''Dongaata'' is a 1997 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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Kodi Ramakrishna Kodi Ramakrishna (23 July 1949 – 22 February 2019) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. One of the most prolific film directors of Telugu film industry, Kodi Ramakrishna has ...

. It stars

Jagapati Babu Veeramachaneni Jagapathi Rao Chowdary (born 12 February 1962), professionally known as Jagapathi Babu (), is an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has also appeared in a few Tamil, , Kannada and Malayalam films. ...

Soundarya K. S. Sowmya (18 July 1972 – 17 April 2004), better known by her stage name Soundarya, was an Indian actress who worked predominantly in Telugu_cinema, Telugu films and has also worked in Kannada, Tamil language, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam f ...

Suresh Suresh is an Indian masculine given name originating in the Sanskrit word ' (compound of ' and '). Its meaning is "Ruler of Gods" and it has been used an epithet for the Hindu gods Indra, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. People named Suresh include: *Sur ...

Ritu Shivpuri Ritu Shivpuri (born 22 January 1972) is an Indian actress and model, notable for her work in Hindi and Kannada cinema. Daughter of actors Om and Sudha Shivpuri, Ritu made her acting debut in a leading role in the 1993 film '' Aankhen'', which ...

, with music composed by

Bharadwaj Bharadwaj ( hi, भारद्वाज) is a surname mostly used by Brahmins. Notable people with the surname include: *Abhay Bharadwaj (1954–2020), Indian advocate turned politician *Anasuya Bharadwaj (born 1982), Indian television presenter a ...

. It is produced by Dr. K. L. Narayana under the Sri Durga Arts banner and presented by S. Gopal Reddy. The film was inspired by the English film ''

French Kiss A French kiss, also known as cataglottism or a tongue kiss, is an amorous kiss in which the participants' tongues extend to touch each other's lips or tongue. A kiss with the tongue stimulates the partner's lips, tongue and mouth, which are sens ...

'' (1995), which was remade in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

later on as ''

Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha ''Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha'' () is a 1998 Indian romantic comedy film starring Kajol and Ajay Devgn. The film is a scene to scene copy of the 1995 American film ''French Kiss'' starring Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline. At the 44th Filmfare Awards, ''Pya ...

'' (1998).

Plot

The film begins in a village where Subbalakshmi a naive woman endears her cousin Prakash Rao. Prakash Rao is brought forth by her father to knit him with Subbalakshmi. Presently, he moves to the city for higher studies. Thereafter, he didn’t show up for her. Perturbed Subbalakshmi proceeds to the city by lying to her father that she is going on a tour. On her train journey, she is acquainted with a thief Raju who has stolen a diamond necklace that he hides in Subbalakshmi’s bag to sneak from Police. ACP Vikram shadows Raju to recover the necklace. Besides, Raju follows Subbalakshmi like ''white on rice'' for the bag. Therein, he rescues her from several pitfalls and also supports her to find the whereabouts of Prakash Rao. During that time, Raju starts liking her but maintains silence because of her sweetheart towards her cousin. Anyhow, Subbalakshmi succeeds in locating Prakash Rao where she gets blindsided and collapses viewing Prakash Rao’s close intimacy with a tycoon Lavanya. In reality, Prakash Rao is a swindler who exploited Subbalakshmi to hit the top. Presently, he is behind Lavanya’s wealth. At that point, Prakash Rao manipulates the situation, convinces Subbalakshmi, and sends her back when Raju again accompanies her. On the way, Subbalakshmi fortuitously meets Prakash Rao’s friend Prasad who reveals the diabolic shade of his friend. Being cognizant of it, Subbalakshmi tries to commit suicide when Raju bars her and words to rectify Prakash Rao. Right now, locating Prakash Rao, Raju & Subbalakshmi reaches Jaipur. Herein, Raju turns her into a modern girl. At that juncture, he gets stunned to find the necklace in hands of Subbalakshmi which she has hidden to seek his help. Currently, they make a friendship with Lavanya that frightens Prakash Rao. Moreover, Raju develops a close bond with Lavanya. So, enranged Prakash Rao warns Subbalakshmi, accuses her character, and tries to kill her. However, she is saved by ACP Vikram when she handovers the necklace to him, pleads to quit Raju, and also expresses her present love towards Raju which she hesitated to reveal. Meanwhile, Lavanya necks out Prakash Rao being aware of his true face. So, he reaches Subbalakshmi trying to con her once again but she discards him and moves to her village. At last, Raju learns about Subbalakshmi’s love through ACP Vikram, rushes to the railway station, and confesses that he loves her too. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the union of Raju and Subbalakshmi.

