''Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari'' (), also known by the

initialism An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

''JVAS'', is a 1990 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

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 ...

directed by

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 ...

who co-wrote the script with

Jandhyala Jandhyala Subrahmanya Sastry (14 January 1951 – 19 June 2001), known mononymously by his surname Jandhyala, was an Indian film director, screenwriter, playwright, and actor known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He is popula ...

and

Yandamuri Veerendranath Yandamuri Veerendranath is an Indian novelist and screenwriter known for his works in the Telugu language. He influences younger generations with his socially relevant writings and youtube videos. In his writings he addresses many of social prob ...

. The film stars

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

Sridevi Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan (13 August 1963 – 24 February 2018), professionally credited with her stage name Sridevi, was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. Cited as the "First Female ...

while

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 ...

Kannada Prabhakar Tiger Prabhakar (30 March 1948 – 25 March 2001), also known as Kannada Prabhakar, was an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Kannada and Telugu cinema, with a few Malayalam, Tamil and Bollywood films. Career Prabhakar started hi ...

Allu Ramalingaiah Allu Ramalingaiah (1 October 1922 – 31 July 2004) was an Indian character actor, comedian, and producer known for his works in Telugu cinema. In 1990, He was honoured with the Padma Shri for his contribution to Indian cinema. In 1998, he rec ...

and Rami Reddy play supporting roles. The film is produced 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 ...

Vyjayanthi Movies Vyjayanthi Movies is an Indian film production company established in 1974 by C. Aswani Dutt. It is one of the biggest film production houses in Telugu cinema. Vyjayanthi Movies is especially known for its big-budget productions with top movie ...

banner. The plot revolves around a man who finds a ring that gives the bearer great power, but the goddess who lost the ring seeks it back to return to her world. ''Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari'' was theatrically released on May 9, 1990. The film upon release was a massive success, grossing ₹15

crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

at the box office and becoming the highest grossing Telugu film in history at the time. It is regarded as a classic film in

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 ...

genre in Telugu cinema. The film won five 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 ...

Plot

Raju, a courageous and spirited young man, is a caregiver to four young orphans. He is a tourist guide in a picturesque hill station. One of the children is accidentally injured. An ayurvedic guru suggests the only cure for the child's injury - herbs found only on the banks of

Lake Manasarovar Lake Manasarovar (Sanskrit: मानसरोवर), also called Mapam Yutso (;) locally, is a high altitude freshwater lake fed by the Kailash Glaciers near Mount Kailash in Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The l ...

. Raju goes to the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

to retrieve these powerful herbs. During the same time, a celestial being, Indraja, the daughter of Lord

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 ...

, happens to visit Manasarovar. She accidentally drops her ring there. This ring is her passport to Heaven. Raju finds the ring and starts wearing it, oblivious to its divine power. Indraja is unable to enter Heaven as she lost her ring.

Brihaspathi Brihaspati ( sa, बृहस्पति, ), also known as Guru, is a Hindu deity. In the ancient Vedic scriptures of Hinduism, Brihaspati is a deity associated with fire, and the word also refers to a rishi (sage) who counsels the devas (god ...

, the Deva-guru, instructs her to go back to Earth to retrieve it before the next

Kartik Poornima Kartika Purnima is a Hindu, Sikh and Jain cultural festival that is celebrated on Purnima (full moon day), the 15th (or 30th) lunar day of the month of Kartika. It falls in November or December of the Gregorian calendar The Gregorian ...

. In search of the ring, Indraja finds her way to Raju's hometown. Due to her strange language and lack of emotional and social awareness, she is initially considered insane. Her umpteen confessions about her divinity are subject to laughter. Raju and the children take pity on her and provide her shelter in their home. She becomes close to the children and often ends up in trouble trying to take the ring from Raju. In the meanwhile, Raju is caught up in a moral squabble with KP, an arrogant millionaire. KP's goons launch a series of attacks on Raju and Indraja. Raju overcomes them, unaware that the ring is helping him. KP gets suspicious about Raju's supernatural power. KP approaches Mahadrashta, a sorcerer who sacrifices women to attain his powers. Mahadrashta discovers that Indraja is a celestial being and wants to sacrifice her to become immortal. The kids take Indraja on a car ride one day, and the car loses control. Raju averts a major accident and blames and abandons Indraja. The youngest of the orphans is critically injured when Mahadrashta's men bomb the school. When everyone's asleep, Indraja puts on the divine ring and saves the child. Raju realises Indraja's true self and repents for his folly. The two realize that they have fallen in love. Raju uses the ring's power to scare K. P. and his goons. During this time, Mahadrashta tries to acquire it from one of the kids by hypnotizing her. A monkey grabs the ring and carries it far away, dropping it in the bowl of

Kumkuma Kumkuma is a powder used for social and religious markings in India. It is made from turmeric or any other local materials. The turmeric is dried and powdered with a bit of slaked lime, which turns the rich yellow powder into a red color. In Indi ...

at the feet of a statue of

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

. Raju and the kids search for the ring in vain. Mahadrashta and his men plant false evidence in Raju's home to fabricate the lie that Indraja is a sorceress. Raju and Indraja are pelted with stones, and Indraja is carried away by Mahadrashta. The kids discover the ring, and Raju sets out to save Indraja. A hypnotized Indraja does not recognize or respond to their calls. Upon coming in contact with the ring, she comes to her senses and destroys K. P. and his men. Raju kills Mahadrashta, refusing to use the ring, as he believes human power is enough to defeat evil. The very same evening is

, the final call for Indraja to return to heaven. Her thoughts are flooded with the loving memories of her time with Raju and the kids. She is caught between her love for Raju and her obligation to return to heaven to remain divine and immortal. Indraja throws away her ring and chooses to go back to Raju to lead a mortal life.

