Jeevitham

Jeevitham (meaning “Life”) is a 1950 Telugu social drama produced by A. V. Meiyappan of AVM Productions and directed by M. V. Raman. A remake of AVM’s 1949 Tamil hit Vazhkai, it marked the Telugu debut of Vyjayanthimala, with S. Varalakshmi, T. R. Ramachandran and C. H. Narayana Rao, and dancers Lalitha and Padmini in guest appearances. R. Sudarsanam composed the music. Released on 14 July 1950, it was a hit that ran 200 days and, according to Cinegoer.com, was the highest-grossing Telugu film of 1950.

What the story is about

The heroine, named Mohini in Wikipedia’s plot summary, is the daughter of Sivashankaralingeswara Prasad, who remarries after her mother’s death. His new wife Durgamma’s brother, Murthy, wants to marry Mohini, but she has fallen for a young man who calls himself Ashok, not knowing that he is in fact her neighbour Pati. When Murthy asks for her hand, she turns him down, and the spurned Murthy sets out to wreck her happiness, with consequences that reach far beyond the two of them.

Cast

• Vyjayanthimala as the heroine (credited as Rani)
• S. Varalakshmi as Varalakshmi
• T. R. Ramachandran as Pati
• C. H. Narayana Rao as Murthy
• Chilakalapudi Seetha Rama Anjaneyulu as Shivashankara Lingam Prasad
• Kanchi Narasimha Rao, K. Doraswamy and P. D. Sambandam in supporting roles
• Padmini and Lalitha as stage dancers

Making the film

Vyjayanthimala reprised her role from the Tamil original, coached in Telugu by her father, M. D. Raman. T. R. Ramachandran also returned, but his Tamil-accented Telugu made the makers hesitate, and his voice was dubbed by a Telugu-speaking artist. M. V. Raman, who had written the Tamil and Telugu versions, went on to direct the Hindi remake.

Music

R. Sudarsanam composed the songs, with dialogue and lyrics by Toleti Venkata Reddy. S. Varalakshmi sang her own songs, and the playback singers included D. K. Pattammal, T. S. Bagavathi and M. S. Rajeswari.

Box office and remake

According to Cinegoer.com, Jeevitham was a hit like the Tamil original, completed a 200-day run and was the highest-grossing Telugu film of 1950. Its success led Meiyappan to remake it in Hindi the following year as Bahar, directed by M. V. Raman; Vyjayanthimala was the only star to play the role in all three versions, each of them her debut in that language.

Where to watch Jeevitham

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

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Jeevitham and the Cinegoer.com articles it cites, linked above; Wikidata; our own cast and crew records.