attakuyamudu ammayiki mogudu

<p>Siva, a college student, moves to with his brother Sarath’s family and enrolls in the local . Although Sarath and his daughter Keerthi get along well with Siva, Sarath’s wife considers him a financial burden. Siva befriends a group of students at his college and falls in love with Asha, the sister of the honest Venkat. The college’s unopposed president J. Durga Rao “J. D”, a troublemaker feared among the students and faculty, happens to be the lowest rung on a gang ladder reaching from the gangster Ganesh to Bhavani, a local . Bhavani uses his network to support his mentor Machiraju, a burgeoning local . Although J. D. is arrested many times on various charges, Bhavani continues to bail him out. J.D once behaves inappropriately with Asha on campus, which infuriates Siva. He confronts JD and attacks him and his cronies with a , which fosters a rivalry between him and Ganesh. The incident encourages Siva’s friends to ask him to stand for the students’ union presidency, but Siva wants them to nominate Naresh (one of the group members) instead. Ganesh’s attempts to intimidate Siva becomes useless. Bhavani learns about him and considers Siva as a potential replacement for J. D, whose weakness annoys him. One night, Naresh is brutally assaulted by Ganesh and Bhavani’s other henchmen and is taken to hospital. Siva retaliates, infuriating Bhavani. One day, when Siva’s friends travel out of town to attend a wedding, they are attacked by Ganesh and others. One of Siva’s friends Malli is murdered in the process and Siva swears vengeance. Sensing a risk to Sarath’s family after an attempt on Keerthi’s life, Siva leaves their house and moves into his friend Chinna’s hostel. Siva agrees to contest the students’ union presidential election. Bhavani cheats leader Krishna Reddy, who changes his allegiance to Siva. Bhavani begins attacking and murdering Siva’s close aides and Siva ensures that Sarath relocates to on transfer of his job. Siva attacks Bhavani’s henchmen and helps Venkat arrest Ganesh. Machiraju sees Siva as a potential replacement for Bhavani and stops supporting the latter. Bhavani learns about Siva’s relationship with Sarath and kidnaps Keerthi. Ganesh appears in court and an arrest warrant is issued for Bhavani. Insulted and humiliated, Bhavani kills Keerthi and Siva sets out to exact vengeance. While Bhavani comes out of Machiraju’s house after killing him, Siva spots him and a chase ensues. Siva and Bhavani duel at a rooftop. After brutally getting injured by Siva, Bhavani dies by falling from the rooftop. Venkat and Asha reach the mall and witness Bhavani’s corpse among the crowd. Siva walks down the stairs and meets them up in dismay. After he graduated with a degree in civil engineering from in , opened a video-rental shop in . Noting his son’s interest in films, Penmatsa Krishnamraju (a former sound recordist for ) helped Varma join the teams of (1987) and (1988) as an assistant director. Varma befriended actor , and filmmakers Akkineni Venkat and Yarlagadda Surendra. He presented his script for to them. When Nagarjuna rejected it, Varma presented another script based on his life as a student in Vijayawada. He earlier narrated this script to filmmaker who suggested few changes because of its serious tone. Varma watched Rao’s (1986) and backed out after understanding Rao’s point of view. When was nearly completed, Varma asked co-director to join him. He approached to write the dialogues after observing his work in (1985) and (1987). Bharani found the plot (as described by Varma) similar to those of ‘ films. Varma rejected Bharani’s comic version, and asked to rewrite it as a crime drama. Although Bharani’s usual fee was 25,000, he received 35,000 for . and , who later pursued career as filmmakers, joined the film’s crew as assistant directors. Venkat and Surendra produced under their banners of and SS Creations, respectively. The production began in February 1989. Varma wanted to compose the film’s soundtrack and score, since Keeravani had assisted on . As both were inexperienced, Keeravani suggested that Varma choose a more seasoned technician and was signed instead. , and Sattibabu were the film’s director of photography, art director and editor, respectively. Gopala Reddy was inspired by ‘ work in (1972). is Nagarjuna’s 17th film as an actor. Varma found him the only actor who could understand his perspective. Nagarjuna and Varma had discussed astronomy and realised that they shared similar sensibilities. That, and Varma’s passion for and dedication to films, prompted Nagarjuna to work with him. , who worked with Nagarjuna in (1990), was chosen as the female lead. was the first film in her career where the script was explained shot by shot. When Varma approached to dub Amala’s portions, she agreed to dub for Amala only after watching about three reels of footage. Varma chose to