Ave Kallu (transl. The Similar Eyes) is a 1967 Indian Telugu-language mystery thriller film directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar and produced by AVM Productions, starring Krishna and Kanchana. It was simultaneously made in Tamil as Athey Kangal, with Kanchana reprising her role.[1] The film was released on 14 December 1967.[2] It is considered the first Telugu thriller film to be entirely made in colour.[3]
| Ave Kallu | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | A. C. Tirulokchandar |
| Story by | A. C. Tirulokchandar |
| Produced by | A. V. Meiyappan |
| Starring | Krishna Kanchana |
| Cinematography | S. Maruti Rao |
| Edited by | R. G. Gope |
| Music by | Vedha |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 164 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
Plot
editA woman named Vasantha gets ready for a party but finds her husband Ranganatham dead. A masked murderer tries to kill her as well, but she escapes from him. Vasantha is left in a state of shock and becomes mentally paralysed. A case is registered and the investigation takes place with a police inspector in charge. Suseela aka Susi, a college student, along with her friends, arrives to her aunt Vasantha's home for vacation. There lives her younger paternal uncles Rajasekhar and Chandrasekhar, her aunt Vasantha, a butler Naganna, and a regularly visiting old ayurvedic doctor, Ramayya who is a close aide and good friend of the family. During her stay, a series of murders take place at the house with every time a cigar bit being left by the murderer intentionally.
Since Vasantha is the only eyewitness of the murderer, her life is in danger. Despite tight security, Vasantha is killed by the murderer, who frequently makes calls to Susi and threatens that she will be his next target. Susi is disturbed by the incidents at her home and the threatening phone calls. Susi meets Bhaskar, a young man who eventually falls in love with Susi. He also promises to help her. Bhaskar investigates Chandrasekhar, and later Rajasekhar; he follows him to a strange house where a woman wanders like a ghost. She is actually Rajasekhar's lover, who was rescued some years back by him when she attempted suicide. Rajasekhar kept quiet as he wants Susi to get married first, only then he would marry his lover.
Bhaskar sends everyone out of the house for a night to lure the murderer. As expected, the murderer shows up to Susi's room to kill her. Bhaskar tries to unmask the murderer but fails, seeing only his eyes before he escapes leaving his mask behind. Then, the doorbell rings and Bhaskar answers, only to find Chandrasekhar murdered at the doorstep. Rajasekhar wants everyone to vacate the house after celebrating Susi's birthday party. On the day of the party, the murderer shoots at Susi but misses. Bhaskar chases him, but loses track. He sees Ramayya injured in the garden and brings him home. Everyone begins to theorize the reason behind the murders and figure out the killer. Ramayya urges Rajasekhar to tell about his family which might help them find the identity of the murderer. Rajasekhar reveals that his father had an extramarital affair with a woman and they had a son. When Rajasekhar's father was ailing and on his deathbed, the woman and her son came to visit him but Rajasekhar's eldest brother (Susi's father) angrily necked them out. The woman and her 10-year old son died 15 years ago, in a fire allegedly set by Susi's father.
Bhaskar theorizes that the son may not have died and is actually the murderer killing the family members as vengeance. Given that Rajasekhar's father died 15 years ago and the woman's son was about 10 years old at that time, Bhaskar confirms his theory as the murderer who fought him was also about 25 years of age. He also states that the murderer is present along with them in the same room as he has seen the murderer's eyes multiple times around him. Bhaskar has everyone line up and places the murderer's mask on the face of each man present to verify whose eyes match with the murderer's eyes. He ultimately exposes Ramayya, who has disguised himself using prosthetics, as the murderer. Ramayya confirms that Bhaskar's theory is correct, and he escaped from the fire set by his elder brother, but saw his mother die in flames. He swore vengeance and that he shall destroy the family. When he attempts to kill Rajasekhar and Susi, Bhaskar intervenes and they engage in combat. In the ensuing fight, the murderer escapes and Bhaskar chases him. While he is struggling to run, the police shoot him, where he disappears in a tunnelway in the garden. Everyone finds a secret room beneath the garden which leads to the murderer's house, thus everyone realizes this is how he escaped after committing each murder. A tearful Rajasekhar sees the murderer's dead body and indicates he accepted him as his brother. The film ends with Bhaskar marrying Susi and staying happily in the same house, while Rajasekhar marries his lover.
Cast
edit- Krishna as Bhaskar
- Kanchana as Susila "Susi"
- Rajanala as Rajasekhar
- Padmanabham as Nityanandam
- Ramana Reddy as Naganna
- Gummadi as Inspector
- Nagabhushanam as Doctor
- S. V. Ramadas as Chandrasekhar
- Typist Gopu as Baby
- Anand Mohan is Driver
- Geethanjali as Julie
- Vennira Aadai Nirmala as Mala
- Pushpa Kumari as Vasantha
Soundtrack
editMusic composed by Vedha.[4][5]
| Song Title | Singers | Length |
|---|---|---|
| "Chakkani Parku Vundhi" | L. R. Eswari, Pithapuram Nageswara Rao | 3:25 |
| "Chelimi Chenthaku Piluchuko" | L. R. Eswari | 4:00 |
| "Dum Dum Dum Gangireddhu" | P. Susheela | 3:43 |
| "Evaru Nee Vaaru" | Ghantasala | 3:34 |
| "Maa Oollo Oka Paduchundhi" | Ghantasala, Pithapuram Nageswara Rao | 5:26 |
| "Muddhuloluku Chinnadhi" | Ghantasala, P. Susheela | 3:35 |
| "Oh Oh Yentati Andham" | Ghantasala, P. Susheela | 4:53 |
| "O Priyathama" | P. Susheela | 4:42 |
References
edit- ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (18 June 2016). "A director who stood tall". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 19 June 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ Sri (4 May 2005). "Ave Kallu (1967)". Telugucinema.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
- ^ "'అవేకళ్లు'.. 50ఏళ్లు." Eenadu (in Telugu). 14 December 2017. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
- ^ "Ave Kallu (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Apple Music. December 1967. Archived from the original on 4 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ "Avey Kallu (1967)-Song_Booklet". Indiancine.ma. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.