The villain’s role was acted by one of the greatest legends of Indian Cinema, Padmashri R. Nagendra Rao – my venerable grandfather (father’s father).

In this picture below from the movie, he (the villain, on the right) locks swords with one of the “brothers” (hero, left).

And the beauty of this picture, is that the “hero”, Padmashri M.K. Radha, is actually the grandfather of one of my best childhood friends from India, Rajaa Murugan.

Murugan and I used to joke that our grandfathers fought with swords in the movie, maybe we should also try it sometime, fighting with each other

Here’s a review of the movie from the NY Times:

Following up on S. S. Vasan’s 1948 mega-hit Chandralekha, this sequel was inspired by Douglas Fairbanks Jr.’s 1941 film The Corsican Brothers. The film opens with the dastardly Zoravar Singh vanquishing a rival kingdom and usurping its throne. A trusted servant spirits away the twin princes Vikram and Vijay who are heirs to the crown. Though raised separately, Vikram grows up in the city while Vijay lives his childhood in a forest, both become obsessed with avenging their father and both fall for the same beautiful lass (Bhanumathi). This film was produced in three different languages– Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi — with three different directors credited — T. G. Raghavachyran, C. Pullaiah and S. S. Vasan respectively. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide (link)

Some of the movies my grandfather, R. Nagendra Rao, acted in / directed / produced, are:

1. Hannele Chiguridaga  1968 (Patriarch)
2. Attegondukala Sosegondukala  1968
3. Veera Kesari  1963  (Dharma Nayaka)
4. Ranadheera Kanteerava  1960  (Dalavayi Vikrama Raya)
5. Raayara Sose (1958)
6. Premada Putri (1957)
7. Nagula Chaviti  1956
8. Jatakaphalam  1953
9. Jatakam  1953
10. Mugguru Kodukulu  1952
11. Apoorva Sahodaralu  1950
12. Nishan  1949
13. Apoorva Sahodarargal  1949  – Zoravar Singh
14. Bhukailasa  1940

- Ravi Jayagopal
RavisRants.com