play the local crime boss, Bhavani. Varma wanted him to underplay the character, which was based on real life. Before accepting the role, Raghuvaran studied the mannerisms and lifestyles of mob leaders and criminals in for 20 days. Varma wanted to name the characters played by Nagarjuna and Raghuvaran as Bhavani and Siva respectively. At Nagarjuna’s request, he reversed the names. Varma chose newcomers , , and to play J. D., Chinna, and Naresh after auditioning them at Annapurna Studios. , one of Varma’s assistant directors, played a comic role of a server in the college canteen. He recommended Varma to cast Sushma for Keerthi’s role. was initially supposed to play J. D., but the role went to Chakravarthy. Varma met the latter on the film’s sets and asked him to perform a scene of his choice. Despite an unsuccessful screen test, Varma selected Chakravarthy after a meeting on the next day after observing the depth in his expression. Seasoned actors such as , , , , and Saichand played supporting roles. Bharani agreed to play Bhavani’s assistant, Nanaji, at Varma’s insistence. Producer Akkineni Venkat made a cameo appearance as one of Bhavani’s clients, and Siva Nageswara Rao dubbed his portion. was cast as Bhavani’s henchman. RGV’s ingenuity lies in his understanding of human nature, and I got a first-hand experience while filming the scene where I betray Gollapudi Maruthi Rao. Before shooting that scene, RGV told me that I should feel guilty for betraying my boss because every person, however cruel might be, has a humane side. So, all I did was gulp, and RGV was impressed with my expression. Varma read about in , and enquired about the possibility of a similar camera in India. After learning that steadicam was available in Chennai for four years and was already obsolete, Varma decided to use it despite Gopala Reddy’s apprehension. Varma chose over and Deenpal to assist Gopala Reddy with the steadicam. began on 16 February 1989, and in 55 working days. Except for three days in Chennai, the film was shot in . The scenes of the protagonist’s college life were filmed at Keyes High school, near . A school wall was demolished, and a gate was repaired for the film’s opening scene. Raghuvaran was carried away during the shoot of few action sequences and slapped Brahmaji for nearly six times in a row. To avoid such issues in the case of murder scenes, Varma decided to complete a few of them by using plain close-ups of the victims. Sudhakar’s murder scene was filmed near in . Gopala Reddy and Ellore placed a camera in a bag and ran behind him for a shaky effect. In the cycle-chain scene in which Siva uses a cycle chain to fight with J. D., the hand pulling the chain was Ellore’s; in the next shot, Nagarjuna is shown holding the chain. The scene in which Naresh is killed near his home was filmed in the streets of Vengala Rao Nagar. The cycle chase scenes were filmed in and the slums behind . The bus chase scene was shot in Yusufguda. The film’s climax was filmed at the Swapnalok complex in , and Bhavani’s suicide was filmed on a set at Venus Studios in Chennai. Several romantic scenes with Nagarjuna and Amala were initially filmed at Ushakiron Movies in Secunderabad. Dissatisfied with the results, Varma reshot them at the Osman Ali House. choreographed the songs, and “Anando Brahma” was filmed at the in . The film crew had to crawl into the caves, making the first Telugu film shot in its interiors. The remaining songs were filmed on sets at Annapurna Studios. Srinivasa Rao filmed his scenes in one day. The fights, choreographed by Varma, featured hand-to-hand combat and attacks with hooks as he was trained in . explores the exploitation of students by against a backdrop and the impact on them of . It also focuses on politics and betrayal in the scene where Bhavani murders Machiraju and his enemy Viswanadham. As a student, Varma observed and participated in gang wars and student politics besides analysing the impact of a gangster’s lifestyle and body language on students. Those experiences inspired him to begin writing . Most of the characters, including Bhavani, were inspired by real life. Bhavani was based on Radha, an actual crime boss with a reputation for violence in ; Bhavani, like Radha, is also a woman’s name. Siva’s character was comparatively fictitious whom Varma considered an “ideal person” making the society “too dramatic”. Siva was partially based on Varma’s friend, Golla Ravi, who lived in . Assistant director found the film’s story similar to (1985). Varma said that was an inspiration for , since title character in was a hero who “does not bend to forces larger than himself”. Apart from , Varma was also inspired by (1983) and (1988). The basic plot of (1972) was adapted by Varma for . In , Tang Lung ( ) comes from to work in a Chinese restaurant in and fights local gangsters who try to intimidate the owners; this leads