Sakshi (1967)

In a quiet Godavari village, an innocent, straightforward young man is the only witness when the village's feared strongman commits a murder. Everyone advises him to keep his mouth shut, but he refuses to lie, and his testimony puts the bully behind bars. The man swears revenge, and the villager's life, including his new marriage, is shadowed by the threat of the day the rowdy walks free. Sakshi ("witness") was the first film directed by the celebrated artist-cartoonist Bapu, written by his lifelong partner Mullapudi Venkata Ramana, and it was shot largely on real village locations rather than studio sets, unusual for Telugu cinema of the time. Krishna and Vijaya Nirmala were paired here, and the two later married.