Prema Nagar was a Blockbuster, grossing ₹1.45 crores at the box office. D. Ramanaidu whose earlier films had failed and was in financial troubles had a dramatic turnaround in his career with the stupendous success of Prema Nagar.[1][4] The film had a theatrical run of over 750 days.[2] It was remade in Tamil as Vasantha Maligai (1972) and in Hindi as Prem Nagar (1974) by K. S. Prakash Rao himself.[2][5]
Plot
The film revolves around a Zamindari tycoon clan. Kalyan, the second heir is an alcoholic playboy and spends his life frolicking. Once on board a flight, he is acquainted with an air hostess, Latha, and she senses his lifestyle. Latha is the only breadwinner of an extended family. Since the occasion warrants, she must resign and walk to Kalyan for the post of secretarial assistant. He stipulates to act according to his temperament, which she agrees with until it affects her self-esteem. The next day, they proceed to their estate palace, where Kalyan introduces Latha to his vainglorious mother Ranigaru, vicious brother Kesava Varma and termagant sister-in-law Indrani. Following this, Kesava Varma splits the property, pretending to do so for Kalyan's welfare. Hence, he entrusts his totality in Latha's direction, which she leads perfectly. Though Latha misinterprets Kalyan's eccentricity, she gradually comprehends his divine integrity.
Meanwhile, Rani perturbs Kalyan's disrepute as debauchery when Latha assures him to reform him. Ergo, she forcibly seeks to hinder his alcoholism and gets badly hurt in that scuffle. Kalyan collapses, spotting her blood, and shares his tragic pain. From birth, his mother entirely disregards him, who is doted on by a lady of adoration, Aaya. Green-eyed Rani slaughtered her because Kalyan idolized her. The incident made a profound impact on him, and he molded into an inebriate for letting off grief. Currently, Kalyan swears on Latha to relinquish vices forever and become a man of the mark. Now, Kalyan surprises Latha by bestowing a palace, Prem Nagar, to Latha as an eternal of his heavenly love.
Consequently, Rani & Keshava Varma conspire to detach the two, so they incriminate Latha in a theft, which makes Kalyan too suspicious, and Latha quits. Later, Kalyan breaks out of the plot and exits, ostracizing his family. Forthwith, he rushed for Latha and apologized, which she rejected as her self-reverence was offended. Thus, Kalyan loses his composure, leading to health deterioration. Here, the doctors advise him to get a drink, which he cannot do as per his oath. Knowing it, Latha arrives and appeals to do so. Then, he asks her to state that she does not love him. So, Latha accepts the alliance fixed by her elders. Knowing it, Kalyan visits the wedding and covertly meets & blesses Latha. Discerning it, the bridal party calls off the nuptial, denouncing Latha. Suddenly, Rani enters the room, pleads pardon, and declares Latha as her daughter-in-law, who moves to Kalyan. Till then, lovesick Kalyan lands at Prem Nagar and consumes poison. At last, after hospitalization, Kalyan survives. Finally, the movie ends happily with the union of the turtle doves.
The film is based on the novel of the same name written by Koduri Kausalya Devi.[3]K. S. Prakash Rao scripted the film with dialogue given by Acharya Aatreya. K. A. Marthand performed the editing while S. Venkataratnam handled the cinematography. S. Krishna Rao is the Art Director.
