Bommala Pelli
{{short description|1958 film}}
{{Long plot|date=February 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| image = Bommala Pelli.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster in Telugu
| director = R. M. Krishnaswamy
| screenplay = Acharya Aatreya
| producer = M. Radhakrishnan
R. M. Krishnaswamy
| starring = Sivaji Ganesan
Jamuna
Mynavathi
| cinematography = C. A. Madhusudhan
| editing = R. M. Venugopal
| music = K. V. Mahadevan
| studio = Aruna Films
| distributor = Subbu & Co. (Tamil)
| released = {{Film date|1958|01|11|Telugu|1958|05|03|Tamil|df=y}}
| runtime = 131 minutes
| country = India
| language = Telugu
Tamil
}}
Bommala Pelli ({{lit|Wedding of dolls}}; colloquially: Fake wedding) is a 1958 Indian Telugu-language film, directed by R. M. Krishnaswamy. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Jamuna and Mynavathi. It was simultaneously produced in Tamil as Bommai Kalyanam.
Plot
Suryam (Kannan in Tamil) is a playful teenage boy, in the cusp between puberty and adolescent, the son of the famous and well-to-do lawyer Perayya (Varatharajan in Tamil) and Parvathamma (Thangam in Tamil). While playing football, he meets Radha, the daughter of a well respected freedom fighter family of Simhadri (Veeramuthu in Tamil) and Seshamma (Maragatham in Tamil). At first sight both fall in love.
Perayya is a modest man, but Parvathamma is a greedy woman. Parvathamma wishes to marry off Suryam to her brother Chalamayya's (Sonachalam in Tamil) and Bhadramma's (Perundevi in Tamil) daughter Bullemma (Kannamma in Tamil) and invites them to her place. Bullemma is a naïve girl and Thimaiyya (Mannar in Tamil), Bhadramma 's brother loves her. Perayya likes the simplicity of Simhadri's family and agrees on the alliance of Suryam and Radha. When Parvathamma opposes this, Perayya , in order to carry on with the wedding, lies to her that Simhadri will present a large dowry. The wedding takes place.
After the wedding, Bhadramma, who is furious that Bullemma is not the bride, instigates Parvathamma to query regarding the dowry. A scuffle takes place between the two families and Parvathamma wishes to send back Saroja to her parents place, but Suryam sides with Saroja and accepts her whole-heartedly. Meanwhile, Chalamayya wishes to leave home, but Bhadramma , who is in agony, decides to stay back and plans to create hatred between Parvathamma and Radha. In turn, Parvathamma tortures Saroja in every possible way, but Saroja fights back and keeps calm. Matters get worse when Perayya dies, but not before seeking a promise from Suryam not to disobey Parvathamma. Suryam and Radha's marriage life hits a roadblock. When coming to know that Parvathamma treats Saroja very badly, Simhadri steps in and takes Radha, who is driven away by both Parvathamma and Bhadramma, away to his place.
When Suryam comes back, Parvathamma and Bhadramma lie to him that Saroja had gone to her parents place along with Simhadri, without seeking their consent. That night, Saroja tries to meet Suryam, but Parvathamma would not let Saroja in. Meanwhile, Bullemma unwittingly lets know Suryam regarding this incident and Suryam goes to Simhadri's place to explain, in order to take back Radha. Simhadri spells out to Suryam clearly that Saroja would not go to Suryam's place as long as Parvathamma is there. Taking this opportunity, Parvathamma and Bhadramma force and arrange Bullemma to be married to Suryam. Observing all this, Chalamayya and Thimaiyya attempt to abduct Bullemma, but fail. To make matters worse, Parvathamma sends a letter to Saroja informing that Suryam would remarry and restricts Saroja not to interfere in Suryam's life any more.
