Early Tollywood: SUMMARY

3.07.2008

APRI 1 VIDUDALA

Direction:Vamsi
Music: Ilayaraja
Producer: Gottimukkala Padma Rao
Story: Kolapalli Ishwar, M.I.Kishan
Dialogues: L.B.Sriram
Lyrics:Seetararma Shastry,
Vennelakanti

Cast:
Rajendraprasad,
Shobana,
Mallikarjuna Rao,
Rallapalli,
Sakshi Ranga Rao,
Y.Vijaya,
Jayalalitha,
Krishna Bhagavan

Story:

An out and out comedy with a tinge of suspense (Vamsy's style) in the end. Movie has a very natural flavor to it, which Vamsy is the only one capable of creating. Everything about the movie, the characters, their dialogues, the scenes, and the locations make us feel as if it is not a movie, but something happening in our own neighborhood.

An added asset is Ilayaraja's music. Meaningful lyrics (once again you can notice Vamsy's mark in the lyrics), and excellent acting prowess of Rajendraprasad makes it a wholesome entertainer. L.B.Sriram's dialogues are too good.

Story is based on "harishchandrudu abadham adithe" novel by Kolapalli Eswar and M.I.Kishan, published in Chatura.

Story starts with divakaram (Rajendraprasad) coming late to video-shoot a marriage, where he sees Shobhana and falls head over heals in love. He then gets a hold of Shobhana¡'s maternal uncle (Pradeep Shakti) and gets information about Shobhana. He gathers that Shobhana respects only the people who are self sufficient and straightforward. He also finds out that she is not married and getting transferred to Rajamundry (where he stays) soon. She is a railway clerk. So divakaram comes back to the Rajamundry and gets permission from a doctor (Shubha) to use the front veranda in her house for his video shop. In order to secure the capital he uses all kinds of tricks. He blackmails (Jayalalita), cheats (Mallikarjuna Rao) and claims a chit which he never was a member of, and so on. Finally starts the video shop. That's when Shobana enters the scene. All the while Pradeep Shakti writes him letters in Shobana's name making Divakaram assume that Shobana is in love with him. Finally when she lands in Rajamundy he approaches for marriage. It's then that he realizes that he had been cheated by Pradeep Shakti. Meanwhile, Shobana finds out all of divakaram’s mischief through the neighbors. To teach him lesson, Shobana puts forward a deal that she would marry him only if he stays out of cheating, and does not utter a lie in a month. Divakaram goes for it.
Interval.....

Here we see all the problems of divakaram gets into because of the deal he had with shobana. He discloses the murder done by his friend. This enrages his friend who comes out of jail as there is no proof of his murder. In the climax his friend gets killed and divakaram goes to jail and comes back to win the hand of shobana.
What makes this film so special?
Screenplay, you don’t think of anything else until
the climax.

On screen characters:
Divakaram: Goes to any extent to get his things done. He is clever, he can make things done. He know how to make things. Also he like his friend.. he can sell ice to Eskimos. Sincere in his love and keep his words to prove his love, which makes him to suffer in the end for his mischiefs in the past. He doesn’t have any intentions of harming any one with his acts. Rajendra prasad lives up the expectations.

Shobana: she is very straight forward and don’t like any one to go against the rules. This we can see at the introduction scene of her, where she goes against the dowry. Her helping nature also establishes in the first shot. Also her intelligent and other qualities. She makes the deal with divakaram to get rid of him. But finally falls in love with him seeing his sinceraity.

Kriahna Bhagavan: he is a friend of divakaram. By the words of colony people and divakaram we got to know about his business and he kills his friend when he refuses to marry his sister after running an affair with her. Finally he gets killed in the hands of shubha, for which divakaram goes to jail.

Mallikarjuna rao: he is in love with jayalalitha, even though he is already married twice. (his wives are sisters in the movie) and he thinks he is a super star and wants to marry jayalalitha. In that process gets cheated from divakaram and finally when reformed divakaram comes to give him the money he dies with heart attack due to the shock.

Y.Vijaya: runs the chit fund company illegally. She in the greed of money gives loan to divakaram and gets cheated and tries to take revenge on him. Sakshi is her husband in the film. Divakaram dramatically cheats them with the dubai TV.

Jayalaitha: sexy siren with out any exposure. She has an affair with the nieghbour and has a son, she gets blackmailed because of this from divakaram along with the neighbour.

