''Bhairava Dweepam'' () is a 1994 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

-language

high fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, Pl ...

film directed by

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 ...

who co-wrote the film with

Raavi Kondala Rao Raavi Kondala Rao (11 February 1932 – 28 July 2020) was an Indian actor, screenwriter, playwright, and journalist who worked in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He acted in over 400 films. He won Nandi Award for Best Story Writer for '' Pe ...

. It is produced by

B. Venkatarama Reddy B. Venkatarama Reddy ( – 12 May 2019, also written as B. Venkatarami Reddy) was an Indian film producer who produced many Tamil and Telugu films. Biography Reddy was the youngest son of B. Nagi Reddy. He produced films like ''Bhairava Dweep ...

under the Chandamama Vijaya Pictures banner. The film stars

Nandamuri Balakrishna Nandamuri Balakrishna (born 10 June 1960), simply known as Balakrishna or Balayya or NBK, is an Indian actor, producer and politician. He appeared in more than 100 Telugu cinema, Telugu films over forty years in a variety of roles and establis ...

and

Roja Roja may refer to: * ''Roja'' (film), a 1992 Tamil-language film by director Mani Ratnam * ''Roja'' (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the film * Roja Selvamani Roja Selvamani (born Sri Latha Reddy; 17 November 1972), also known as R. K. ...

, with music composed by

Madhavapeddi Suresh Madhavapeddi Suresh is an Indian music composer and playback singer who works in Telugu cinema and television. He is the recipient of four Andhra Pradesh state Nandi Awards for his works. A close relative of noted playback singer Madhavapeddi ...

. The film was a box office success and won nine state

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are the awards that recognise the excellence in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre and Telugu television, and Lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. Presented annually by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the award is named after ...

. ''Bhairava Dweepam'' is considered as a landmark

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

film 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 ...

Plot

The film begins in Chandraprabha Dynasty, King Jayachandra deserts a woman, Vasundhara after giving birth to a baby boy. But in the wake of this, he perturbs and proceeds for her. On a cyclonic night, Vasudhara loses her child who has been guarded by a tribal chieftain, and rears him as Vijay. Shattered Vasundhara attempts suicide when a helmet Jamadagni consoles and shelters her. He also designs a flower that indicates her son's existence and he is secured until it flourishes. Years roll by, and Vijay grows as gallant & courteous. Once his fosters aspire to possess a divine liquid from a ''tree of water'' which provides youngness. So, Vijay moves with his sibling Kondanna. Wherefore, he crushes on Princess Padmavati the daughter of King Brahmananda Bhupathi, and she too reciprocates. One night, Vijay climbs up the cattle from the back door, breezily spends with Padma, and simply returns. Besides, Jayachandra loses his vision when his imbecilic sons Uttar & Dakshin occupy the crown and ostracizes him in a desert. Brahmananda invites the two princes to Swayamvaram for espousing Padma as per the word given to Jayachandra. Vijay is cognizant of it and arrives as the prince in disguise accompanying Kondanna. Simultaneously the originals also appear and the situation is perplexing. Anyhow, Brahmananda guests two. After a while, Vijay’s true identity comes out and he skips when Padma unequivocally says that she will splice him. Now the page turns to a mysterious island ''Bhairava Dweepam'' where a diabolic wizard Bhairava fervid at winning immortality. To reach it, he has to sacrifice a virgin's blood to Goddess '' Kaali''. On a full moon day, Bhairava abducts Padma from the castle in a trance. Like this, she pledges before the goddess to anoint with her blood on full moon day and departs. The next morning, frightened Padma slightly recoups a few incidents of the past night and falls sick when doctors declare it as ''Black Magic''. In this respect, Brahmananda accuses Vijay who seizes and tortures him. Then, Vijay is aware that Padma is ailing. Immediately, he rushes to her, learns about the impending catastrophe, and flees. Just as he falls to the ground near Jamadagni Ashram where Vasundhara showers motherly affection and retrieves him. She also blesses him with a bracelet with keeps him far away from evil forces. On the full moon day, Vijay secretly enters the castle and spots a green fog carrying Padma along with her bed by putting all unconscious. Nevertheless, it excludes Vijay via the impact of the bracelet and switches to Island hanging on to bed. Consequently, he relives the curse of a nymph who bestows him a ring as gratitude which can reverse Bhairava magic on the bed. As well as, she warns him it's not the proper time to clash with the wizard. Hence, Vijay brings back Padma from the trance and implicitly flights on the bed with the power of the ring. Soon, Bhairava assaults a dragon while Vijay is separated from the bed when he falls into the sea destroying it and keeping Padma at a safe pace. A naughty devil pair views him at the shore bordering the desert which makes him conscious and narrates their past. They used to be in the court of Bhairava who gripped them in a bottle and threw this in place. Further, they got out by the kick of a blind Jayachandra. As a thanksgiving, Jayachandra asks for food from them. But unfortunately, he seats in Lord ''

Tumbura Tumbura, sometimes spelled Tambora or Tambura, is a town in South Sudan. Location The town is located in Tambura County, Western Equatoria, in the western part of South Sudan, near the International borders with the Democratic Republic of the Con ...

s temple when his devotee a white flying horse enrages prevents him from eating as a penalty that repeats daily. Currently, the devil request Vijay to fulfill their indebtedness. Vijay with his art of music convinces and also wishes the horse to provide vision to Jayachandra which it does so. Moreover, it gives a boon to Vijay that it is going to aid him to transport to any mysterious places. Following, the devil divulges Vijay regarding a ''Satha-Ratna'' necklace a tool to protect Padma found in ''

Yakshini ''Yakshinis'' or ''yakshis'' (यक्षिणी sa, yakṣiṇī or ''yakṣī''; pi, yakkhiṇī or ''yakkhī'') are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies that are different from devas and ...

