Aastiparulu

Aastiparulu
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	V. Madhusudhana Rao
Written by	Acharya Aatreya (dialogues)
Produced by	V. B. Rajendra Prasad
Starring	Akkineni Nageswara Rao Jayalalitha
Cinematography	C. Nageswara Rao
Edited by	A. Sanjeevi
Music by	K. V. Mahadevan
Production company	Jagapathi Art Productions
Release date	18 November 1966 (1966-11-18)
Running time	152 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu

Aastiparulu (transl. Wealthy people) is a 1966 Indian Telugu-language drama film, produced by V. B. Rajendra Prasad and directed by V. Madhusudhana Rao. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Jayalalithaa, with music composed by K. V. Mahadevan. The film was remade in Tamil as En Thambi ^[1] and in Hindi as Bhai Ho To Aisa. The storyline was also an inspiration for the 2008 Telugu film King (2008).

Zamindar Janardhan Rao holds high esteem in society. He lives with his wife, Kaasulamma, two sons, Krishna (from his first wife) and Bhaskar/Bachi, and an infant daughter, Ammulu. Krishna is generous, amiable, and devoted to his family, whereas the younger Bachi is a vagabond and malicious. As Krishna is his half-brother, Bachi always shows resentment. Krishna falls for his maternal aunt Rajyalakshmi's daughter Radha. Meanwhile, Bachi's misdeeds increase daily and Janardhan Rao cuts his allowance. So, one night he tries to steal money from the safe when his father sees it, confronts him and collapses with a heart attack. Before dying, he entrusts all of the authority on the property to Krishna and secretly reveals a hidden treasure from their family hierarchy. Janardhan Rao passes away and the family performs his final rites.

Homicidal Bachi pretends to have reformed and plots against Krishna to drown him in the river and show it as an accident. Krishna, how cannot swim, succumbs to the accident. Hearing of the news, Ammulu becomes terminally ill due to angst on Krishna. Hereupon, Rajayalakshmi decides to hand over the property to Bachi and couple him up with Radha, but her son Prasad wants to prevent the injustice. At that juncture, fortuitously, he spots Seenu, a drama artist who resembles Krishna. Prasad seeks his help, trains him well, and makes him perfectly resemble Krishna. However, Bachi does not accept it and feels that Seenu is a fake, so he makes various attempts to falsify Seenu but to no avail. At present, Rajyalakshmi begins the wedding arrangements of Krishna and Radha when perturbed Prasad divulges the reality. Thereupon, as a flabbergast, Seenu affirms himself as Krishna, who has escaped from death and entered in disguise to reform his brother, which no one believes, and he is thrown out. During that plight, Krishna remembers the hidden treasure through which he reveals the veracity and the fact that Bachi tried to kill him. Under the condition that he should go alone, Krishna goes to retrieve the treasure, but Bachi follows him and again tries to slaughter him. In the combat, Krishna escapes death and rescues Bachi against harm as well. At last, Bachi repents and pleads pardon from Krishna. Krishna marries Radha.

Music composed by K. V. Mahadevan.^[2] The song "Soggade Chinni Nayana" was used as the title of a 2016 film.^[3]

• Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu – V. B. Rajendra Prasad (1966)
• Nandi Award for Third Best Feature Film - Bronze (1966)^[4]

• Aastiparulu at IMDb