to a rivalry with a crime boss ( ). In , Nagarjuna comes from a nearby town to Vijayawada to further his education, fights gangsters and develops a rivalry with Raghuvaran. While Lee and Norris fight at the at the climax of , Nagarjuna and Raghuvaran duel on a building terrace in . In addition to , Varma adapted scenes from a number of other films. Malli’s mother slapping a police inspector for failing to save him was inspired by Steven Spielberg’s (1975), and the cycle chase scene was based on a similar scene in . A scene in which goons demand donations to build a temple for was from . Although Varma wanted to film a fight between Nagarjuna and Chakravarthy during a football match (based on a similar scene in 1978’s ), Venkat was indifferent to the idea. five-song soundtrack album and background score were composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with Sundararama Murthy writing the lyrics of “Anando Brahma”, “Enniyallo”, and “Kiss Me Hello”. wrote the lyrics for the remaining two songs: “Botany” and “Sarasalu”. , , , and were the singers. The soundtrack—in the only collaboration between Varma and Ilaiyaraaja—was successful upon release. was produced on a budget of 75 lakh. Venkat and Surendra retained the distribution rights for , Vishakhapatnam and the and regions. The film was released on 5 October 1989, It was featured in the mainstream section of the , held on 19 January 1990 at the Empire Theatre in . The Tamil remake rights to were initially sold for 100,000. After the film’s release, Venkat and Surendra dubbed it into Tamil as and sold its distribution rights for 85 lakh. It was released on 12 January 1990 in 24 centres. received praised for its usage of technology and sound design. The distributors were concerned about the film’s violence, saying that it would alienate family audience, whom the film industry believed were the majority of the audience. Although Venkat and Surendra expected that the film would have average earnings, was a commercial success and earned 1 in the region alone (a first in Telugu cinema). In addition to 50,000, Varma received five percent of profits. The film had a 100-day run in 22 centres and a 175-day run in five centres. The Tamil version was commercially successful and earned more than 2 crore. Nagarjuna’s father advised Varma to place an advertisement thanking the audience for the film’s success. Varma opposed it, believing that a film’s success should be credited to the production team and its failure attributed to the director. When Varma’s second film (1991) , success was considered accidental. For the April 2013 centennial of Indian cinema, included on its list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time, calling it a “completely new take on student politics and the ideologies driving it” and saying that the film’s ideas “found a reflection in many university elections during a later stage”. was remade by Varma in as in 1990, and was Nagarjuna’s acting debut in Hindi cinema. It was the last Hindi film with Amala in a lead role. Minor changes were made to the remake’s cast and crew. All the songs in the Telugu version were used unchanged except for “Botany”, which was reshot at in . Telugu filmmaker was cast as one of Nagarjuna’s friends in the remake. Jagannadh wanted to assist Varma and approached him for an opportunity. Varma insisted Jagannadh to act and he obliged, feeling that this experience would teach him something. Produced in association with Atluri Purnachandra Rao on a budget of 1.15 crore, was released on 7 December 1990 and was successful in Mumbai and Kolkata. During the production of (2005), Varma planned to remake . The second remake, also entitled , featured and as the characters played by Nagarjuna and Amala in the original. Unlike , the protagonist in the second remake is an honest man who joins the as a new recruit; the cycle-chain scene and Raghuvaran’s character were omitted. received negative reviews; Sukanya Verma of wrote that the film “dare[d] to ridiculously rest on the incapable shoulders of a non-acting cast”, and nastiness was “defined as a scowling ogre”. In September 2020 Nagarjuna said that a sequel to would be a viable alternative to a digitised version, and proposed a film about Siva, Asha, and their two sons. Advising Varma to develop a script, he asked the director to cast Amala, and . The sequel would reportedly be produced by Annapurna Studios. In September 2014, was digitally remastered for theatrical release. Supriya Yarlagadda of Annapurna Studios said that the decision to remaster and digitise was made after observing the challenges in storing and preserving old film prints. The process (carried out in Mumbai) took a year, and the film’s colour and sound quality were enhanced to meet current standards. A event was held on 7 October 2014 in Hyderabad, where Nagarjuna announced that digitised version