Missamma, as the name suggests is the story of a dignified young woman who demands and commands respect. And respect she gets with a dose of humility, affection and love by all the other characters in the story.
Gopalam, a rich landlord in a remote village is unable to run his school, sentimentally named after his long lost eldest daughter, Mahalakshmi, due to lack of proper teachers. The school is run under the guidance of his nephew, A.K Raju, a self proclaimed detective much in the likeness of Alfred Hitchcock and Sherlock Holmes. A Musali Panthulu, pretending tutorship, makes the school his personal Ayurvedic clinic and the pupils, his unpaid apprentices.
Gopalam, in a bid to save his school from collapse, takes his wife's advice and advertises for a BA passed couple who would help in running the school by tutoring the neglected pupils. The mandate is that the couple should be married. M.T. Rao is a young graduate who is desperately searching for a job and so is Mary, a jobless music teacher who also happens to be a graduate. Mary's elderly parents are drowned in debt that they incurred from David for Mary's education and are unable to repay it because of old age. And now David has proclaimed that the debt will be waived provided Mary marries him.
M.T Rao with his vagabond sidekick Devayya read Gopalam's advertisement and now are desperately searching for a graduate wife for M.T Rao and find a match in the proud and conceited Mary. Mary instantly refuses the offer and is coaxed into it when suggested of a fake matrimony and emphasized on the good money involved, the later which she plans to repay David's debt with. She reluctantly wears a mangalasutra and a bindi both of which are against her staunch religious beliefs. The humor involved in these scenes suggests the directors vivid portrayal of social norms and taboos prevalent in Protestant Christian converts even today in India.
The couple and Devayya enter the village and take charge of the school and enter the hearts of Gopalam, his wife and his youngest daughter Sita, M.T Rao because of his humility and Mary because of her resemblance to the long lost daughter. This sparks the detective instinct of Raju who is for a long time trying to find his long lost cousin Mahalaxmi, Gopalam's daughter. He desperately tries to find Mahalakshmi's identity mole on Mary's right foot in vain not because of its absence but by pure ill luck. Mary is immediately averse to the favors showered on her and Rao by Gopalam's family which she deems as un necessary and more so by Sita's childish tantrums with Rao, which she detests and the later whom she secretly admires.
Meanwhile Devayya extracts monetary favors from Raju in return for information about the married couple using which Raju plans to find a link between Mary and Mahalakshmi. Petty quarrels between Rao and Mahalakshmi spark a mutual respect and a suppressed love. In the city David tricks Mary's parents and gets her village address and sets out to seek her. He is immediately followed by the elderly couple who realize the trick and are concerned for Mary's safety.
The final encounter happens at Gopalam's family where David exposes the false marriage and just when Gopalam and his wife are confused, enter the elderly parents of Mary to find the childhood photo of Mary in the Gopalam household. At last the mystery mole is exposed by Raju and Mahalakshmi is reunited with her long lost parents. Everyone except David is happy at the reunion and more so A.K Raju who is now elevated by the family to the status of a professional detective.
The light comedy throughout the movie gently rocks the audience. The music and songs are very informative and are melodious masterpieces. They come when words fail to explain sentiments. "Brundavani vanam andharidhi, Govindhudu andhari vaade le" meaning "the world belongs to everyone and even does the lord of lords" comes at a stage countering Mary's beliefs that Jesus is the only Lord and that Hindus are totally different from Christians. In "Raavoyi chandamaama" Rao explains his plight to the Moon God where he is in a helpless situation due to Mary's stubborn behavior.
Savitri is excellent, and is the heart and soul of the movie. With her stubborn and conceited behavior she captures the audience. Her despise of the Hindu practices draws much laughter and her helplessness in certain situations some sympathy. NTR is good and so are all the other characters. A must watch for all black and white Telugu classic fans.
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