And there are other characters like Pradeep Shakthi, Jayavijaya (played Shobana’s mother), Rallapalli,Bhima Raju, Shubha etc.
Behind the screen: Beautiful photography, fast dialogues

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ADAVI RAMUDU(2004)

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ANDARU DONGALE dorikite(2004)

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Aapathbandhavudu(1992)

* Director: K. Viswanath
* Writers: K. Viswanath (story & screenplay) and Jandhyala (dialogues)
* Producer: Edida Nageshwara Rao
* Executive Producer: Edida Sriram
* Music: M. M. Keeravani
* Lyrics: Sirivennela Seetarama Sastry & Jandhyala
* Playback Singers: S.P. Balasubramaniam & K. S. Chitra
* Production Company: Poornodaya Movie CreationsCast

* Chiranjeevi .... Madhava
* Jandhyala .... School Teacher (Hema's father)
* Meenakshi Seshadri .... Hema
* Sarath Babu .... Sripathi
* Allu Ramalingaiah .... Sripathi's Father
* Geetha .... Lalitha
* Nirmalamma
* Brahmanandam
* Kaikala Satyanarayana
* Silpa........nurse in mental asylum
* Kalpana Rai........nurse in mental asylum
* Suthi Velu
* Vijayachander...........Baba
* Prasad Babu........guard in mental asylumStory:

Aapathbandhavudu is the third movie which came in the combination of Chiranjeevi and classical director K. Viswanath. Unlike the previous movies, Subhalekha and Swayamkrushi, Aapathbandhavudu was not a commercially successful movie. Released on 9 October 1992, the movie followed the immensely successful Chiranjeevi's movie Gharana Mogudu (which was a mass masala entertainer) and disappointed his fans as his character is one of self pity and is totally deglamorized. But the movie did win critical acclaim especially for Chiranjeevi and did get him that year's Nandi Award for Best Actor. He narrowly missed out that year's National Film Award for Best Actor.

Madhava (Chiranjeevi), is a loyal friend, servant, and cowherd to Hema (Meenakshi Seshadri) and her father (Jandhyala). He also stars in dramas, in which he plays Lord Shiva. Hema's father is a school teacher and is a great poet, but since his classical poetry is no longer popular, he cannot find a publisher to print his poems. Eventhough both, Hema & Madhava love each other deep down in their hearts, both of them do not realize this due to societal divisions of not only caste but being of different economic classes as well. But, Hema is the first to realize her love during a drama where she portrays the role of Lord Shiva's consort, but suppresses her feelings owing to societal divisions. One day, in order to pay for Lalitha(Geetha)'s wedding (Hema's elder sister), Madhava sells his cows and gives the money to a family friend to give to Hema's father as a loan. When her father hears what he has done, he gifts Madhava with his manuscripts. Madhava goes to town to have them printed. When he returns, he sees Hema being taken away by an insane asylum van. He learns that Hema has gone into shock after her brother-in-law tried to rape her and in the process killed her sister(Geetha) who tried to prevent him. Madhava pretends to be crazy and enters the asylum, where he goes through many hardships in order to save her. He, after stopping a guard from attacking her, is falsely accused of attempted rape and is electrocuted. He tries many times to help her regain her memory. When she finally does and realizes what he did for her, she wants to marry him after she is safely rescued. However, Madhava objects due to his being of a lower strata of society. But Hema's fiancée (Sarath Babu) convinces him and Madhava finally agrees.

As mentioned earlier, Chiranjeevi's action was the highlight of the film, especially in scenes where he stutters in mental asylum after being electrocuted, or where after Hema's father dies, he was simply fantastic. Jandhyala, acting for the first time, was also marvellous and one would not think that this was his debut as an actor. Meenakshi Seshadri excelled in her role in both emoting and dancing. The remainder of actors lent valuable support to the main lead actors. Keeravani's music was another highlight and the songs became very popular.

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Modati Cinema (2005)

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Yuva Rathna (2002)

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Sri Manjunatha (2001)

Directed by
K. Raghavendra Rao
Writing credits
J.K. Bharavi
Produced by
Jaya Sridevi
Original Music by
Hamsalekha
Cinematography by
Sundaranatha Suvarna
Film Editing by
Janardhan
Art Direction by
Arun Sagar
Visual Effects by
Kalai Selvan .... digital compositorMusic Department
Ramesh Chandra .... playback singer
K.S. Chitra .... playback singer
Hemanth Kumar .... playback singer
Shankar Mahadevan .... playback singer
Nanditha .... playback singer
Balasubramaniam S.P. .... playback singer
Anuradha Sriram .... playback singer
Release Date: 22nd June 2001

