''Mrugaraju'' () is a 2001 Indian Telugu-language

action adventure film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include lif ...

directed by Gunasekhar. It 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, as well as some fil ...

, while

Simran Simran (Gurmukhi: ਸਿਮਰਨ; hi, सिमरण, सिमरन ; from Sanskrit: , ''smaraṇa'', 'to remember, reminisce, recollect'), in spirituality, is a Sanskrit word referring to the continuous remembrance of the finest aspect of ...

Sanghavi Sanghavi (born Kavya Ramesh) is an Indian actress and a model known for her work predominantly in Telugu and Tamil language films. She was one of the leading actresses in South Indian cinema for a decade from 1993 to 2004. In her career spannin ...

and Nagendra Babu played the supporting roles.

Mani Sharma Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshina ...

composed the music. The film was released along with ''

Devi Putrudu ''Devi Putrudu'' () is a 2001 Indian Telugu-language fantasy-drama film written and produced by M. S. Raju under the Sumanth Art Productions banner, directed by Kodi Ramakrishna. It stars Venkatesh, Soundarya and Anjala Zaveri, with music comp ...

'' and '' Narasimha Naidu'' during

Sankranthi Makar(a) Sankranti (), also referred to as Uttarayana, Maghi, or simply Sankranti, is a Hindu observance and a festival. Usually falling on the date of January 14 annually, this occasion marks the transition of the Sun from the zodiac of Sag ...

festival. The core plot of the movie was reportedly based on the 1996 American film ''

The Ghost and the Darkness ''The Ghost and the Darkness'' is a 1996 American historical adventure film directed by Stephen Hopkins and starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas. The screenplay, written by William Goldman, is a fictionalized account of the Tsavo man-eaters, ...

''. The film was dubbed into Tamil language as ''Vettaikaran'' and in Hindi as ''Rakshak - The Protector''.

Plot

In a jungle, there is a construction project going for making a railway's bridge. In the downwards Maa Durga statue was found, they put away the statue and many workers say that it's wrong and Maa Durga would punish them. On that night a lion attacks the chief engineer. The workers believe that it was the curse from Durga Maa. The railway department asks Aishwarya to go on the mission of constructing the bridge. Even after Aishwarya resumes the building, the lion starts terrorizing the crew of the construction team. Raju, the ace hunter of Adavipalli, is entrusted with the job of hunting the lion. The first half is all about how Raju traps the lion and kills it at the cost of Appanna Dora. But the other lion in the jungle becomes enraged at Raju for killing its companion. There is another trouble for the bridge project in the form of a forest ranger and a local smuggler. Raju gets rid of these two goons by the interval. Later it's revealed that Aishwarya is Raju's wife. In flashback, Raju comes to city to participate in the crafts fair to sell the herbs from the jungle. There, he meets Aishwarya, who came to visit a fun stall along with her fiancé Vicky. When Aishwarya tries to take a shot at shooting a balloon, Vicky disappoints her saying that she cannot do it. Raju, who is an onlooker, comes forward and gives her confidence and tips to shoot. Then Aishwarya's bullet hits the bull's eye. Impressed with Raju's help, she invites him to come to her engagement party. At the party, Raju spots Vicky flirting with another girl and tells him about the importance of being a good human being. Aishwarya watches the entire episode from behind, and she decides that Raju is a loyal man compared to the flirtatious Vicky. She seeks Raju's hand and they get married. Aishwarya's father cunningly separates the couple by creating misunderstandings. After this scene Aishwarya gets a letter from childcare office that her daughter feeling very upset without her. After the misunderstanding of between the couple, Aishwarya realises that she is pregnant. After few days her daughter was coming to see her. When Raju knows that he has a daughter he was overjoyed. When she came Aishwarya doesn't let her to go close to her father. When Raju's parents heard that their granddaughter came they were overwhelmed but Aishwarya doesn't permit them to touch her daughter. That night the man-eating lion again comes and hunts Raju's daughter, however, Raju's parents save their granddaughter. Before dying they tell their daughter-in-law about how her dad cheated them for his reputation. Next morning all the workers leave their jobs and return to their home. Later, Raju's daughter is lost in the forest and the couple starts searching for her and found her standing in front of the man-eating lion, Raju saves his daughter and finally kills the lion.

