director, appeared as Prahlada's classmate and was the first actor to be given a comical role. With a budget of between and , Bhakta Prahlada was shot over 18 or 20 days at Imperial Studios, Bombay. Principal photography was done by Adi M. Irani using the Parvo camera. H. R. Padmanabha Sastry from Prabhat Film Company composed the soundtrack, and the lyrics were provided by Ramakrishnamacharyulu and Chandala Kesavadasu, including poems by the 15th-century writer Pothana. Because playback singers were unpopular back then, actors were required to sing their lines with an orchestra located far from the camera. The film's duration was 108 minutes. Release, reception, and legacy Bhakta Prahlada was believed to have been released on 15 September 1931, but the film historian Rentala Jayadeva found out that it actually premiered on 6 February 1932 (in Bombay). Jayadeva said it was impossible for the film to release before its 22 January 1932 censorship date. Bhakta Prahlada was released on 2 April 1932 in Madras (present-day Chennai). It was a commercial success but generated varied opinions from critics, owing to its resemblance to the stage version, poor sound recording, and the picture's low quality. The journalist Maddali Sathyanarayana Sarma, who saw the film twice, said the film has almost no differences with the stage version, but praised the sound and songs. Now a lost film, surviving artefacts include a few stills, advertisements, and contemporary reviews. All early films were shot on highly flammable and silver-containing nitrate film. According to the archivist P. K. Nair, who founded the National Film Archive of India, 70 percent of pre-1950 Indian films are unavailable for archiving, probably due to fire or being stripped for the silver. It was only after 1951 that film producers started using cellulose acetate film, which is considered more fire-resistant. Bhakta Prahlada is regarded as the first released Telugu-language sound film. The story of Prahlada was adapted twice more in Telugu cinema in 1942 and 1967. Notes References External links 1930s Telugu-language films 1932 films 1932 lost films Films about Hinduism Films about Prahlada Films based on the Bhagavata Purana Films directed by H. M. Reddy Films scored by H. R. Padmanabha Sastry Films shot in Mumbai Hindu mythological films Indian black-and-white films Lost Indian films