Vyjayanthi Movies is an Indian film production company established in 1974 by

C. Aswani Dutt Chalasani Aswani Dutt (also spelled Ashwini Dutt; born 15 September 1950) is an Indian film producer known for his work in the Telugu cinema. He established the film production company Vyjayanthi Movies in 1974 which is one of the biggest produ ...

. It is one of the biggest film production houses in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...

. Vyjayanthi Movies is especially known for its big-budget productions with top

movie stars A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and wh ...

and lavish production values. It is credited with producing some of the most iconic films in Telugu cinema. It has subsidiaries, Swapna Cinema and Three Angels Studio run by Aswani Dutt's daughters Swapna Dutt and

Priyanka Dutt Priyanka Dutt Chalasani (born 19 December 1984) is an Indian film producer known for her work in Telugu cinema. She is the daughter of C. Ashwini Dutt, a well known Indian film producer and the founder of Vyjayanthi Movies. Dutt studied film m ...

History

Founding

Aswani Dutt started his film career as an

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

for a black and white film directed by

K. Viswanath Kasinadhuni Viswanath (born 19 February 1930) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor, known for his works primarily in Telugu cinema. He is recipient of five National Film Awards, seven state Nandi Awards, ten Filmfare Awards South ...

. He wanted to produce a film with his favourite actor

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as List of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh fo ...

(NTR) and approached him. Named by NTR, Vyjayanthi Movies commenced production, under the proprietorship of Aswani Dutt with the successful film, '' Eduruleni Manishi'' in 1975. The logo of the production house contains the image of NTR as Lord

Sri Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one o ...

, with a Sankha in his hand and

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

behind him.

Films and success

The production house went on to make films with the top most actors of Telugu cinema like NTR,

ANR People * Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Great Telugu film actor. Places * Akkineni Nageswara Rao College, sometimes called ANR College * Antwerp International Airport (IATA code) Entities * Agence nationale de la recherche, a French funding agency f ...

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

Sobhan Babu Sobhan Babu (born Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao; 14 January 1937 – 20 March 2008) was an Indian actor known for his works in Telugu cinema.Bangaru Panjaram in Venditera Paatalu, Krishnasastri Sahityam, third volume, Vishalandhra Publishing House ...

Krishnam Raju Uppalapati Venkata Krishnam Raju (20 January 1940 – 11 September 2022) was an Indian actor and politician. He was known for his works in Telugu cinema and was widely known as "''Rebel Star''" for his rebellious acting style. He was also the ...

Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu language, Telugu, as ...

, and

Akkineni Nagarjuna Akkineni is an Indian surname that may refer to * Akkineni Lakshmi Vara Prasada Rao, popularly known as L. V. Prasad was a famous Indian film actor, producer and director * Akkineni Ramesh Prasad son of Akkineni Lakshmi Vara Prasada Rao * Akkineni ...

. Many of the films produced by Vyjayanthi Movies were directed by

K. Bapayya Kovelamudi Bapayya is an Indian film director. He has directed about 80 films in Telugu and Hindi languages. He is the cousin of noted director K. Raghavendra Rao and nephew of director and producer K. S. Prakash Rao. Early life Kovelamudi ...

and

K. Raghavendra Rao Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao (born 23 May 1942) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema besides having directed a few Hindi films. He has garnered four state Nandi Awards and fiv ...

. Vyjayanthi Movies produced several Telugu films like ''

Agni Parvatam ''Agni Parvatam'' () is a 1985 Indian Telugu-language film, produced by C. Ashwini Dutt and K. Raghavendra Rao under the banner of Vyjayanthi Movies. The film stars Krishna. It was an industry hit in the box office of Tollywood, with 5 music ...

'' (1985), ''

Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari ''Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari'' (), also known by the initialism ''JVAS'', is a 1990 Indian Telugu-language fantasy film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao who co-wrote the script with Jandhyala and Yandamuri Veerendranath. The film stars Chir ...

'' (1990), ''

Indra Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...

'' (2002) which were very successful at the box-office. Vyjayanthi Movies introduced popular actors like Jr. NTR,

Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor, producer, media personality, and philanthropist who works mainly in Telugu cinema. He has appeared in more than 25 films, and won several accolades including, eight Nandi Award ...

Ram Charan Konidela Ram Charan Teja (born 27 March 1985) is an Indian actor, producer, and entrepreneur who works predominantly in Telugu films. One of the highest-paid Telugu film actors, he is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards and two Nandi Award ...

Allu Arjun Allu Arjun (born 8 April 1982) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu films. One of the highest paid actors in India, Arjun is also known for his extraordinary dancing skills. He is a recipient of several awards, including six Filmfare Award ...

, and

Nara Rohit Nara Rohit (born 25 July 1984) is an Indian actor and producer works in Telugu films. An alumnus of New York Film Academy, Rohit is known for works such as ''Baanam'' (2009), ''Solo'' (2011), ''Prathinidhi'' (2014), ''Rowdy Fellow'' (2014), ''A ...

to the Telugu cinema. Vyjayanthi Movies had a successful run until it hit a rough patch with '' Sakthi'' in 2011. After this, Aswani Dutt took a seven-year hiatus. He produced ''

Mahanati ''Mahanati'' () is a 2018 Indian Telugu-language biographical drama film based on the life of actress Savitri. It is written and directed by Nag Ashwin, and produced by Priyanka Dutt under Vyjayanthi Movies and Swapna Cinema. The film feature ...