Cast

as Raju bhai *

as Aishwarya *

as Sivangi * Nagendra Babu as Appanna Dora *

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 perfor ...

as Ibraheem * Prakash Raj as Valmiki Dora * Surya as Forest Ranger * Rami Reddy as Smuggler *

Raja Ravindra Raja Ravindra is an Indian actor predominantly appears in Telugu films and TV serials. Apart from Telugu films, he has acted in several Tamil films and a few Kannada and Malayalam movies. He started his career with TV serials and entered into fi ...

as Vicky * Chalapathi Rao *

Gundu Hanumantha Rao Gundu Hanumantha Rao (10 October 1956–19 February 2018) was an Indian actor and comedian who worked in Telugu films, theatre, and television. He first appeared in Jandhyala's film '' Aha Naa Pellanta'' in 1987 and gained popularity in comedia ...

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 '' ...

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), '' ...

* Vijayakumar *

M. S. Narayana M. S. Narayana (16 April 1951–23 January 2015) was an Indian actor and comedian who worked in Telugu cinema. He died on 23 January 2015 due to organ failure in Hyderabad, India. Career Narayana has over 750 films to his credit. His debut film ...

Kallu Chidambaram Kolluru Chidambara Rao (10 October 1945 – 19 October 2015), known professionally as Kallu Chidambaram, was an Indian actor known for his works in Telugu cinema. Chidambaram is one of the finest comedians of Telugu cinema. Chidambaram started h ...

* Niharika * Rambha in Guest role in the song "Ramaiah Padaletti"

Crew

* Director: Gunasekhar * Producer: Devi Vara Prasad * Music:

* Cinematography: Sekhar V. Joseph * Editor:

Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao is an Indian film editor. In the film industry many call him Chanti Garu. He is the younger brother of Kotagiri Gopala Rao, who died on 6 November 2012, a known film editor and producer, who holds the banner of Giri ...

* Art: Ashok Kumar * Assistant Director: Yadagiri * Stunts:

Vijayan Vijayan is a South Indian name and may refer to: Given name *Pinarayi Vijayan (born 1944), Indian politician * Vijayan (actor) (1944–2007), Tamil & Malayalam film actor *Vijayan (stunt coordinator), action choreographer for South Indian films *Vi ...

* Lyrics:

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 ...

, Chandrabose & Bhuvana Chandra * Script Assistant:

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 ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film was composed by

. The album consists of six songs. Lyrics for the three songs were penned by

and the remaining three songs were written by Chandrabose, Kulasekhara and

Bhuvanachandra Bhuvana Chandra is an Indian lyricist, renowned for his work in the Telugu cinema. He served in the Indian Air Force for 18 years before turning into a lyricist. He penned lyrics for more than 2000 songs. He also wrote more than 100 stories, a no ...

Critical reception

''Full Hyderabad'' wrote "Save for the phenomenal photography, there is nothing new about the film. Except for the part of Chiranjeevi trying to tame the lions, which has been photographed wonderfully, the story is quite contrived. What keeps the film afloat is the adventure drama, but unfortunately the director decides to sink his ship with a flashback that doesn't seem to end, contributing to tears and heartache." ''Idlebrain'' wrote "As story is plain and simple, a lot would depend upon screenplay to make the film gripping and interesting. But Guna Sekhar failed stitch the scenes in perfect manner. And he tried to ape the original film in most of the scenes, which resulted in poor copying as we lack the special FX finesse the Hollywood boast of".

References

External links

* {{Gunasekhar 2000s Telugu-language films 2001 films Films directed by Gunasekhar Films scored by Mani Sharma Indian action films Films about lions Films about hunters 2001 action films