Bahubali’s record collection everywhere has triggered a debate if it was the first time a Telugu movie engulfed Bollywood like forest fire. It is not the first time, records say.
LAVA KUSH a Hindi dubbed version of the Telugu film Lava Kusha (1963 ) was released after 10 years in 1974. In Punjab the Hindi dubbed version was released in September 1975. Hindi prints were made on ‘Eastman Color’ positive, where as the original was in ‘Geva Color’.
One can compare the collections of this dubbed version film with the Hindi Films and Punjabi Films ‘Teri Meri Ik Jindri’ and Mittar Pyare Noon’ released during that period in Punjab Circuit. The HIndi songs were also so popular. Radio Ceylon and Vividh Bharathi repeatedly broadcast the songs in 1974-75.
Lava Kusha was directed by CS Rao and C Pullayya and written by Samudrala Raghavacharya. The blockbuster film won National Film Award and Best Feature Film in Telugu for the year 1963. The film was also dubbed in to Kannada, Tamil and later into Hindi. It was the first South Indian movie to get the collection of ₹10 million, at a time when the average ticket price was just ₹0.25.
