‘Mosagallaku Mosagadu’ was made at just Rs 7 lakh: Superstar Krishna

‘Mosagallaku Mosagadu’, which hit the screens on 27 August 1971, became a trend-setter. Superstar Krishna, who played a well-meaning con man in it, had the urge to feature in a lavish film in order to raise his stature. Till then, the films of NT Rama Rao and ANR used to look rich but Krishna’s films were being made on not-so-high budgets. Krishna teamed up with producer G Adiseshagiri Rao and director KSR Das to make the cowboy film called ‘Mosagallaku Mosagadu’. Writer Aarudhra refused to wield the megaphone and Krishna picked Das. 

“Going by the visuals, many believed that the film was made at a cost of Rs 20 lakh or so. But its budget was Rs 7 lakh. My films used to be made in less than Rs 4-5 lakh before it. We believed in the story and spent it. Making it on a controlled budget was the best decision. I, Vijaya Nirmala, Jyothi Lakshmi and Nagabhushanam alone travelled by air. The rest of the cast and crew travelled to Rajasthan’s deserts via trains. The film was also shot in Shimla, to which we travelled by cars,” Krishna says. 

‘Mosagallaku Mosagadu’ also featured Nagabhushanam, Kaikala Satyanarayana, Gummadi, M Prabhakar Reddy and others. Its music was by P Adinarayana Rao. VSR Swamy’s cinematography was praised for its innovative ideas.