On the engagement day, Suryam who is badly disturbed by the events, falls from the first floor of his balcony and is badly injured. Upon hearing this, Saroja rushes to Suryam's place, was stopped by Simhadri , but later consents after hearing to Radha's plea. Suryam is happy to see Saroja around, tells her not to leave him even though Parvathamma mistreats her and Saroja assures this. At this juncture, Parvathamma and Bhadramma further humiliate Simhadri to the worst, which drives him to sell his mansion to compensate with much dowry. Parvathamma tries all her best to drive Saroja away, but to no avail and she becomes violent. Saroja hides in one of the rooms, but Parvathamma tries to force open the door, when the door collapse onto Parvathamma. At the same time, Simhadri parades the dowry items from his home throughout the streets, much to the residents' dismay and reaches Suryam's place. Upon seeing all this, Bhadramma and Bullemma flee.
Parvathamma realises her error on her deathbed and seeks apology from Suryam, Saroja and Simhadri then dies. Suryam and Saroja reunite and live happily.
Cast
| class="wikitable"
|+ ! colspan="5"|Male cast ! rowspan ="10" {{cEmpty}} ! colspan="5"|Female cast |
| Cast (Telugu)
!Cast (Tamil) !Role (Telugu) !Role (Tamil) ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{refh}} !Cast (Telugu) !Cast (Tamil) !Role (Telugu) !Role (Tamil) ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{refh}} |
|---|
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| Sivaji Ganesan
|style="text-align:center;"|Suryam |style="text-align:center;"|Kannan | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| Jamuna |style="text-align:center;"|Saroja |style="text-align:center;"|Radha |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| V. Nagayya
|style="text-align:center;"|Perayya |style="text-align:center;"|Varatharajan | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| Santha Kumari |style="text-align:center;"|Parvathamma |style="text-align:center;"|Thangam |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| S. V. Ranga Rao
|style="text-align:center;"|Simhadri |style="text-align:center;"|Veeramuthu | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| Mynavathi |style="text-align:center;"|Bullemma |style="text-align:center;"|Kannamma |
| style="text-align:center;"|Ramana Reddy
|style="text-align:center;"|Friend Ramasamy |style="text-align:center;"|Chalamayya |style="text-align:center;"|Sonachalam |style="text-align:center;"|Suryakantham |style="text-align:center;"|M. S. Sundari Bai |style="text-align:center;"|Bhadramma |style="text-align:center;"|Perundevi |
| style="text-align:center;"|{{ill|Nalla Ramamurthy|te|నల్ల రామమూర్తి}}
|style="text-align:center;"|Kaka Radhakrishnan |style="text-align:center;"|Thimaiyya |style="text-align:center;"|Mannar | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Rushyendramani |style="text-align:center;"|Seshamma |style="text-align:center;"|Maragatham |
;Telugu
{{Cast listing|
- Vangara Venkata Subbaiah as the sanyasi
- Gauripati Shastri as Somayajulu
- Y. V. Raju as Doctor
- B. V. Ramanachari as Bhima
- Bhavana Rishi as Sambhu
- Lakshmi Devi as Kamala
- Sitarammamma as Mangamma
}}
Soundtrack
The music was composed by K. V. Mahadevan.
| class="wikitable"
! Song !! Singers !! Lyrics !! Length | |||
| "Chitti Baava" | Pithapuram Nageswara Rao & Swarnalatha | Acharya Aatreya | 03:27 |
| "Raavo Kanaraavo" | A. M. Rajah & Jikki | Sri Sri | 02:29 |
| "Avunaa Idhi Thudiavunaa" | Jikki | Acharya Aatreya | 02:53 |
| "Haayigaa Theeyagaa" | A. M. Rajah & Jikki | Acharya Aatreya | 03:31 |
| "Raaramma Raaramma" | Jikki | Acharya Aatreya | 02:56 |
| "Chikkave Chindana" | Pithapuram Nageswara Rao | Acharya Aatreya | 02:42 |
| "Vasantham Inthenaa" | Jikki | Acharya Aatreya | 03:00 |
| "Ninne Ninne Meghama" | P. Susheela & K. Jamuna Rani | Acharya Aatreya | 03:06 |
| "Kalyaname Cheli Vaibhogame" | A. P. Komala | Acharya Aatreya | 03:54 |
| "Hareram Hareram" | Acharya Aatreya | 03:54 |
;Tamil songs{{Cite web |title=Bommai Kalyanam |url=http://gaana.com/album/bommai-kalyanam |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403083221/http://gaana.com/album/bommai-kalyanam |archive-date=3 April 2015 |access-date=25 September 2014 |website=Gaana}}{{Cite book |last=Neelamegam |first=G. |title=Thiraikalanjiyam — Part 1 |date=December 2014 |publisher=Manivasagar Publishers |edition=1st |location=Chennai |pages=154 |language=Tamil}}
The song "Nillu Nillu Megame" by P. Susheela, K. Jamuna Rani & Group did not take place in this film.
