# Nartanasala (నర్తనశాల)
**Nartanasala** (నర్తనశాల, "the dance pavilion") is a 1963 Indian Telugu-language mythological drama film directed by Kamalakara Kameswara Rao, based on the [Virata Parva](https://www.edgepedia.org/virata-parva) (Book of Virata) of the [Mahabharata](https://www.edgepedia.org/mahabharata). It was released on 11 October 1963, stars [N. T. Rama Rao](https://www.edgepedia.org/n-t-rama-rao), Savitri, and S. V. Ranga Rao, and won the All India Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film at the National Film Awards, the Best Film – Telugu award at the Filmfare Awards South, and two prizes at the third Afro-Asian Film Festival in Jakarta.[1](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movie-details/nartanasala/movieshow/67655175.cms) • [2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/did-you-know/nartanasala-won-two-awards-at-the-third-afro-asian-film-festival-in-1964/articleshow/75275059.cms)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 11 October 1963, Telugu, black and white, 175 minutes[1](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movie-details/nartanasala/movieshow/67655175.cms) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263778/) |
| Director / writer | Kamalakara Kameswara Rao; writer Samudrala Raghavacharya[2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/did-you-know/nartanasala-won-two-awards-at-the-third-afro-asian-film-festival-in-1964/articleshow/75275059.cms) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263778/) |
| Lead cast | N. T. Rama Rao (Arjuna and Brihannala), Savitri (Draupadi and Sairandhri), S. V. Ranga Rao (Kichaka)[2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/did-you-know/nartanasala-won-two-awards-at-the-third-afro-asian-film-festival-in-1964/articleshow/75275059.cms) |
| Music | Susarla Dakshina Murthy[4](https://indiancinema.sites.uiowa.edu/narthanasala) |
| National honor | All India Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film, National Film Awards for 1963[5](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/movie-awards/national-awards-winners/1963/108) |
| International honors | Best Male Actor (S. V. Ranga Rao) and Best Art Director (TVS Sarma) at the third Afro-Asian Film Festival, Jakarta, 1964[2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/did-you-know/nartanasala-won-two-awards-at-the-third-afro-asian-film-festival-in-1964/articleshow/75275059.cms) |
| Production | Rajyam Pictures; producer C. Lakshmi Rajyam[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263778/) • [2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/did-you-know/nartanasala-won-two-awards-at-the-third-afro-asian-film-festival-in-1964/articleshow/75275059.cms) |
## Spoilers
### Story and source
The film dramatizes the Virata Parva, the book of the Mahabharata that covers the thirteenth year of the Pandavas' exile. After twelve years in the forest following a rigged dice match, the five Pandava brothers and their wife Draupadi must live incognito in a kingdom; if they are recognized during this year, the exile cycle begins again. They choose the realm of the Matsya king Virata and take disguises suited to their characters.[4](https://indiancinema.sites.uiowa.edu/narthanasala)
The disguises follow the epic. Arjuna, the archer, lives as [Brihannala](https://www.edgepedia.org/brihannala), a eunuch dance teacher to Princess Uttara, a guise rooted in a curse from the apsara Urvashi; [Yudhishthira](https://www.edgepedia.org/yudhishthira) serves as a brahmin gambler, Bhima as a cook, Nakula and Sahadeva tend horses and cattle, and Draupadi works as Sairandhri, a maid to Queen Sudeshna. The book ends with the Pandavas, undisguised, defeating their Kaurava foes and sealing a marriage alliance with the Matsyas.[4](https://indiancinema.sites.uiowa.edu/narthanasala) • [6](https://www.vyasaonline.com/virata-parva/) The film's title refers to the dance pavilion in which Arjuna teaches Uttara.[4](https://indiancinema.sites.uiowa.edu/narthanasala)
## Cast and production
N. T. Rama Rao played Arjuna and his disguise Brihannala, Savitri played Draupadi and Sairandhri, and [S. V. Ranga Rao](https://www.edgepedia.org/s-v-ranga-rao) played Kichaka, the general who harasses Sairandhri. Relangi appeared as Uttara Kumara and [Sobhan Babu](https://www.edgepedia.org/sobhan-babu) as [Abhimanyu](https://www.edgepedia.org/abhimanyu).[2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/did-you-know/nartanasala-won-two-awards-at-the-third-afro-asian-film-festival-in-1964/articleshow/75275059.cms) The supporting cast included Mikkilineni as Dharmaraju (Yudhishthira), Dandamudi Rajagopal as Bhima, Mukkamala as Virata Raju, and L. Vijayalakshmi as Uttara.[7](https://tv9telugu.com/entertainment/tollywood/ntrs-nartanasala-untold-facts-sv-rangarao-legendary-performance-awards-1730330.html)
