Alluri Seetarama Raju is a historical Telugu film based on the life of
Indian freedom fighter Alluri
Sitaramaraju, Produced by Padmalaya studios.
Released on 1st May 1974 it is the 100th film of Ghattamaneni Krishna. The film is
directed by V. Ramachandra Rao and written by Maharadhi Tripuraneni.
This film is South
India’s first colour cinema scope film. Since this technique was absolutely untested before, the
makers had to import the necessary equipment like Aeriflax & Michell
cameras, 45mm & 70mm lenses from Kamal Amrohi,
who used them to can the Hindi classic film Pakeezha.
This film is a Cinematic
version of the life of the legendary freedom fighter, Alluri Sitaramaraju who raised
voice against the cruelty of British rulers and fought for the tribals. Inspired by the ideologies of the
"extremists" or "radicals" in the freedom movement like
'Lal, Bal, Pal', Ajith Singh, Balagangadhara Pillay and others, Alluri Seetha
Rama Raju (Superstar) unites the meak and forms a rebellion that eventually
fights the feared Assam Riffles wing
of the British military for over a year in what has now come to be known as the
"Rampa
Rebellion".
The film also won
the national film award for best lyrics- Srirangam Srinivasa Rao and a Nandi
award for Best Feature Film.
With a runtime of
187mins, the film grosses more than Rs.150 million.
The film had a 100-day run in
19-centres in Andhra Pradesh and Bangalore.
NT Rama Rao upon watching this movie said that
"Nobody can do or make this film better than Krishna and nobody can write
this better than Maharadhi”.
