The shooting of the film was held at Venus Studios, Madras. Anjali Devi had a sentimental attachment with the studio and most of her home productions were shot there. The outdoor shooting was held at Shimsa Falls, Mysore. The movie new to the audience, yet they made Anjali Pictures Suvarna Sundari a big hit in all three languages in which it was produced.
Plot
This is a Folklore story, Jayanth, the prince of Kulothungan Chozlan takes leaves of his Guru, after completing his education. Peeved by his refusal to marry her, Guru's daughter Sarala falsely accuses him of breaching her chastity. The minister's son Vasanthan advises Jayanth to stay incognito for some time to escape punishment from the king. So, Jayanthan gets ousted from the kingdom. He stays in a cave where he meets celestial dancer Suvarna Sundari, who comes to earth on every Kaarteeka Pournami day. Their love story is laced with curses and boons. They love each other. Lord Indra comes to know about their love and curses Suvarna Sundari. As a result, Jayanth forgets her. She loses her child near the river. How the two protagonists reunite forms the story. Jayanthi played his female guise, due to a curse.
Table of ''Manaalane Mangayin Bhakkyam'' and its other versions and remakes
Anjali Pictures planned to dub the Tamil version of the movie into Hindi and invited Lata Mangeshkar to render the songs. She saw the movie and advised the producers to remake it in Hindi. When the Bombay film distributors expressed similar views, Manaalane Mangaiyin Baakkiyam was remade in Hindi as Suvarna Sundari with A. Nageswara Rao and Anjali Devi in lead. It was huge hit too. When asked to select her 25 best renditions during the sliver jubilee year of her career, Lata Mangeshkar picked Muje Naa bela.. from Suvarna Sundari as one of the 25.
Box office
Manaalane Mangaiyin Baakkiyam celebrated a 100-day run in many centres. Suvarna Sundari was released on 19 may, 1957 and it celebrated 100 days in 17 centres and ran for 25 weeks in five centres.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by P. Adinarayana Rao. All lyrics were by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass. Playback singers are Ghantasala, S. C. Krishnan, M. S. Rama Rao, P. Suseela, P. Leela & A. P. Komala. The songs in Tamil version Azhaikaadhe Ninaikkaadhe and Telugu version Piluvakuraa Alugakuraa by P. Suseela in Raga Hindolam are still very popular semi-classical songs. The song "Thesulaavudhe Then Malare", which was composed as a Raagmalika, that is a combination of 4 Raagas - Sohini/Hamsanandani, Bahaar, Jaunpuri and Yaman still remains popular and was sung by Ghantasala and P. Susheela in Tamil and in Hindi, the same song was reenacted as "Kooh Kooh Bolere" by Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi.