'' in 2018 which became one of the highest grossing films of the year.

Subsidiaries

Swapna Cinema

In 2014, Ashwani Dutt's elder daughter, Swapna Dutt, inherited ''Swapna Cinema'' from her father. Under this banner, Swapna and her sister, Priyanka Dutt produced ''

Yevade Subramanyam ''Yevade Subramanyam'' () is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language coming-of-age philosophical drama film written and directed by debutant Nag Ashwin. Produced by Priyanka Dutt, and Swapna Dutt, the film stars Nani, Malavika Nair, Vijay Deverakonda, a ...

''. This was a big success story at the box office in 2015. In 2018, this banner produced a biopic on the late actress, Savitri. The biopic, titled ''

'' stars

Keerthi Suresh Keerthy Suresh (born 17 October 1992) is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films, in addition to a few Malayalam films. She was recognised as Forbes 30 under 30 in 2021.She won the National Film Award for Best Act ...

Dulquer Salmaan Dulquer Salmaan (born 28 July 1986) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films, in addition to Telugu and Hindi films. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management ...

Samantha Ruth Prabhu Samantha Ruth Prabhu (formerly: Samantha Akkineni; born 28 April 1987) is an Indian actress who mainly works in Telugu and Tamil film industries. She is a recipient of several awards, including four South Filmfare Awards, six South Indian I ...

, and

Vijay Devarakonda Deverakonda Vijay Sai (born 9 May 1989), better known as Vijay Deverakonda, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He is the recipient of a Filmfare Awards South, Filmfare Award, a Nandi Awards, Nandi Awa ...

. It was critically acclaimed and highly successful at the box office.

Three Angels Studio

Aswani Dutt's younger daughter, Priyanka Dutt launched a new production house named ''Three Angels Studio'' in 2008. She produced her first film, ''

Baanam ''Baanam'' () is a 2009 Indian Telugu-language action drama film directed by the debutant Chaitanya Dantuluri, starring Nara Rohit and Vedhika in the lead roles. Produced by Priyanka Dutt under the banner Three Angels Studio Pvt Ltd, the film al ...

'' (2009), through this company and introduced

to Telugu Cinema. The film was critically acclaimed, but did not do well at the box office. She then produced the anthology film '' Om Shanti'' in 2010. It stars

Nikhil Siddharth Nikhil Siddhartha (born 1 June 1985) is an Indian actor of the Telugu language, Telugu film industry. He played minor roles in various films before being cast in ''Happy Days (2007 film), Happy Days'' (2007) as one of the four male leads. The f ...

Kajal Aggarwal Kajal Aggarwal (born 19 June 1985) is an Indian actress and model who mainly appears in Telugu and Tamil language films, in addition to a few Hindi films. Aggarwal has worked in more than 50 films and also received two South Indian Internatio ...

Bindu Madhavi Bindu Madhavi (born 14 June 1986) is an Indian model and actress and a reality show winner, working in Tamil-language and Telugu-language cinema. After starting her acting career in Telugu, she shifted to Tamil cinema where she was part of seve ...

and

Navdeep Navdeep Pallapolu (born 26 January 1986) is an Indian actor and television personality who appears in Telugu films along with Tamil films. He made his film debut in 2004 with the patriotic sports drama '' Jai''. He starred in films such as ''Ar ...

Shelved Projects

After the success of ''Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari'' (1990), Aswani Dutt wanted to do

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...

highlighting the CGI. So a film titled ''Bhooloka Veerudu'' was started in the direction of

Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Singeetam Srinivasa Rao (born 21 September 1931), commonly known as Singeetam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, composer, and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the most versatile directors of India. He is credited with hav ...

with

in the lead role. After completing two schedules, the project was shelved as they realized that they didn't have a proper story in hand and hence shelved the film.

Ram Gopal Varma Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma (born 7 April 1962), often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Bollywood, Hindi, Kannada cinema, Kannada language ...

narrated a story to Aswani Dutt which he liked. Varma was making '' Daud'' at that time and felt that the shooting of ''Daud'' might be stalled due to

Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 100 films, ranging from romance to comedy genres, though u ...

's legal issues. So Varma narrated the story to Aswani Dutt and Chiranjeevi which they liked. Aswani Dutt started the project with Chiranjeevi as the lead in the direction of Ram Gopal Varma. After Sanjay Dutt's release, the shooting of ''Daud'' resumed. Then Aswani Dutt realized that the storylines for these two films are similar. As he was not comfortable in doing a film which had the same storyline to another film, he stalled the project.

Film production

Vyjayanti Movies Swapna Cinema Three Angels Studio Raghavendra Movie Corporation, Siri Media Arts, and United Producers (Aswani Dutt, Allu Aravind, and K. Raghavendra Rao) Sri Priyanka Pictures Roja Art Productions

References

External links

* * * {{IMDb name, 0244866, Ashwini Dutt Film production companies based in Hyderabad, India Film production companies of India Mass media companies established in 1974 Indian companies established in 1974 1974 establishments in Andhra Pradesh