In 1974, Superstar Krishna made a film titled 'Devadasu', which was based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic Bengali novel 'Devdas'. Helmed by Vijaya Nirmala, the film featured Krishna in the titular role, while the director was seen as Parvathy. Jayanthi played Chandramukhi, while Jaggayya was seen as Devadas' father. The film turned out to be a disaster. It was one of the 14 flops that Krishna delivered after the classic hit 'Alluri Sitarama Raju'.
Krishna feels that the film would have become a hit had ANR not re-released his classic 'Devadasu' (1953) ten days before Krishna's 'Devadasu'. "ANR bought the rights to his film because it was a black-and-white film that he feared might become obscure if my colour film comes to prominence. He re-released his film around the release of my film. And his film had a 100-day run, adversely affecting my movie," Krishna said.
"The earlier re-releases of ANR's 'Devadasu' didn't do well. But it did well when my film was released," Krishna said.
Krishna had the golden opportunity of acquiring the negative rights to ANR's film and preventing it from spoiling the fortune of his own 'Devadasu'. "The rights to ANR's film were with a relative of mine. He offered to sell the rights for Rs 1.50 lakh. He cautioned me that ANR's film might be re-released in theatres because I was making 'Devadasu'. But I declined the offer because I didn't want to be scared while making 'Devadasu' with lots of conviction," Krishna recounted.
For about five years, ANR and Krishna were not on good terms after this episode. 'Hema Hemeelu' in 1979 marked their reunion. The film was directed by Vijaya Nirmala.
