[2] The film begins in a village where the Zamindar Sagarayya is malicious and tyrannizes the farmers by mingling with Karanam Sambayya and a goon Polayya.

Kotayya, an honest peasant, leads a happy family life with his wife, son Venu, and daughter Bharati.

After that, the District Collector arrives for the inspection, where Venu breaks out the offenses of Sagarayya and Sambayya and sanctions wastelands for cultivation.

Lyricist Kosaraju remembered a song he had written for producer Thottempudi Ramayya's shelved film Paleru, that was composed by Venu.

Chanakya and Prasad liked the lyrics and the tune,[3][5] and Vedantam Jagannatha Sarma suggested Waheeda Rehman, then a dancer, to the makers.

She was signed on a remuneration of ₹500 (equivalent to ₹54,000 or US$630 in 2023) for being the dancer in the song, "Eruvaaka Sagaro Ranno Chinnanna",[3] and Rojulu Marayi thus marked her feature film debut.

[7] "Eruvaaka Sagaroranno Chinnanna" was inspired by the folk song "Ayyo Koyyoda", popularised by Valluri Jagannatha Rao.

The film was later remade in Tamil as Kaalam Maari Pochi (1956), where "Eruvaaka Sagaroranno Chinnanna" was re-used as "Yerupooti Povaye Anne Sinnanne", with Waheeda Rehman returning as dancer.