''Balarama'' is a 2002 Indian

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

-language film directed by S. Mahendar and produced by Ramesh Yadav. The film stars

Rockline Venkatesh Thirupathi Narasimhalunaidu Venkatesh (born 23 March 1963), better known by his stage name Rockline Venkatesh, is an Indian actor and producer known for his works in Kannada, and Hindi cinemas. He is the founder and owner of the production and d ...

and Prema. It is a remake of the 1991 Telugu film ''

Yerra Mandaram ''Erra Mandaram'' ( Red Hibiscus) is a 1991 Telugu film, produced by Pokuri Venkateswara Rao under the Eetharam Films banner and directed by Muthyala Subbaiah. It stars Rajendra Prasad, Yamuna and music composed by Chakravarthy. The entire mov ...

'' (1991). The film revolves around a criminal who, after committing a series of crimes, traps an innocent politician in his vicious web. Soon, the politician's wife sets out to exact revenge. The film was a box office flop.

Plot

Balarama is an uneducated and innocent person working in a theatre. Sevanthi loves Balarama and marries him. Due to allegations of corruption , Saahukaar Durgappa, the incumbent President of Mandal Panchayat, is barred from contesting elections. Hence, Saahukaar decides to make Balarama as the President since he is innocent and can be made a puppet in his hands. However, Balarama wants to reform his village but is left helpless as he lacks courage. Later one day, he feels ashamed of himself for being so powerless and unable to stop the crimes committed by Saahukaar. He revolts against this which results in his arrest with false accusations and is killed by Saahukaar's men after he returns from the police station. The police take Saahukaar's side and close the case, reporting that the person killed was someone other than Balarama. Finally, Saahukaar is then murdered by Sevanthi and her son, both of whom allege that the murder was committed by Balarama who is still said to be alive by the police. The movie ends with Sevanthi and her son walking free.

Cast

Music

The music was composed by

Hamsalekha Gangaraju (born June 23, 1951), professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and a songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, di ...

, who also penned lyrics for all the six songs.

Reception

A critic from ''indiainfo.com'' wrote that "Though it has all the characteristics of parallel cinema, it is overwhelming with commercial aspects. Still one can feel the beautiful blend of comedy, song and sentiments". A critic from ''Viggy'' wrote that "Director Mahendar succeeded in not making the film look like photocopy of its original film 'Erra Mandaram'. With his consecutive success of remake films ''Vaali'', ''Ninagagi'' and ''Balarama'' Mahendar now is a hatric director".

References

External links

* 2000s Indian films 2000s Kannada-language films Films scored by Hamsalekha Kannada remakes of Telugu films {{Improve categories, date=April 2024