Lava Kusa (also spelled as Lava Kusha) is a 1963 Indian bilingual Hindu mythological film directed by C.

S. Rao and his father C. Pullaiah. The film's script was written by Samudrala Raghavacharya. The film was
produced by Shankar Reddy under Lalita Sivajyothi films. The film was shot in
both Telugu and Tamil languages with the same title, but with slight differences in the cast. The film was a
remake of 1934 film of same name which was also directed by C. Pullaiah. The story is an adaptation of
the Uttara Kanda from Ramayana. It revolves around the roles of Lava and Kusa, sons of Rama (N. T. R.)
and Seetha (Anjali Devi). The Telugu version stars Kanta Rao, Shoban Babu, S. Varalakshmi, Kaikala
Satyanarayana in supporting roles, replaced in that order by M. R. Radha and Manorama in the Tamil
counterpart.
Production began in 1958 but was stopped due to financial constraints. When it restarted, C. Pullaiah's
health was deteriorating, so his son C. S. Rao took over. The soundtrack features 27 songs, with the
musical score primarily composed by Ghantasala and KV Mahadevan, and the lyrics by Vempati Sadasiva
and Samudrala Raghavacharya (Telugu) and Maruthakasi (Tamil). The Telugu version of Lava Kusa was
released on 29 March 1963, while the Tamil version was released the following month, on 19 April. The
former won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu for that year. It was also dubbed
in Kannada, and later in Hindi in 1974. This film was later remade with the title Sri Rama Rajyam in 2011.

Development[edit]
A. Sankara Reddy wished to produce a film based on the Hindu epic Ramayana with N. T. Rama
Rao and Anjali Devi in the lead roles after watching them play the roles of Ramaand Sita in the song
"Murisenu Lokamu" from Charanadasi, the Telugu version of the 1956 Tamil language film Mathar Kula
Manickam. C. Pullaiah, who was planning to remake his 1934 Telugu language directorial Lava Kusa,
agreed to direct it for Sankara Reddy's Lalitha Sivajyothi films.[3] The remake, also titled Lava Kusa,[3] is the
first full-length colour film of Telugu cinema.[4] Writer Vempati Sadasivabrahmam, who worked with Pullaiah
for Charanadasi, was chosen to write the remake's script.[3] During the process, Sadasivabrahmam stayed
faithful to the screenplay and the dialogue written for the original by Vallabhajosyula Ramanamurthy
and Balijepalli Lakshmikantham respectively.[3]
The production costs escalated because of Sankara Reddy's decision to make the film in colour. The film's
production commenced in 1958 and got stuck due to lack of funds after completion of one-third of the
planned portions.[3] After five years, Sundarlal Nahata offered to provide funds in lieu of the film's
distribution rights and B. Nagi Reddy provided studio facilities. By then, Pullaiah's health deteriorated and
Sankara Reddy approached Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy to complete the film. Narasimha Reddy
advised him to consider Pullaiah's son C. S. Rao.[3] Rao was reluctant, opining that nothing dramatic was
left for him to film. Pullaiah convinced Rao to take up the task, stating that the emotional scenes in Rama’s
palace were of equal importance to the story.[3]

Casting[edit]
Lava Kusa was filmed as a bilingual in Telugu and Tamil languages with differences in casting.[3] Anaparthi
Nagaraju and Viyyuri Subrahmanyam were cast as Lava and Kusarespectively in Telugu.[5] For the Tamil
version, they were replaced by Baby Uma and Master Murali.[3] Subrahmanyam was cast after the makers
saw him perform the same character in a play staged in Kakinada. He was a nine year old when the filming
began and was 14 when the film released.[4] Unlike Subrahmanyam, Nagaraju acted in a few films
before Lava Kusa; Pullaiah offered him the role after observing his work. Nagaraju was eight years old
when the filming began.[4]
Kanta Rao was cast for the role of Lakshmana. When the actor was being diagnosed for eosinophilia and
became obese, he was offered the role of Shatrughna.[6] Rama Rao insisted Sankara Reddy to let Kanta
Rao play Lakshmana,[6] and Sobhan Babu was signed to play Shatrughna.[3] Kaikala Satyanarayana, Chittor
V. Nagaiah, and Arja Janardhana Rao were chosen to play the roles of Bharata, Valmiki,
and Anjaneya respectively.[3]

Filming