Cast

as Raju, a hill station tour guide *

as Indraja, the daughter of Lord

who hails from the celestial realm of Indraloka *

as Mahadrashtha, a sorcerer who practices

black magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 145 ...

as KP *

as Ganga Jalam * Rami Reddy as Abbulu *

Tanikella Bharani Tanikella Bharani (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, poet, playwright and director who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has worked as an actor in more than 750 films, including some in Tamil and Hindi; while he was ...

as Dasu *

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 Vichitra Kumar *

Prasad Babu Prasad Babu is an Indian actor who acts in predominantly Telugu films and also TV serials. Filmography * ''Punadhirallu'' * ''Anthuleni Katha'' * ''Mana Voori Pandavulu'' (1978) * '' I Love You'' (1979) * '' Aarani Mantalu'' (1980) * ''Bobbi ...

Narada Narada ( sa, नारद, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage divinity, famous in Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of mind-created children of Brahma, the creator god. He ...

Janagaraj Janagaraj is an Indian actor who has appeared in over 200 films predominantly in Tamil cinema as a comedian or in supporting roles. He also starred in few Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. Early life Janagaraj was born to Vadivelu and Muthul ...

as the police inspector * Sangeeta as Teacher * Master Richard as Orphan *

Baby Shalini Shalini (born 20 November 1979), also known as Baby Shalini, is a former Indian child artist and actress who predominantly worked in Malayalam and Tamil language, Tamil films. During the 80s, Shalini was the most successful child artist in the ...

as Orphan *

Baby Shamili Shamlee, also known as Baby Shamili/Shamlee, (born 10 July 1987), is an Indian actress who has worked in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam films. Her roles include the mentally challenged child Anjali in the 1990 film '' Anjali'', for which ...

as Orphan *

P. J. Sharma Pudipeddi Jogeswara Sarma was an Indian film dubbing artist, turned actor and writer, known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has worked for over 500 films as an actor and dubbing artist. He is the father of actors Sai Kumar, ...

as Sage *

R. S. Shivaji R. S. Shivaji (born 26 October 1956) is an Indian actor, who is known for his work in Tamil films. He has often collaborated in films involving Kamal Haasan and Raaj Kamal Films International, working as an assistant director, sound designer an ...

as Malokam *

Crazy Mohan Mohan Rangachari (16 October 1952 – 10 June 2019) known professionally as Crazy Mohan, was an Indian actor, comedian, screenwriter and playwright. An engineer by profession, Mohan started writing plays and established his own drama troupe calle ...

Production

Development

Writer Srinivas Chakravati shared the idea of a story with Raghavendra Rao, where the daughter of

who comes to Earth loses her ring without which she cannot return to Indraloka. Raghavendra Rao liked the story and following a series of meetings and story discussion sessions with writer

Yandamoori Veerendranath Yandamuri Veerendranath is an Indian novelist and screenwriter known for his works in the Telugu language. He influences younger generations with his socially relevant writings and youtube videos. In his writings he addresses many of social prob ...

, Satyanand and

, developed it into a socio-fantasy drama. Chiranjeevi spent almost 25 days with the writing team. Initially, it was decided that the protagonist Raju goes to the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

in a rocket and meets goddess Indraja there. Since the barren surface of the moon would not be suitable for song picturization the idea was dropped. Then Chiranjeevi suggested the backdrop of

Manasarovar Lake Manasarovar (Sanskrit: मानसरोवर), also called Mapam Yutso (;) locally, is a high altitude freshwater lake fed by the Kailash Glaciers near Mount Kailash in Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The l ...

, where Indraja lands and Raju goes to bring the magical herb that would heal the injured leg of the little girl. It was liked by all and was immediately approved. Aswani Dutt recalls being fascinated by the socio-fantasy films made by the

Vijaya 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 Prod ...

, especially ''

Jagadeka Veeruni Katha ''Jagadeka Veeruni Katha'' () is a 1961 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language Fantasy film, fantasy swashbuckler film, produced and directed by K. V. Reddy under the Vijaya Productions banner. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, B. Saroja Devi with music ...

'' (1961) which was an inspiration for him to produce this film.

Filming

The film marked the first collaboration between frequent collaborators, Aswani Dutt and Chiranjeevi. A massive set was raised at

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 ...

for the film, which producer Dutt claimed was "perhaps the biggest set ever for a Telugu film, after ''

Prema Nagar ''Prema Nagar'' () is a 1971 Indian Telugu-language romance film directed by K. S. Prakash Rao and produced by D. Ramanaidu under the Suresh Productions banner. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Vanisri with music composed by K. V. Mahadev ...

