As he walked past the Vauhini Studios recording theatre in Madras, Chakrapani heard a song being played there. Inside the theatre was producer-director BA Subbarao, for whose movie, Chenchulakshmi (1958), the song was recorded. Standing outside the theatre, Chakrapani listened to the song and when Subbarao stepped outside, he enquired who had written it. On learning the writer’s name, the Vijaya Productions boss commented, Arudra itlaanti paatalu koodaa raastaada… gattivaade. Later, when Subbarao conveyed this to Arudra, the lyricist was elated as he was aware that it was hard to please a literary critic like Chakrapani.
The song was Karunaalavala idi needu leela from the ANR, Anjali Devi starrer Chenchulakshmi. It was also Arudra’s first assignment with veteran composer Saluru Rajeswara Rao. In fact, it was Rajeswara Rao, who had recommended his name to B A Subbarao. He liked Arudra’s songs for the Raj Kapoor movie, Premalekhalu. It was like a dream come true for Arudra as he was a big fan of the maestro’s music from his student days.
The first song that Arudra wrote for Chenchulakshmi was for the character of Narada. Generally, the poems/songs written for Narada in the movies follow the pattern of using the different names of the Lord from Vishnu Sahasranaamam. Arudra wanted to break this routine. Moreover, the role was being played by Relangi Venkatramaiah, popular as a comedian. Keeping that in mind, Arudra brought in a mix of satire, humour and pun into the song, which he wrote after thoroughly going through the script and the scenes where the director intended to place the song bits. Though Narada appears in many scenes in the movie, B A Subbarao decided to keep the song in bits at four places.
The song and the scenes
Rajeswara Rao gave him the tune for the opening lines (Pallavi) and Arudra came up with the lines:
Karunaalavaala idi needu leelaa/ Anthayunu vintha pogadaga nenentha/ Nee maaya kaanaga leru/ Veyi nethraalu vunnanu yevaroo/ Karnaalavaala…
When Hiranyakasipu (played by SV Rangarao) does a penance to attain the boon of immortality from Brahma, Indra kidnaps Hiranyakasipu’s wife Leelavathi (Pushpavalli). As he takes her with him to Indraloka, Narada sings the song, condemning Indra’s dastardly act:
Parasathulanu cherapatte andhudoo/ Ithadaa suralokam paalinche Indrudoo/ Padavi meeda aasachetha prabhuvaayenu pasuvoo/ Paapamu thaanemi chese kadupuloni sisuvu/ Karunaalavaala…
Owing to Durvasa’s (Gummadi) curse, King Samudra (AV Subbarao) and his wife (Sandhya) assume the chenchu tribal form. Narada shows Samudra the divine fruit which begets them a girl child, who is none other than the incarnation of Aadi Lakshmi. It was then that Narada sings this song:
Srihariye natana suthradhaaree/ Kaani pravesinchu kotha paatradhaaree/ Idi nee vaadinchuchunna naatakamu/ Ika nundadu vinthalake kaatakamu/ Karunaalavaala…
After conquering Vaikuntham, the Vishnuloka, Hiranyakasipu holds Lakshmi captive and brings her with him to work as the queen’s maid in his palace. Narada visits her, woebegone at her plight, and sings these lines:
Adhinaadhuni pathni koodaa vidhiki baanise/ Jeeva pathamu maaripovunappudu chitrahimsaye/ Paalakadali lona putti vaikunthamu metti nelapaalu ayinaavaa/ Netiki Mahalakshmi Netiki Mahalakshmi/ Karunaalavaalaa…
After killing Hiranyakasipu, Ugra Narasimha (played by Koderu ‘Vastadu’ Raju with voice lent by ANR) ferociously roams around the forest. Even Lord Siva’s (Nagabhushanam) efforts fail to calm him. Narasimha sees Chenchulakshmi (Anjali Devi) and falls in love with her. He then calms down, sheds his Ugra Narasimha avatar and gets into his real self of Vishnu (ANR). Narada sings in banter:
Kantha chethilopala ye manthra munnado/ Yentha bheekarudainaa saantha mondhi teerune/ Inthi kanti choopuki inumaina karugunani/ Antha ugramoorthivee itula maarinaadavaa/ Karunaalavaala….
In the honeyed voice of Ghantasala, this song turned out to be a hit, along with the other songs of the movie.
Interestingly, a few reels of the movie were first shot with Bhanumathi as the heroine, but following differences, she opted out and Anjali Devi took her place. Hence, Relangi and ANR had to enact those scenes twice.Relangi was at first reluctant to play the role of Narada as he felt he would not fit into it. However, he gave such a brilliant performance that Subbarao signed him again for Narada’s role in Bhishma.