Anthuleni Katha is a 1976 Telugu language film directed by K. Balachander, starring Jaya Prada in the lead role, with Rajinikanth, Sripriya and Phataphat Jayalaxmi in supporting roles. Kamal Haasan played a cameo. The film is a remake of the 1974 Tamil filmAval Oru Thodar Kathai, which was also directed by Balachander. This is Jaya Prada's first starring role, reprising the role played by Sujatha in the original and is considered to be one of her best films. This was also Rajinikanth's first major role. This film was shot in black-and-white.
Plot
Saritha is a working woman in a poor family. She works hard to support her widowed sister, unmarried sister, her blind younger brother, her mother, her drunkard brother Murthy and his family. Her father abandons the family and goes on a pilgrimage. Her brother not only does not take responsibilities, but also creates additional problems for her. She has a longtime boyfriend, who wants to marry her, but she doesn't because of her commitment to her family. His eyes now wander to Saritha's widowed younger sister, who reciprocates his feelings. Saritha, after reading her boyfriend's love letter to her sister, arranges for them to get married, thus giving up her chance of having a life with him. She eventually accepts a marriage proposal of her boss, when she realizes that her brother has become responsible enough to take care of her family. She also helps her distressed friend, played by Phataphat Jayalaksmi to settle in life. She decides to resign from hard work, but could not as the result of the turning point in a typical Balachandar style climax.
The film is a remake of Tamil super hit film Aval Oru Thodar Kathai, also directed by K. Balachander. It was also shot on black & white film. Jaya Prada played the role of Sujata, Rajinikanth did the role of Jai Ganesh, Kamal Haasan played the role of Narayana Rao. The same tunes were used in both languages. Sripriya, Phataphat Jayalaxmi and the rest of the cast are the same in both versions. The Tamil film was later was dubbed into Malayalam as Aval Oru Thudarkatha. In 1977, Mala Sinha starred in the Bengali remake titled Kabita, playing Jaya Prada. Kamal Haasan made his Bengali film debut with this film by acting in the same role that he played in the Tamil original film. Bharat Shamsher directed the black-and-white film. The film was remade in Hindi as Jeevan Dhaara by director Tatineni Rama Rao. Rekha did the role of Jaya Prada. Raj Babbar did the role of Rajinikanth. Rakesh Roshan did the role of Kamal Haasan, Amol Palekar did the role of Narayana Rao. Karan Razdan did the conductor role, Simple Kapadia did Phataphat Jayalaxmi's role. The film was shot in color. The film was a decent hit. In 1983, Balachander produced the Kannada remake titled Benkiyalli Aralida Hoovu, directed by Chandulal Jain and starring Suhasini, whose real-life uncle Kamal Haasan played the guest role of a bus conductor in this remake. The film was shot in color.
