KANYASULKAM by GURAZADA APPARAO

Major Characters Agnihotravadhanlu : A resident of Krishnarayapuram agraharam Venkamma : Wife of Agnihotravadhanlu Bucchamma: Elder daughter of Agnihotravadhanlu Subbamma :Younger daughter of Agnihotravadhanlu Venkatesam : Son of Agnihotravadhanlu Karataka Sastrulu : Brother-in-law of Agnihotravadhanlu Sishyudu also known as ‘Mahesam’, Disciple of Karataka Sastrulu. Lubdhavadhanlu : A resident of Ramachandrapuram agraharam. Meenakshi : Widowed daughter of Lubdhavadhanlu GIRISAM Agnihotravadhanlu Ramappantulu Butchamma Ramappantulu : Karanam of Ramachandrapuram agraharam and Brother-in-law of Lubdhavadhanulu Girisam : cousin of Lubdhavadhanlu,Venkatesam’s tutor Saujanyaravu pantulu :Lawyer Bheemaravu pantulu : Lawyer Nayudu : Private Lawyer Poojari Gavarayya :Astrologer and Doctor Madhuravani : Prostitute(Dancing girl) “Siddanthi” : Friend of Ramappa Pantulu Madhuravani Lubdhavadhanlu Karataka Sastrulu Agnihotravadhanulu, a brahmin of Krishnarayapuram, decides to marry his young daughter Subbamma to an old and rich man called Lubdhavadhanulu, Venkamma his wife, Butchamma his eldest daughter but widowed young, and Kartakasastrulu his brother- in-law are quite against this marriage. Their eldest daughter, Butchamma, has become a widow because she was married to an old man, and that it would be foolish to commit the same blunder again Ramappa Panthulu was made to believe that Guntur Sastry (the pseudo name of Karatak Sastrulu) was in debt and in order to repay them he had no other alternative except to sell his daughter to any person whose bid was the highest. A letter was forged alleging that Agnihotrvadhanulu was not willing to give his daughter in marriage to Lubdhavadhanulu, as he was a miser and that his widowed daughter Meenakshi eloped with an young man. Lubdhavadhanulu was enraged against the promise breaker and married the daughter of Guntur Sastry. One night, soon after marriage, the student in disguise changed his dress and fled to his master. After a few days Agnihotravadhanulu, who was not aware of all these happenings, came to perform the marriage of his daughter, but he was told that Lubdhavadhanulu had already married the daughter of Guntur Sastry. The rage of Agnihotravadhanulu knew no bounds and in his anger he beat Lubdhavadhanulu black and blue. Then he filed a suit in the court for damages on the advice of Ramappa Panthulu Lubhavadanulu lost both his money and his wife. Guntur Sastry ran away with the money. Poor Lubdhavadhanulu was charged with the murder of his wife. Lawyer Soujanyarao Pantulu defended Lubdhavadhanulu and tried his best to solve the mystery of Guntur Sastry and his daughter. At that time Madhuravani, a dancing girl, came to his aid. She revealed the mystery that Lubdhavadhanulu married only a boy dressed as a girl and it was she who helped the boy to run away from the village to his master. Another story runs parallel to this story. A youth by name Girisam was residing in Vizianagaram. He used to pose himself as a reformer but in reality he was unscrupulous without any principles of life. He had illegal contact with a dancing girl, Madhuravani and a widow, a hotel keeper. Venkatesam the son of Agnihotravadhanulu, became a victim to his bad ways. Venkatesam failed in his Vth standard. He begged Girisam to help him with a plan to escape his father's anger. According to the plan, Girisam would accompany Venkatesam to his village and tell his father that the boy would be admitted into 1st form in Parvathipuram. Before leaving Vizianagaram, Girisam paid a parting visit to Madhuravani. She was also on her move to the house of Ramappa Panthulu. Hence the visit was not so romantic as Girisam expected. To his surprise the hotel keeper whom Girisam deceived appeared on the scene, and Girisam escaped through the back door. But poor Ramappa Panthulu hiding under the cot was beaten up both by Girisam and by the hotel keeper. Under these unavoidable circumstances Girisam left for Krishnarayapuram. In Krishnarayapuram he saw Butchamma the beautiful young widowed sister of his disciple and fell in love with her. She was also attracted by him, but was afraid to elope with him. Atlast Girisam succeeded in his attempt. The poor girl Butchamma was made to believe that she could stop the marriage of her sister with the old man only by her elopement. As she was very anxious to get the marriage stopped at any cost, she agreed to elope with Girisam. Lubdhavadhanulu was a cousin of Girisam. The character of Girisam, Madhuravani and Ramappantulu make the play wholesome. The play Kanyasulkam was adapted into Telugu movie with the title as Kanyasulkam with a lofty ensemble of stars including N.T.Rama Rao, Savitri, C.S.R. Anjanayulu, Gummadi Venkateswara Rao, Suryakantham, Chaya Devi and Hemalatha, under the direction of P.Pulliah Act I: Scene -1: It takes place in a village called 'Bonkula Dibba' near Vijayanagaram, in North Eastern part of Andhra Pradesh. We can see introduction of some characters , their nature and the jobs they do. The lead character Girisam is an English educated man, who wants to reform the society from its evil practices. His life is full of debts; he used to live in the house of Putakoolamma, a widow. He wants to go to Venkatesam's native place as his teacher to train him in English education. Through his speeches, we can understand the character of Girisam. He comments about the traditional practices, which have strong roots in the society. In the meantime he wants to visit Madhuravani's house. Act-I : Scene-2 Here, Ramappantulu was introduced. The encounter between Girisam, Ramappantulu and Madhuravani gives a comic effect. when Pootakoolamma comes in search of Girisam for taking some money from her and she beats Ramappantulu with the broom stick while the two hide under Madhuravani‘s cot. Act-II : Scene -1 It takes place at Krishnarayapuram in Agnihotravadhanlu's house .Here we come across some of the characters: Karataka Sastrulu and his student, Mahesam ,Venkamma, Agnihotravadhanlu's wife. Meenakshi and Subbi, their eldest and younger daughters. Meenakshi is a widow. In this scene we know about some evil practices at that time, like objection to widow re-marriages, selling girls and hatred towards English education. Some of the speeches are humourous, Venkamma's zeal for English and Karatakasastrulu‘s sarcastic statements about bride price etc,. Act -II: Scene 2 In the Temple garden. Here we can see Karatakasastrulu's student showing the usefulness of English education and a version towards the traditional way of by hearting the Vedas and the themes are useless as stated in the Telugu books. Here some of the ironical situations can be thought of by Karatakasastrulu, who wants to save his sister's younger daughter, Subbi from marrying Girisam's cousin Lubdhavadhanlu. He gets the idea of changing his student to a bride and plans to arrange for the marriage. Act-II: Scene-3 In front of Agnihotravadhanlu's house. Girisam and Venkatesam are present. Here, we can see the characters encountering each other at the time of dinner. They talk about English education, Girisam's political strategies like gaining name and fame under the name of social reform by supporting child marriages and widow re-marriages. We can see how people roaming around the courts to get law suits etc,. In this scene he recites a poem on "The Widow" to Venkatesam..

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