Cast

as Raju *

as Subbalakshmi *

as Prakash Rao *

as Lavanya *

Kota Srinivasa Rao Kota Srinivasa Rao (born 10 July 1942) is an Indian character actor known for his work primarily in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He has also starred in a few films in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam. As a former politician, Rao has s ...

as Subbalakshmi's father *

Brahmanandam Kanneganti Brahmanandam (born 1 February 1956), known mononymously as Brahmanandam, is an Indian actor, comedian, impersonator, and voice actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He is particularly known for his comic performa ...

as Constable *

Sudhakar Sudhakar is an Indian name and may refer to: * Sudhakar (actor) (born 1959), Indian actor * Patel Sudhakar Reddy (died 2009), member of the central committee of the Communist Party of India * Sudhakar Chaturvedi (born 1897), Vedic scholar in Banga ...

as Paropakari Papanna, a thief *

Sarath Babu Sathyam Babu Dixithulu (born 31 July 1951), known by his stage name Sarath Babu, is an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu cinema. He has worked in more than 200 films. He has appeared in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and ...

as ASP Vikram *

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 ...

as a pimp * Mallikarjuna Rao as Ambothula Appa Rao *

M. Balayya Mannava Balayya (9 April 1930 – 9 April 2022) was an Indian actor, writer, director and producer in Telugu cinema. He acted in 300 films. Early life and career Mannava Balayya, was born at Chavupadu, Amaravathi mandalam, Guntur district ...

as Raju's father *

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 Prasad, Prakash's friend *

Ananth Babu Punyamurthula Anant, known by his stage name Ananth Babu, is an Indian actor and comedian, known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He is the brother of noted comedians Raja Babu and Chitti Babu. Personal life Ananth Babu was ...

as Hotel owner *

Gautam Raju Gautam Raju is an Indian actor from Andhra Pradesh predominantly acted in Telugu films. He acted in more than 200 films. He got two Nandi Awards as a Best Male Comedian. He also received Rajababu award. Early and personal life Gautam Raju was ...

as SI *Naamala Murthy *Gadiraju Subba Rao *Annuja as

item number In Indian cinema, an item number or item song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and Be ...

* Alphonsa as

Priya Priya may refer to: * Priya (given name), a given name of Indian origin * Priya (actress) Karpagavalli better known by her stage name Priya is an Indian actress who worked on South Indian movies. She was a prominent lead actress during the ...

as Subbalakshmi's friend * Ragini as Radha *Neelima *

Dubbing Janaki Dasari Janaki, known professionally as Dubbing Janaki, is an Indian actress and voice artist. She has appeared in several films and television shows in various South Indian languages. Early life Janaki was born in Peddapuram, East Godavari Di ...

as Subbalakshmi's mother

Music

The music was composed by

and released on the Supreme Music Company.

Reception

The film was reviewed by ''Zamin Ryot''. A critic from ''Andhra Today'' said that "The movie has many drawbacks and instead of covering them up, the director harped on them, and made the movie drag and boring".https://web.archive.org/web/19980213002508/http://www.andhratoday.com/movie/DONGATA.htm

References

{{Kodi Ramakrishna 1997 films 1990s Telugu-language films Indian romantic drama films 1997 romantic drama films Films directed by Kodi Ramakrishna Films scored by Bharadwaj (composer) Films set in Rajasthan Films shot in Rajasthan Indian remakes of American films