| class="wikitable"
! Song !! Singers !! Lyrics !! Length | |||
| "Aasai Vachchen" | Seerkazhi Govindarajan & T. V. Rathnam | Udumalai Narayana Kavi | 03:27 |
| "Anbe Nee Ange" | A. M. Rajah & Jikki | A. Maruthakasi | 02:29 |
| "Idhuvo Namgathi" | Jikki | Udumalai Narayana Kavi | 02:53 |
| "Inbame Pongume" | A. M. Rajah & Jikki | A. Maruthakasi | 03:31 |
| "Kalyaanam Kalyaanam" | Jikki & Group | Udumalai Narayana Kavi | 02:56 |
| "Ennam Pole Pennum" | Seerkazhi Govindarajan | Udumalai Narayana Kavi | 02:42 |
| "Vasandha Kaalam" | Jikki | Udumalai Narayana Kavi | 03:00 |
| "Nillu Nillu Megame" | P. Susheela, K. Jamuna Rani & Group | A. Maruthakasi | 03:06 |
| "Kalyaname Selvi Kalyaname" | A. P. Komala & Group | A. Maruthakasi | 03:54 |
| "Raajaadhi Rajan Vandhen" | Kaka Radhakrishnan | Udumalai Narayana Kavi | 02:05 |
Release and reception
Bommai Kalyanam was released by Subbu & Co.{{Cite magazine |date=4 May 1958 |title=பொம்மை கல்யாணம் |url=https://archive.org/details/kalki1958-05-04/page/n59/mode/2up |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240923093539/https://archive.org/details/kalki1958-05-04/page/n59/mode/2up |archive-date=23 September 2024 |access-date=23 September 2024 |magazine=Kalki |page=59 |language=ta |via=Internet Archive}} Bommala Pelli fared slightly better than Bommai Kalyanam,{{Cite web |date=2 December 2018 |title=வீட்டை வாங்கி பார், மெட்டை போட்டு பார்! |url=http://www.dinamalarnellai.com/web/news/61136 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807051430/http://www.dinamalarnellai.com/web/news/61136 |archive-date=7 August 2021 |access-date=3 May 2020 |website=Dinamalar |language=ta}} which ran for 50 days in theatres.{{Cite web |last=ஜெயந்தன் |first=ஆர்.சி. |date=4 May 2018 |title=பொன்விழா: ஒரே ஆண்டில் 8 வெற்றிப்படங்கள்! |url=https://www.hindutamil.in/news/supplements/hindu-talkies/127788-8.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503131037/https://www.hindutamil.in/news/supplements/hindu-talkies/127788-8.html |archive-date=3 May 2020 |access-date=3 May 2020 |website=Hindu Tamil Thisai |language=ta}} Bommai Kalyanam was panned by Kanthan of Kalki.{{Cite magazine |last=காந்தன் |date=18 May 1958 |title=பொம்மை கல்யாணம் |url=https://archive.org/details/kalki1958-05-18/page/n19/mode/2up |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240923093216/https://archive.org/details/kalki1958-05-18/page/n19/mode/2up |archive-date=23 September 2024 |access-date=11 October 2022 |magazine=Kalki |pages=18–19 |language=ta |via=Internet Archive}}
References
{{reflist}}