'' Lokam. Accordingly, he takes the path by requesting Jayachandra to reside at their hamlet. On the flip side, terror-stricken Brahmananda announces accord half the dynasty along with his daughter’s hand whoever rescues Padma. Meanwhile, with the support of 4 Lilliputians, Vijay lands at his destination falsely entices a ''Yakshiki'' and wins the necklace after adventurous feats. At that point, infuriated ''Yakshini'' curses Vijay who turns into a ghastly. Plus, she states that the necklace shall be repealed if it falls on the ground or he discloses himself. Parallelly, the flower at Jamadagni Ashram shifts black which agonizes Vasundhara. Thereupon, Jamadagni says that her son is safe but he is in some endanger. On a full moon night, Vijay as incognito succeeds Padma in wearing the necklace. As of today, it's inevitable for Brahmananda to organize nuptials of the grim Vijay & Padma. During Bhairava sends his acolyte as a priest who proclaims that hideous has heisted the necklace from Vijay. Listening to it, Padma throws it away, and the wizard snatches her. Promptly, Vijay aims to reach the island before the full moon night. Ahead of that, he goes to Jamadagni Ashram for the grace of Vasundhara when she discovers him as his son by comparing him with a faded flower. Abiding by the guidelines of Jamadagni Vijay invokes the magic horse to meet the target. However, it is unfeasible to transport him because of his curse but is there a possibility that someone transfers his curse granting their form? Thus, Vasundhara takes it up and directs normal Vijay to come back victoriously. On account of it, Vijay steps into ''Bhairava Dweepam'' by riding over the magic horse. At last, Vijay ceases Bhairava when the island collapses and Goddess appear who removes the cure of his mother. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the marriage of Vijay & Padma and the union of the Chandraprabha and the Karthikeya dynasties.

Cast

as Vijay *

as Padmavathi * Satyanarayana as Brahmananda Bhupati * Vijayakumar as Jayachandra Maharaju *Vijaya Rangaraju as Bhairavudu *

Subhalekha Sudhakar Suravajhala Sudhakar (born 19 November 1960), known by his stage name Subhalekha Sudhakar, is an Indian actor who works in Telugu and Tamil language films and television. Sudhakar's first Telugu film '' Subhalekha'' (1982) gained him wide reco ...

as Dakshin *

Giri Babu Yerra Seshagiri Rao, popularly known as Giri Babu, is an Indian actor, producer, and director who primarily woks in Telugu films. His son, Raghu Babu, is a notable actor-director. Career Giri Babu hails from a middle class agricultural famil ...

as Uttar *

Babu Mohan Pally Babu Mohan known as Babu Mohanis an Indian actor and politician from Bharatiya Janata Party. He prominently works in Telugu films as a comedian and is a former Minister for Labour in Andhra Pradesh. He won Nandi Award for Best Male Come ...

* Mikkilineni as Jamadagni Maharshi *

Padmanabham Padmanabham mandal is one of the 46 mandals in Visakhapatnam District in India. It is under the administration of Visakhapatnam revenue division and the headquarters is located at Padmanabham. The Mandal is bounded by Bheemunipatnam, Anandapur ...

as Mattepa Sastry *Malladi *

Suthi Velu Kurumaddali Lakshmi Narasimha Rao (7 August 1947 – 16 September 2012), better known by his stage name Suthi Velu, was an Indian actor and comedian known for his works in Telugu cinema. He has acted in more than 200 films, and won four state ...

as Devil *

Kovai Sarala Kovai Sarala is an Indian actress and comedian, who prominently plays supporting roles in Tamil and Telugu films. She has won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian three times, for her performances in '' Sathi Leelavathi'' (1995), '' ...

as Allari deyyam *Vinod as Shoora Varma *Bheemiswara Rao * Chitti Babu as Lilliputian *Garimalla Visweswara Rao as Lilliputian *

K. R. Vijaya Deivanayaki better known by her stage name K. R. Vijaya is an Indian actress who has featured in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films. She started her career in 1963 and has been acting for more than five decades in South Indian cinema. ...

as Vasundhara * Manorama * Sangeeta as Padma's mother *Radhabai *

Rajitha Rajitha is an Indian actress who works in Telugu films. She has been active since the late 1980s. Career Rajitha made her debut in film industry at the age of 18 with the Telugu movie, ''Brahma Rudrulu'' in which she portrayed Akkineni Nage ...

as Madanika *

as Devil *Attili Lakshmi *Sailaja * Rambha as Yakshini (

Cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

)

Production

wrote the story of ''Bhariava Dweepam'' on the lines of ''

Pathala Bhairavi ''Pathala Bhairavi'' () is a 1951 Indian fantasy film directed by K. V. Reddy who co-wrote the film with Pingali and Kamalakara Kameswara Rao. Shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil languages, the film was produced by Nagi Reddi and Chakrap ...