would be released on 17 October 2014 on nearly 100 screens. In April 2015, Varma told that the digitised release was postponed until 15 May because of restoration delays. During the digitisation of , Varma said that he would release a documentary on the making of the film entitled . The first documentary based on a Telugu film, it provided a “holistic view of the film” and featured interviews with the cast and crew and segments on its sound and filming locations. The documentary was released on 5 October 2014, coinciding with silver anniversary. I still recall Varma okaying my first shot, though I forgot to utter my line. He was of the opinion that I conveyed what I needed to, through a gesture. Post the shot, he came to me and said that it’s better I forget putting pen to paper, only for me to realise later that I would become a busy actor. , which attained in , is one of the first Telugu films produced after the migration of Telugu film industry from Madras to Hyderabad to feature characters speaking the dialect. The film made Nagarjuna a superstar in Telugu cinema; it changed his career, and earned him a reputation for encouraging new directors. Nagarjuna considered a milestone in his personal life as well since he and Amala, who were in a relationship during the film’s shoot, decided to marry after its completion. According to filmmaker and writer Pulagam Chinnarayana, divided Telugu cinema into two eras: before and after the film. With , Varma was credited with the introduction of steadicams and new sound recording techniques in Telugu films. Within a year of the film’s release, more than ten steadicams were imported into India. attracted the young audience during its theatrical run, and its success encouraged filmmakers to explore a variety of themes and make experimental Telugu films. Bharani broke through as an actor and dialogue writer with the film. Chakravarthy, Jithendra and Ramjagan achieved success with , and the former two adapted J. D. and Chinna as screen names. Kannada actor and filmmaker reworked the narrative of (1995) when he found the previous version similar to . Telugu filmmaker understood the importance of heightening tension in action sequences, and the impact created by proper use of sound after watching . , , and Praveen Sri were inspired by to pursue careers as directors; Sri assisted Ram Gopal Varma before he made his directorial debut with (2010). Music director was inspired by Ilaiyaraaja’s work in , and wanted to work with Varma after he graduated. On the rise of antisocial-element-based scripts in Tamil cinema, trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai said in May 2002 that Tamil-dubbed version ( ) was the “forerunner” of city-based crime films. Tamil actor was “mesmerised” as a child by , admiring Nagarjuna and carrying a cycle chain in his schoolbag. About the impact of (2015) on Indian cinema, said that regional films can gain national acceptance for their content and cited the success of and (1992) as examples. In March 2016, said that he admired Nagarjuna after seeing its Tamil dubbed version and (1989) and found working with him in (2016) “a great chance to know him.” The cycle-chain scene became popular, with people telling Varma that they broke a cycle chain after seeing ; the director called them the “ultimate example of how imagination can take over and become a reality in time”. As of 2014, the chain used in the film is owned by Chakravarthy. Siva was originally the name of the villain of the movie. But after the narration, Nagarjuna liked the name so much that he requested his role to be named Siva. Film-poster designers Anil and Bhanu said that posters should be designed to make a subconscious impact on the viewer, citing the title logo of (with Nagarjuna and the cycle chain) as an example. Inspired by Varma’s work in , Rajamouli composed the action sequence during the intermission of his directorial debut (2001), and followed the shot division of the cycle-chain scene for the same. Chakravarthy agreed to play the antagonist in Naga Chaitanya’s acting debut, (2009), and said that its makers are “trying to get JD of who actually ran away mid way from college”. and other reviewers noted similarities between and , which Chaitanya called a “coincidence”. Chaitanya’s films, (2011)—produced by Varma—and (2014), were noted for similarities to . was parodied in several films such as (2006), (2011), (2011) (also directed by Varma), and (2012). Amala listed with (1987), (1987), (1988), and (1991) as her most memorable films. Geethika Chandrahasan Sudip of listed for the letter S in the July 2015 “ABCD of Telugu cinema”. In August 2015, Pooja Darade of included the film on her list of “Telugu movies one must watch before dying”. Fahad Usmani of compared to (1957), (1975), (1987), (1990), and (1990), noting that their antagonists became more popular than their heroes.</p>