Raja Makutam (1960)

An unacknowledged adaptation of Ramanna’s ‘folkloric’ adventure Pudumaipithan (1957) by a director known for reformist films. The king is assassinated in the absence of his son Prince Pratap (NTR). When Pratap returns in disguise, he falls in love with the village belle Prameela (Rajasulochana). He becomes a public enemy when he sentences the men who appear to be guilty of the killing, one of whom is Prameela’s brother, but the real villain is Prachanda, the prince’s uncle. Disguised as an avenging revolutionary known as the Black Snake, Pratap dethrones the villain. The Telugu version of the bilingual (Reddi’s only two- language film) was a success, but the director later disowned it for pandering to commercialism.