Santhi Nivasam

Santhi Nivasam () is a 1960 Indian Telugu-language drama film produced by Sundarlal Nahatha and T. Ashwadanarayana, and directed by C. S. Rao. It is an adaptation of Palagummi Padmaraju's Telugu play of the same name, which itself was based on B. S. Ramiah's Tamil language play "Malliyam Mangalam". The film stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Rajasulochana, Kanta Rao, Krishna Kumari and Devika.
"Santhi Nivasam" was released on 14 January 1960. The film was a commercial success, running for over 100 days in several theatres. It was remade in Hindi as "Gharana" (1961), and dubbed in Malayalam as "Shantinivas" (1962).
Plot.
Ramadasu is a wealthy and mild-mannered man. Santhamma is his aggressive, petty-minded and controlling wife who always ill-treats her daughters-in-law, the widow Ramani and the devout Lakshmi, who is married to Santhamma's second son Raju. Gopi, the youngest son, is a bachelor, and the daughter Chitti leaves her husband Simhalu, to live with her parents. Gopi falls in love with Radha, who has a vixen stepmother and an understanding father, lawyer Seetapathi Rao.
A jealous Chitti creates suspicion in Raju about the relationship between Lakshmi and Gopi. Raju thinks that they are having an affair, he makes observations but is not ready to confront anyone. Raju's suspicions are not laid to rest even when Gopi marries Radha. Raju starts to drink and ends up getting friendly with a childhood friend, Ragini. Gopi, with the help of Simhalu and Radha, manages to set things right and bring about peace.
Production.
Development.
The actors Vallam Narasimha Rao and Padmanabham acquired the Telugu rights of S. V. Sahasranamam's Tamil play "Malliyam Mangalam", which was written by B. S. Ramiah, for their first stage production made under the Rekha & Murali Arts banner. The Telugu version, "Santhi Nivasam", was written by Palagummi Padmaraju. The play, which starred Padmanabhan and Meenakumari, was an immense success, and caught the attention of producers Sundarlal Nahata, T. Aswathanarayana and director C. S. Rao, who saw "immense potential" in it and bought the film rights.
Samudrala Jr. was hired to make changes, such as expanding the story and creating new characters for the film adaptation, which was also titled "Santhi Nivasam" and was produced under Sri Productions. He also worked as a dialogue writer and lyricist. Cinematography was handled by Kamal Ghosh (with J. Sathyanarayana serving as "operative cameraman"), editing by N. M. Shankar and C. Hari Rao.
Casting.
Akkineni Nageswara Rao was chosen to play Gopi, reprising the role originally played by Padmanabham in the Telugu play. This role was rewritten for the film as the male lead, unlike the play where it was written as a supporting character. Rajasulochana was cast as Gopi's lover and eventual wife Radha, Kanta Rao as Gopi's older brother Raju, Krishna Kumari as Raju's childhood friend Ragini, and Devika as Raju's wife Lakshmi. V. Nagaiah played Gopi and Raju's father Ramadasu, Suryakantham was cast as his wife Santhamma, Surabhi Balasaraswathi as their Chitti, Relangi as Chitti's husband Simhalu, Hemalatha as the widow Ramani, Mohana as Radha's stepmother, and K. V. S. Sharma as Radha's father Seetapathi Rao.
Filming.
C. S. Rao, who used to enact scenes for his actors, accidentally slipped during one such exercise on the doormat before Krishna Kumari's house set while entering, but immediately managed to balance himself. Kanta Rao believed this was intentional and part of the story, and did exactly the same when filming the scene. After this, C. S. Rao told Kanta Rao, "Any way, it now turned into a symbolic shot for the critics. For the first time you are entering into another woman’s house and the slip represents your fall and the balancing act symbolises your control." Except for two songs which were shot at Brindavan Gardens in Mysore, the rest of the film was completed in one schedule.
Soundtrack.
The soundtrack was composed by Ghantasala, and the lyrics were written by Samudrala Ramanujacharya. Many of the songs were adapted from Hindi songs; "Aasalu Theerchave" was based on "Meethi Meethi Baton Se" from "Qaidi No. 911", "Chakkanidaana" was based on the title song of "Dil Deke Dekho", "Raave Radha Rani Raave" was based on "Jhumta Mausam" from "Ujala", and "Come Come" was based on "Tim Tim Tim" from "Mausi". "Sri Raghuram", "Kalanaina Nee Valape" and "Ragala Saragala" were original compositions.
Release and reception.
"Santhi Nivasam" was released on 14 January 1960. The film was a commercial success, running for over 100 days in several theatres. It was remade in Hindi as "Gharana" (1961), and dubbed in Malayalam as "Shantinivas" (1962).