'' (1951).

took up the direction duties and

immediately accepted the film as it closely resembled ''Pathala Bhairavi'' in which his father

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 ...

played the lead role. The antagonist Bhariavudu was inspired from Nepala Matrikudu from ''Pathala Bhairavi.'' Several actors including

Nana Patekar Vishwanath Patekar (born 1 January 1951), better known as Nana Patekar, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, film maker, and a former Indian Territorial Army officer, mainly working in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He is regarded as one of the finest a ...

and

Amrish Puri Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Indian cinema and Theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himself as one of the most popular actors ...

were considered for the role. However, the producer was convinced actor

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

actor Rajkumar was right for the role after watching him in ''

Vietnam Colony ''Vietnam Colony'' is a 1992 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film written and directed by Siddique-Lal. It stars Mohanlal, Innocent (actor), Innocent, Kanaka (actress), Kanaka, and K. P. A. C. Lalitha. The soundtrack of the film was comp ...

'' (1992). He was given screen name Vijaya Rangaraju (to resemble

S. V. Ranga Rao Samarla Venkata Ranga Rao (3 July 1918 – 18 July 1974), popularly known as SVR, was an Indian actor, producer, and director known for his works majorly in Telugu and Tamil films. He is regarded as one of the finest actors in the history of ...

who played Nepali Matrikudu) for his debut in

. Principal photography of the film began on 23 June 1993 at the

Vijaya Vauhini Studios Vijaya Vauhini Studios was one of the premier motion picture movie studios in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the combination of Vijaya Productions and Vauhini Studios. B. Nagi Reddy (Bommireddy Nagi Reddy) was the founder of Vijaya Produc ...

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. Balakrishna plays a prince who later becomes a

hunchback Kyphosis is an abnormally excessive convex curvature of the spine as it occurs in the thoracic and sacral regions. Abnormal inward concave ''lordotic'' curving of the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine is called lordosis. It can result fr ...

in the film.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by

. Music released on Supreme Music Company.

Reception

K. Vijiyan of ''

New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as ''The Straits Times'' on 15 July 1845. It was relaunched as the ' ...

'' while reviewing the Tamil dubbed version praised Balakrishna's performance, special effects, and production design calling it an "enjoyable 'raja-rani' film".

Legacy

Hemanth Kumar CR writing for ''

Vogue India ''Vogue India'' is the Indian edition of the monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine ''Vogue''. It is the 17th international edition of ''Vogue'' and the first edition in South Asia. ''Vogue India'' is published by Condé Nast India Pvt. Ltd., a ...

'' in February 2020 noted, " 'Bhairava Dweepam' is a quintessential fantasy film that pays homage to several mythical elements in popular Telugu folklore." Further, he listed it among the seven

films to watch for fans of

genre. Karthik Keramulu of ''

Film Companion Anupama Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written sev ...

'' in July 2021 opined that it is one of the better made fantasy films in

and wrote, "The highlights of ''Bhairava Dweepam'' are a flying bed and a swashbuckling hero." Actor and producer

Nandamuri Kalyan Ram Nandamuri Kalyan Ram (born 5 July 1978) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Telugu cinema. He is the son of actor-politician Nandamuri Harikrishna. Ram is best known for his roles in action films such as ''Athanokkade'', '' Hare R ...

cited ''Bhairava Dweepam'' as one of his favourite films and an inspiration for producing the film ''

Bimbisara Bimbisāra (in Buddhist tradition) or Shrenika () and Seniya () in the Jain histories (c. 558 – c. 491 BCE or during the late 5th century BCE) was a King of Magadha (V. K. Agnihotri (ed.), ''Indian History''. Allied Publishers, New Delhi 2 ...

'' (2022).

Awards

;

* Third Best Feature Film – Bronze – B. Venkatarami Reddy *

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

–

Singeetam Srinivas 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 ...

* Best Male Playback Singer –

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

for the song "Sri Thumabara Narada" * Best Female Playback Singer –

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...

for the song "Naruda O Naruda Yemi Korikaa" * Best Makeup Artist – M. Sathyam *

Best Costume Designer Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

– Kondala Reddy * Best Audiographer – Kolli Ramakrishna * Best Art Director – Peketi Ranga * Special Jury Award – Kabir Lal for Best Photography

References

External links

* {{Singeetam Srinivasa Rao 1990s fantasy action films 1990s fantasy adventure films 1990s Telugu-language films 1994 films Fictional-language films Filmfare Awards South winners Films about witchcraft Films directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Films scored by Madhavapeddi Suresh High fantasy films Indian fantasy action films Indian fantasy adventure films Nandi Award winners