The film was produced by the actor C. Lakshmi Rajyam through Rajyam Pictures, with music by Susarla Dakshina Murthy and a screenplay credited to the writer Samudrala Raghavacharya.[2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/did-you-know/nartanasala-won-two-awards-at-the-third-afro-asian-film-festival-in-1964/articleshow/75275059.cms) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263778/) It runs about three hours and unfolds in a near-operatic style reminiscent of Indian folk theater, with nine songs and characters breaking into recitative at moments of high emotion.[4](https://indiancinema.sites.uiowa.edu/narthanasala)
## Reception and awards
**Box office.** The film was a commercial success on its first release. It ran for 50 days in 26 centers, 100 days in 19 centers, and 200 days in [Vijayawada](https://www.edgepedia.org/vijayawada) and [Hyderabad](https://www.edgepedia.org/hyderabad).[7](https://tv9telugu.com/entertainment/tollywood/ntrs-nartanasala-untold-facts-sv-rangarao-legendary-performance-awards-1730330.html)
**National and regional honors.** At the [National Film Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-film-awards) for 1963, Nartanasala received the All India Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film, credited to director K. Kameswara Rao.[5](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/movie-awards/national-awards-winners/1963/108) Telugu-language accounts record it as the first Telugu film to receive that honor.[7](https://tv9telugu.com/entertainment/tollywood/ntrs-nartanasala-untold-facts-sv-rangarao-legendary-performance-awards-1730330.html) In the first year of the [Filmfare Awards South](https://www.edgepedia.org/filmfare-awards-south), begun in 1963, it won the Filmfare Award for Best Film in the Telugu film industry.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263778/awards/) • [7](https://tv9telugu.com/entertainment/tollywood/ntrs-nartanasala-untold-facts-sv-rangarao-legendary-performance-awards-1730330.html)
**International recognition.** The film was screened at the third Afro-Asian Film Festival in Jakarta in 1964, where it won two awards: Best Male Actor for S. V. Ranga Rao's performance as Kichaka, and Best Art Director for TVS Sarma.[2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/did-you-know/nartanasala-won-two-awards-at-the-third-afro-asian-film-festival-in-1964/articleshow/75275059.cms)
## Legacy
The film was later dubbed into Bengali and Odia, where it also succeeded commercially.[2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/did-you-know/nartanasala-won-two-awards-at-the-third-afro-asian-film-festival-in-1964/articleshow/75275059.cms) The Andhra Pradesh state government selected it for screening at the first World Telugu Conference held in Hyderabad in 1975.[7](https://tv9telugu.com/entertainment/tollywood/ntrs-nartanasala-untold-facts-sv-rangarao-legendary-performance-awards-1730330.html) It was remade as *Shrimad Virata Parvam* in 1979.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263778/) The National Film Archive of India lists *Narthansala* among digitized and restored Telugu films, and the Film Heritage Foundation has named it among the Telugu classics it hopes to restore.[9](https://nfai.nfdcindia.com/pdf/Digitized%20and%20Restored%20Films_16-12-2016.pdf) • [10](https://www.film-foundation.org/2019-fprsi)
## References
1. [Nartanasala Movie: Showtimes, Review, Songs, Trailer, Posters, News & Videos, eTimes (Times of India)](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movie-details/nartanasala/movieshow/67655175.cms)
2. [Nartanasala won two awards at the third Afro-Asian Film Festival in 1964, Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/did-you-know/nartanasala-won-two-awards-at-the-third-afro-asian-film-festival-in-1964/articleshow/75275059.cms)
3. [Narthanasala (1963), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263778/)
4. [Narthanasala, Indian Cinema, The University of Iowa](https://indiancinema.sites.uiowa.edu/narthanasala)
5. [National Awards Winners 1963: Complete list of winners, Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/movie-awards/national-awards-winners/1963/108)
6. [Virata Parva – Vyasa Mahabharata, Vyasa Online](https://www.vyasaonline.com/virata-parva/)
7. [SV Rangarao: NTRs Nartanasala Untold Facts, TV9 Telugu](https://tv9telugu.com/entertainment/tollywood/ntrs-nartanasala-untold-facts-sv-rangarao-legendary-performance-awards-1730330.html)
8. [Narthanasala (1963) – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263778/awards/)
9. [List of Restored Films, National Film Archive of India](https://nfai.nfdcindia.com/pdf/Digitized%20and%20Restored%20Films_16-12-2016.pdf)
10. [To restore and preserve the classics, Film Foundation](https://www.film-foundation.org/2019-fprsi)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Telugu films before 2000*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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