Cast:
Arjun ... Manjunatha
Chiranjeevi ... Manjunatha Swamy / Lord Shiva
Soundarya ... Katyayini
Meena ... Goddess Parvathi
Ambarish ... Ambikeswara Maharaju
Yamuna ... Ganga
Sumalatha ... Sumalatha Devi
Brahmanandam ... NandeeswaruduTanikella Bharani ... Bhrungi
Anandavardhan (as Master Anandavardhan)
Sudha Rani
Abhijit
Brahmavar
Kumar Govind
Gurudutt
Ghazan Khan
Praveen
Vinod Raj
Suhas
Story: There is village called 'Dharmasthali'. There lives a guy called Manjunatha (Arjun) who hates the Lord Shiva (Chiranjeevi) and feels that Lord Shiva is a cheater. There is another beautiful lady Katyayani (Soundarya), who is an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. This couple meet with each other on and off in pucca Raghavendra Rao style. During one night, this couple is forced to stay in a jungle as Katyayani was wounded. Manjunatha fixes her wound. But the village heads pass a judgement that Katyayani is no more a respectable lady and they force her to become a devadasi. Manjunatha marries her to avoid her becoming a devadasi. Katyayani's devotion to Lord Shiva irks Manjunatha. Katyayani gives birth to a kid, with the blessings of Lord Shiva. Even the kid turns out to be a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. An irked Manjunatha slaps the kid and later on realizes the power of Lord Shiva. There is king (Ambarish) in that territory who is also a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva and he acquires the kaala gnanam (Knowledge of the time - knowing the future). Manjunatha visits the Lord Shiva shrine at Dharmastali along with his family. During his visit, a few bad omens occur. The other devotees accuse Manjunatha as the cause. King happens to be there at that place. He asks Manjunatha to prove his innocence by making all the diyas glow again. Manjunatha sings the breathless song (Mayakaya Deepam by Shankar Mahadevan and written by Maharshi Veda Vyasa) and make the diyas glow. Everybody realizes that Manjunatha is a changed man and is a greatest devotee of Lord Shiva. Manjunatha wants to get himself acquitted of all the sins he has made in the past. He installs a crore of Shiva Lingas in a place (Dharma Sthali). Lord Shiva visits that place in the form of old man asks devotee to give him some food. Meanwhile, old man behaves in such a way that Manjunatah sends him out without offering food. Manjunatha realizes his mistake later. But it was too late. After few more gripping incidents, the king felicitates the Manjunatha. During that time king realizes that Manjunatha is going to die on that particular day (as king knows kala gnanam). Will Manjunatha die? Is premature death the presentation he gets for all his devotion toward Lord Shiva? You have to watch this heart-touching climax on the big screen to enjoy this 3-hour long devotional film.
SONGS
# "Brahmamurari"
Written by Bhakta Rushi (Adi Shankara)
Performed by Ramesh Chandra & Nanditha

# "Ee Padham"
Written by Shanmukha Sarma Samavedam
Performed by Balasubramaniam S.P.

# "Hey Hey Bithiri"
Written by Chandrabose
Performed by Nanditha & Hemanth Kumar

# "Mangala Slokam"
Written by Sri Vedavyasa
Performed by Hemanth Kumar

# "Oho Garalakanta"
Written by Bhuvanchandra
Performed by Balasubramaniam S.P. & Anuradha Sriram

# "Okkade Okkade"
Written by Baharavi J.K.
Performed by Balasubramaniam S.P.

# "Olammo Gowrammo"
Written by Baharavi J.K.
Performed by Swarnalatha & Balasubramaniam S.P.

# "Om Aksharaya Namaha"
Written by Sri Vedavyasa
Performed by K.S. Chitra & Hemanth Kumar
# "Om Mahaprana Deepam"
Written by Sri Vedavyasa
Performed by Shankar Mahadevan

# "Sri Manjunatha Charitam"
Written by Bhakta Rushi
Performed by Anuradha Sriram & Balasubramaniam S.P.

3.05.2008

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CHALA BAGUNDI(2000)

Screenplay and Direction: EVV
Music: Vandetharam Srinivas
Story: EVV
Dialogues: Janardhan Maharshi
Producer: EVV
Release Date
18th February 2000Cast
Srikanth,
Naveen,
Malavika,
Asha Saini and LB SriramStory
Vamsi is a wayward orphan who rescues Chandra Mohan of a gruesome accident. The impressed Chandra Mohan family members(consisting of Chandramohan wife and their kid Krishna) gives hostage to Vamsi. These two kids share a good number of vibes and turns out to be very good thick friends.

As the time passes by Vamsi(Naveen) and Krishna(Srikanth) become inseparable. Though these two friends are close enough Vamsi is in no position to get his close buddy away from the habit of boozing.

Seeta is a small time village belle who comes to Hyderabad for searching a job. Vamsi interviews her for his company and duly falls in love. When Seeta is going back to her village, she is spotted by dipsomaniac Vamsi, who gives her a lift to Railway station and takes her to remote place to malign her. When the inevitable thing is about to happen, Seeta escapes the scene by banging a brick Vamsi on his head.

Later on Vamsi realizes the impact of consuming liquor and vow to say bye to his boozing habit Meantime the family of Chandra Mohan visits the marriage of Chandra Mohan old time pal Chalapathi Rao. Vamsi meets his soul stirring lass Seeta again. And expresses his wish to marry her. But Vamsi and Krishna have taken a vow to select girl for each other. Now it's Vamsi turn to OK Seeta for Krishna. When these two people(Vamsi and Seeta) face each other, they could recollect the whole flashback that transpired between them. Vamsi OKs Seeta for Krishna followed by a marriage.

Seeta hates Vamsi for what he has done to her in the past and decides to make his life miserable by her clever manipulations. She do not believe that Vamsi is a changed man now. As the hatred and revenge in Seeta is growing day by day, the repenting agony in Vamsi sours to new heights. If you want to know what this different sensitive film has to offer in the climax, you must watch this film on the big silver screen to appreciate EVV's first venture as a full-time producer.