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
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film directed by debutant Gowri Ronanki under the supervision of
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 ...
. Produced by Madhavi Kovelamudi,
Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni
Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni are an Indian film producer duo. They founded Arka Media Works, a film production company known for its works in Telugu cinema. Their notable productions include '' Vedam'' (2010), ''Maryada Ramanna'' (2010), ...
, the film features
Roshan Meka
Roshan Meka is an Indian actor who works in Telugu films. He is the son of actors Srikanth and Ooha. He made his debut in a lead role with ''Nirmala Convent'' (2016) and went on to win SIIMA Award for Best Male Debut – Telugu. He later pla ...
and
Sreeleela
Sreeleela (alternatively spelt as Sree Leela; born June 14, 2001) is an American actress of Indian origin who predominantly appears in Kannada and Telugu films. She debuted in 2019 with ''Kiss'', winning Best Female Debut – Kannada at the SII ...
in lead roles.
The film is a
spiritual sequel
A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue the product lin ...
of the 1996 film of the same name. It marks the acting debut of Raghavendra Rao who directed the previous film and Sree Leela in
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 ...
. It was released on 15 October 2021.
Premise
Maya is an aspirant
filmmaker
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
, who expresses interest to helm the biopic of
Dronacharya award
The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is sports coaching honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Drona, often referred as "Dronacharya" or "Guru Drona", a ch ...
ee Vasishta. She threatens to commit suicide in case Vasishta doesn't authorize the project and tell his story. The reluctant Vashshta budges and goes down the memory to narrate his story of how he won over his love interest Sahasra. Many years ago, Vasishta and Sahasra meet at a wedding and it is love at first sight for both of them. The main obstacle to their union is Sahasra's father Pattabhi Ramayya, who is the strict family patriarch who is completely against
love marriage
A love marriage is one which is driven solely by the couple, with or without consent of their parents, as opposed to arranged marriage. While there is no clear definition of love marriage, the term was in common use globally during the Victorian ...
s. How Vasishta convinces a headstrong father and proves that he's a worthy match for his daughter forms the rest of the story.
Cast
*
Roshan Meka
Roshan Meka is an Indian actor who works in Telugu films. He is the son of actors Srikanth and Ooha. He made his debut in a lead role with ''Nirmala Convent'' (2016) and went on to win SIIMA Award for Best Male Debut – Telugu. He later pla ...
as Ravipati Vasishta and Vasishta's son (dual role)
**
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 ...
as old Vasishta
*
Sree Leela
Sreeleela (alternatively spelt as Sree Leela; born June 14, 2001) is an American actress of Indian origin who predominantly appears in Kannada and Telugu films. She debuted in 2019 with ''Kiss'', winning Best Female Debut – Kannada at the SII ...
as Kondaveeti Sahasra
**
Deepti Bhatnagar
Deepti Bhatnagar (born 30 September 1967) is a former Indian actress and model who worked predominantly in Hindi films, in addition to Telugu films. Her first film role came in Sanjay Gupta's ''Ram Shastra''. She has also appeared in the Telugu ...
as old Sahasra
*
Shivani Rajashekar
Shivani Rajashekar is an Indian actress and model who appears primarily in Telugu and Tamil films. She made her acting debut with the film ''Adbhutham'' (2021). In 2022, Shivani was supposed to represent Tamil Nadu in the Femina Miss India 202 ...
as Maya
*
Rajendra Prasad
Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...
as Maya's father
*
Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...
as Kondaveeti Veera Venkata Pattabhi Seetharamayya, Sahasra's father
*
Rao Ramesh
Raavu Ramesh Rao (born 25 May 1968) is an Indian actor known for his works primarily in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre, and television. He is the son of veteran actor Rao Gopal Rao. Rao Ramesh initially appeared in ''Seema Simham'' (2002), ''Okk ...
as Vashishta's father
* Vithika Sheru as Janaki, Sahasra's sister
*
Posani Krishna Murali
Posani Krishna Murali (born 22 January 1958) is an Indian screenwriter, actor, director and producer who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He worked as a writer for over 150 Telugu films and directed a number of films. In 2009, he also conte ...
as Kanchukatla Anjaneyulu
*
Vennela Kishore
Bokkala Kishore Kumar (born 19 September 1977), known professionally as Vennela Kishore, is an Indian actor and director who works in Telugu-language films. Known for his comic roles, he was given the moniker "Vennela" after his first feature f ...
as Chintu Sahasra's fiancee
*
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 Vashishta's uncle
*
Annapurna
Annapurna (; ne, अन्नपूर्ण) is a mountain situated in the Annapurna mountain range of Gandaki Province, north-central Nepal. It is the tenth highest mountain in the world at above sea level and is well known for the difficu ...
as Sahasra's grandmother
*
Satyam Rajesh
Rajesh Babu, better known as Satyam Rajesh, is an Indian actor who primarily appears in Telugu cinema, Telugu films. He has worked in more than 350 films. Rajesh got the moniker Satyam following his appearance in the 2003 Satyam (2003 film), f ...
