Devadasu

Devadasu is a 1974 Telugu romantic tragedy directed by Vijaya Nirmala, who also plays Parvati in what was her 100th film as a lead actress, with Krishna in the title role. Based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel Devdas, it was produced by S. Raghunath and presented by Krishna under Sri Vijaya Krishna Movies, with music by Ramesh Naidu. Released on 6 December 1974, it opened to a tepid response and, according to OTTplay, was a commercial failure.

What the story is about

In the village of Ravulapalli, Devadas, the son of the zamindar Narayana Rao, and Parvati, the daughter of a peasant, Neelakantham, are inseparable childhood friends. Devadas’s mischief gets him sent away to boarding school, and when he returns years later the two are deeply in love. But the zamindar humiliates Neelakantham over his family’s lower caste and status, and the proud Neelakantham vows to marry his daughter into a family above theirs. Parvati slips away one night to beg Devadas not to let her go, and he asks her for time, the start of the hesitation that will shape both their lives.

Cast

• Krishna as Devadas, with Master Naresh as the young Devadas
• Vijaya Nirmala as Parvati
• Jayanthi as Chandramukhi
• Jaggayya as Zamindar Narayana Rao and Kantha Rao as Neelakantham
• Gummadi as Zamindar Bhavana Babu
• Satyanarayana as Bhagawan and Chandra Mohan as Mahendra
• Allu Ramalingaiah as a schoolteacher, Jaya Prada as Jalaja and Krishna Kumari as Bhavani

Music

Ramesh Naidu composed the songs, with lyrics by Aarudhra; the soundtrack is owned by Saregama. Kotagiri Gopala Rao edited the film and V. S. R. Swamy shot it.

Release and box office

Devadasu opened on 6 December 1974 to a lukewarm response. Writing in OTTplay in 2022, Srivathsan Nadadhur noted several theories for its failure: some felt it offered no new insight into the novel or standout performances, while others blamed the simultaneous re-release of Akkineni Nageswara Rao’s Devadasu, which proved “counterproductive to its fortunes”.

Where to watch Devadasu

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

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Devadasu (1974) and the article it cites, linked above; Wikidata; our own cast and crew records.