a man's torso and a lion's face), and kills Hiranyakashipu. Narasimha's anger is cooled by Prahlada and the deities, who praise him in song and ask him to re-appear as Srihari. Vishnu appears, crowns Prahlada as king of the demons, and advises him to lead a virtuous life as a ruler. Cast Male cast S. V. Ranga Rao as Hiranyakashipu M. Balamuralikrishna as Narada Relangi as Chanda Padmanabham as Amarka Haranath as Vishnu Dhulipala Seetarama Sastry as Indra Ramana Reddy as a snake charmer V. Sivaram as Kashyapa V. Nagayya as Shukracharya (cameo appearance) Vijayakumar as one of the Four Kumaras T. S. Balaiah and A. Karunanidhi as Prahlad's mentors (Tamil version) Rajendra Nath and Dhumal (Hindi version) Female cast Anjali Devi as Leelavathi Jayanthi as Diti T. Kanakam as a snake charmer Baby Roja Ramani as Prahlada L. Vijayalakshmi as a dancer in Hiranyakashipu's court Gitanjali as Menaka Vijaya Lalitha as Urvashi Vennira Aadai Nirmala as Tilottama Shanta as Rambha Production Development A fan of stories based on children, AVM Productions founder A. V. Meiyappan wanted to produce a film based on the legend of Prahlada (a character in Bhagavata Purana known for his devotion to the Hindu god Vishnu) with his sons M. Kumaran, M. Saravanan and M. Murugan. Encouraged by the success of Naadi Aada Janme (1965), the Telugu remake of his Tamil production Naanum Oru Penn (1963), Meiyappan decided to produce Bhaktha Prahlada in Telugu. According to Kumaran, Meiyappan believed that mythological films were more appreciated by the Telugu audience than they were by the Tamil diaspora. D. V. Narasa Raju wrote the film's story and screenplay, since Meiyappan wanted a more contemporary and dramatic approach. Unlike the 1932 and 1942 Telugu films of the same name which were filmed in black-and-white, Meiyappan wanted this version to be filmed in colour. Chitrapu Narayana Rao, who directed the 1942 film, approached Meiyappan in May 1965 and asked to direct a film. Meiyappan signed him as director for Bhaktha Prahlada, since Narayana Rao was in financial straits due to the failure of his Krishna Kuchela (1961). S. Rajeswara Rao composed the film's soundtrack and background score. A. Vincent handled the cinematography, R. Vittal edited the film and A. K. Sekhar was its art director. Casting S. V. Ranga Rao and Anjali Devi were cast as the demon king Hiranyakashipu and his wife, Leelavathi (Kayadhu in Bhagavata Purana). The