''." This is the third time Chiranjeevi and Sridevi paired in a film and the first to be as a mainstream onscreen pair. Three of the child actors in the film,

Shalini Shalini (born 20 November 1979), also known as Baby Shalini, is a former Indian child artist and actress who predominantly worked in Malayalam and Tamil films. During the 80s, Shalini was the most successful child artist in the Malayalam film i ...

Richard Rishi Richard Rishi is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu films and few Malayalam and Kannada films. He is known for Koottu, ''A Film by Aravind'' and his controversial caste movies with director Mohan G, namely '' Draupat ...

, and

Shamili Shamlee, also known as Baby Shamili/Shamlee, (born 10 July 1987), is an Indian actress who has worked in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam films. Her roles include the mentally challenged child Anjali in the 1990 film '' Anjali'', for which ...

are siblings in real life. The song "Abba nee Thiyyani Debba" was choreographed by Sundaram. Cinematographer Ajay Vincent used

polythene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging (plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bott ...

sheets smeared with vaseline to replicate the snow-filled hills of

for the song "Andhaalalo Mahodayam". Chiranjeevi shot the song "Dhinakkuthaa Kasakkuro" despite suffering from fever with a body temperature of 104 degrees

Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined his ...

. He sponged his body with ice and completed the shoot, allowing Sridevi to fly abroad for another shoot.

dubbed for himself in

for the role of the sorcerer, Mahadrashta.

Music

The soundtrack was composed by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

and all songs are written by

Veturi Veturi Sundararama Murthy (29 January 1936 – 22 May 2010), known mononymously by his surname Veturi, was an Indian poet, lyricist and journalist who is popular for writing Telugu songs. His career in the Telugu cinema spanned more than four de ...

. "Yamaho" was a remake from Ilaiyaraaja's own "Madurai Marikozhundhu" from the Tamil movie ''

Enga Ooru Pattukaran ''Enga Ooru Pattukaran'' () is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Gangai Amaran. The film stars Ramarajan, Rekha and Nishanthi, with Senthamarai, Vinu Chakravarthy, Senthil, Kovai Sarala and S. S. Chandran playing ...

'' (1987). The song "Abbanee Teeyani" went on to be reused in Hindi as "Dhak Dhak Karne Laga" in the film ''

Beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labiod ...

'' (1992). The Music Rights of the film were acquired by

Aditya Music Aditya Music India Private Limited is a music company in India, which owns the label Aditya Music. It produces music for the Telugu cinema industry and is headquartered at Hyderabad, Telangana. Overview The company was founded by Umesh Gup ...

. The film's songs composed by

were instant chartbusters. ; Telugu (original) tracklist ; Hindi (dubbed) (''Aadmi Aur Apsara'') tracklist

Reception

The film had 100-day runs in a number of theaters and a 200-day run in one centre, it collected over more than 11 crore at the box office and broke it all the records which were set up by past movies and became a blockbuster. This film's box office performance was undeterred by the floods raging then united

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. The film was subsequently dubbed in Hindi as ''Aadmi Aur Apsara,'' in Tamil as ''Kaadhal Devathai'', and in Malayalam as ''Hai Sundari''.

Legacy

''Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari'' is regarded as a classic film in

genre in Telugu cinema. 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, "The dazzling chemistry of the lead actors, along with Ilaiyaraaja’s chart-busting music, and the epic nature of the film propelled it into one of the biggest hits of all time." Further, he listed the film among the seven

films to watch for fans of

genre. Karthik Keramalu writing for ''Film Companion'' in July 2021 noted, "This is a bloody entertaining fantasy drama that has everything in equal measure – over the top action sequences, a sorcerer as the villain, a goddess in the form of Sridevi, a heartthrob with the face of Chiranjeevi, a finger ring that possesses magical powers, and amazing songs by Ilaiyaraaja. This is a lethal combination that today's movies do not have the temerity to fight against."

Awards

;

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu The Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu is presented by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Telugu films. The awards were extended to "Best Director" in 1972. Film world, p 43 Superlatives *K. Visw ...

–

(1990) ;

(in

) * Best Music Director –

* Best Audiographer - A. R. Swaminadhan *

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, ...

- M. Krishna * Best Art Director - B. Chalam * Best Choreographer - Sundaram Master

Sequel

In May 2020, producer Dutt stated that a sequel is already on the cards, which would be about the offspring of Indraja and Raju. Over speculations that

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 ...

and

Janhvi Kapoor Janhvi Kapoor (born 6 March 1997) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. Born to Sridevi and Boney Kapoor, she made her acting debut in 2018 with the romantic drama ''Dhadak'', which was a commercial success. Kapoor went on to receive a ...

(son and daughter of Chiranjeevi and Sridevi respectively) are being considered, Dutt responded by saying, "it'll be wonderful if it can happen."

References

External links

* {{Jandhyala Subramanya Sastry 1990 films 1990s fantasy action films Films based on Indian folklore Films directed by K. Raghavendra Rao Hindu mythological films Indian fantasy action films 1990s Telugu-language films Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja