landowning family. At his son Sreedhar’s request he pays for Sreedhar’s college friend Hari to study abroad, and the grateful Hari invites Sreedhar to his sister Lakshmi’s village wedding, where, by an unexpected turn of events, Sreedhar ends up marrying Lakshmi himself. The match infuriates Raja’s brother-in-law, who had quietly hoped to marry his own daughter to Sreedhar. Lakshmi’s humility wins over the household, which only makes him more determined, and with the estate manager Joginatham he turns to a scheming contractor to break the couple up. The contractor agrees, though he has his eye on the whole estate. Like Sita in the epic it echoes, Lakshmi is about to have her faithfulness doubted.

Cast and crew

• Sangeeta as Lakshmi
• Sreedhar as Sreedhar
• Kanta Rao as Raja Rama Dasu
• Rao Gopal Rao as the Contractor and Suryakantam as his wife
• Mukkamala as Raja’s brother-in-law
• Allu Ramalingaiah as Joginadham
• Nutan Prasad as Kishtayya and Jayamalini as his wife
• Arja Janardhana Rao as Hanuman, with Sakshi Ranga Rao and Mada

Director: Bapu. Writer: Mullapudi Venkata Ramana. Music: K. V. Mahadevan. Cinematography: Ishan Arya.

Making and music

The film was shot mostly outdoors, at the Gyan Bagh Palace in Hyderabad and on the Pulidindi Canal. Its songs include “Sri Rama Jayarama Seetarama”, sung by M. Balamuralikrishna, “Nidurinche Totaloki Paata Okati Vachindi”, written by Gunturu Seshendra Sharma, and “Mutyamanta Pasupu Mukhamento Chhaaya”, written by Arudra and sung by P. Susheela.

Awards and box office

Mutyala Muggu won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu and the National Award for Best Cinematography for Ishan Arya, plus the silver Nandi Award for Second Best Feature Film. Rao Gopal Rao was widely praised for his role as the Contractor. Wikipedia calls the film a blockbuster, citing a 2010 report in The Hindu on the closure of the Sudershan 70 mm theatre; no collection figures are given. It was remade in Hindi as Jeevan Jyoti (1976).

Where to watch Mutyala Muggu

We do not have a confirmed streaming listing for Mutyala Muggu on file. If we verify one with a platform, it will appear on this page.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Mutyala Muggu and the report it cites, linked above; our own cast and crew records.