as Priest Mangalam
*
Srinivasa Reddy
Venkateswara, also known by various other names, is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. Venkateswara is the presiding deity of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, located in Tirupati, Sri Balaji District, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Etymology
Venkatesw ...
as Maya's father's assistant
*
Raghu Babu
Yerra Raghu, known professionally as Raghu Babu, is a Telugu comedian well known for his comic expressions and timing. He has worked in many successful films in Telugu industry. He is the eldest son of famous comedian and character actor Giri B ...
as cameo
*
Jhansi
Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative hea ...
as Vashishta's Mother
*
Fish Venkat
Fish Venkat is a film actor who works in the Telugu film industry. He was born in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. He is also a comedy actor and he strongly uses a Telangana dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , ...
as Ramayya's henchmen
*
Shakalaka Shankar
Seshu Shankar, better known by his stage name Shakalaka Shankar, is an Indian actor who works in Telugu-language films. Known for his comic roles, Shankar is one of the highest paid Telugu film comedians in 2017.
Career
Shankar dropped out o ...
as Vashishta's uncle
*
Pragathi
Pragathi Mahavadi (born April 17, 1975) is Indian film and television actress who has acted in Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam languages.
Personal life
Pragathi was born in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh.
Career
Pragathi started her career as a model fo ...
as Vashishta's aunt
*
Hema Hema may refer to:
* Hemā (mythology), a figure from Polynesian mythology
* HEMA (store), a Dutch chain of stores
* Hema (supermarket) (盒马), a supermarket chain in China
* Hema maps, an Australian map publisher
* Hema people, an ethnic group ...
*
Kireeti Damaraju
Kireeti Damaraju is an Indian Telugu film actor. He has learned acting and done Theatre before venturing into films. He has played supporting and well noted roles in films such as ''Uyyala Jampala'' (2013), ''Yevade Subramanyam'' (2015), ''Vun ...
as Ram, Sahasra's brother-in-law
*Bharani
*
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 Subbayya Babai
Production
The film was planned in October 2020 as sequel to 1996 film ''
Pelli Sandadi
''Pelli Sandadi'' () is a 1996 Indian Telugu-language musical romance film written and directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. The film stars Srikanth, Ravali and Deepti Bhatnagar.
''Pelli Sandadi'' was released on 12 January 1996 and was a major comm ...
'' that starred
Srikanth Srikanth or Sreekanth is a common Indian first name.
* Srikanth (Tamil actor, born 1940), Tamil film actor active in films from 1965
* Srikanth (Tamil actor, born 1980), Tamil actor active in films after 2002
* Srikanth (Telugu actor), Telugu acto ...
, Ravali and Deepthi Bhatnagar. K. Raghavendra Rao decided to supervise the direction of the sequel with Gowri Ronanki making her directorial debut. Incidentally Srikanth's elder son, Roshan Meka, was selected to play the male lead in the sequel.
Initially, it was reported that actor Sridevi's daughter Khushi Kapoor will be female lead opposite Roshan, but it was not finalized. In October 2020, actress
Malavika Nair
Malvika Nair is an Indian actress who appears in Telugu and Malayalam-language films. Her notable works include '' Black Butterfly'' (2013) and ''Cuckoo'' (2014).
Early life
Malvika Nair was born in Delhi. Her family soon moved to Kerala and ...
was signed to pair opposite Meka, but she was later replaced by Sree Leela in January 2021. Filming was completed in July 2021 and post production began in the same month.
Release
The film was initially planned for release in September 2021, but was postponed due to
COVID-19 pandemic in India
The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , according to Indian government figures, India has the second-highest n ...
. It was released on 15 October 2021. Later, it premiered on
ZEE5
ZEE5 is an Indian subscription video on-demand and over-the-top streaming service, run by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. The ZEE5 mobile app is available on Web, Androi ...
on 24 June 2022.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack is composed by
M. M. Keeravani
Koduri Marakathamani Keeravani (born 4 July 1961; credited as M. M. Keeravani) is an Indian film composer, playback singer, and lyricist, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema along with other languages including Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Ma ...
and lyrics are penned by Chandrabose. "Premante Enti" first track of the soundtrack was released on 27 April 2021 by Aditya Music. "Bujjulu Bujjulu" the second song was unveiled on 23 May. Title track "Pelli SandaD" was released on 12 August 2021, and fourth track "Madhura Nagarilo" was released on 29 September 2021, along with audio album.
Reception
Thadhagath Pathi reviewing for ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
'' rated the film with 2.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "''Pelli SandaD'' remains a strictly watchable fare with the lead actors coming into their own. But don't expect anything fresh or remotely logical." Y Sunita Chowdhary 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 ...
'' felt that "the film is a Manmohan Desai style of ending with a battle between the divine and the evil where a young, small-built Roshan has a showdown with big-bodied men amidst spears, colour and a Hanuman idol. The film can be touted as a costly showreel for Roshan and Sree Leela". ''
Eenadu
''Eenadu'' () is the largest circulated Telugu-language daily newspaper of India sold mostly in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.''NTV'' criticized film's screenplay and felt that it has an outdated story. They also stated that Raghavendra Rao's acting is a minus for the film.