''Fools'' is a 2003 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film directed by

Dasari Narayana Rao Dasari Narayana Rao (4 May 1947 – 30 May 2017) was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, lyricist, and politician known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema, in addition to Hindi cinema. He has directed more than 150 ...

and starring himself,

Srinath Narayana Swamy (born 28 December 1944), known by his stage name Srinath, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Kannada cinema. He holds the position of vice-president of the Kannada television channel Udaya TV. He is ...

and

Gajala Gajala (maiden name Gazala Shaikh Khan) is an Indian actress, who has predominantly appeared in Telugu and Tamil films. She made her debut in the Telugu film ''Nalo Vunna Prema'' in 2001. Early life Gazala Shaikh Khan lived in Kuwait before he ...

. The film is inspired by the Malayalam film '' Godfather'' although that film had already been remade into Telugu.

Plot

Deepti's parents accuse her of being in love. Although Deepti is not in love, she runs into Narasimha Rao and falls in love with him to make her parent's accusation true. Narasimha Rao is part of a large family headed by his father, A. V. Narasimha Naidu, that includes five brothers (Ranga, Rajarao, Subbarao, Apparao, himself) and a sister. Narasimha Naidu did not marry off his sons because he wanted to find the perfect girl for them. However, his daughter was ostracized from the family after running away with another man. When Deepti and Narasimha Rao realize that they are part of the same family because Narasimha Rao's sister is Deepti's mother, they try to reunite the family.

Cast

as Ranga *

as Narasimha Rao *

as Deepti * Satyanarayana as A. V. Narasimha Naidu *

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 Rajarao * Chandra Mohan as Subbarao *

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 Apparao *

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 ...

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 Manga *

L. B. Sriram L. B. Sriram (born Lanka Bhadradri Sri Ramachandra Moorthy; 30 May 1952) is an Indian actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, and thespian known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He made his feature film debut with '' Ko ...

Shakeela C. Shakeela, known mononymously as Shakeela, is an Indian actress and politician who has predominantly acted in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu language films. She is a member of Indian National Congress. Shakeela debuted in the film ''Playgirls'' ...

*Ramya Sri * Rallapalli *

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 ...

as Deepti's father (guest appearance) *

Jayasudha Jayasudha Kapoor (born Sujatha Nidudavolu) is an Indian actress and politician known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema. She has also worked in few Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi films. Known as natural actress, she received fiv ...

as Deepti's mother (guest appearance) * Krishna Kumari (guest appearance)

Production

Durga Nageswara Rao, MS Kota Reddy, and

Relangi Narasimha Rao Relangi Narasimha Rao (born 30 September 1951) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who predominently works in Telugu cinema. He is well known for his comedy films, especially his collaborations with actors Chandra Mohan and Rajendra Pras ...

worked as assistant director for the film with Relangi assisting with comedy scenes.

Soundtrack

Music composed by

Vandemataram Srinivas Kanneboina Srinavasa Rao Yadav, known professionally as Vandemataram Srinivas, is an Indian music director and playback singer who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has won two Filmfare Awards and six Nandi Awards. He got the prefix "Vand ...

Reception

Gudipoodi Srihari of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' said that "This is a full-length comedy, enjoyable almost throughout its run with Dasari at the helm. He handles the subject well as its director. Newcomer Srinath acts with ease". A critic from ''

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...

'' wrote that "The film looks too jaded with an old fashioned story. There`s nothing new in the way the film is packaged". Manju Latha Kalanidhi of ''Full Hyderabad'' opined that the film's plot is "flimsy" and non-existent.

References

{{Reflist Films directed by Dasari Narayana Rao