Pournami (2006 Film)

''Pournami'' () is a 2006 Telugu language action musical dance film directed by Prabhu Deva and produced by M. S. Raju,starring Trisha in the titular role with Prabhas, Charmy, Sindhu Tolani, and Rahul Dev. The music was composed by Devi Sri Prasad with editing by Krishna Reddy and cinematography by Venu. The film was released on 21 April 2006.

The film was dubbed into Tamil and Malayalam under the same name and into Hindi as ''Tridev: Pyar Ki Jung'' (2008). The film was partly inspired by the 2001 Brazilian film '' Behind the Sun'' starring Rodrigo Santoro which in itself was adapted from an Albanian novel ''Broken April'' by Ismail Kadare. Shooting locations included Virupaksha Temple, elephant stables, and Stepwell in Hampi.

Plot

The film starts in the 1950s and is set in a remote village in Andhra Pradesh that has been suffering from a drought for a very long time. A woman (Veda Sastry) from a traditional family comes forward to dance in the temple to ask Shiva to bless their village with rain. She dances continuously for seven days and nights until she dies of exhaustion. It rains, and the longstanding drought ends. Since then, there is a tradition in the village that a girl from that dancer's family should dance in Shiva's temple every 12 years, on that auspicious day.

In the present day, the villagers are expecting Pournami ( Trisha), the elder daughter of the family, to dance on the occasion. Unfortunately, just before the festival, she goes missing and everybody thinks that she eloped with someone. Then, everyone's attention turns to Pournami's younger sister Chandrakala ( Charmy) to dance, but their father ( Chandra Mohan) disagrees. Later, it is revealed that Pournami has not eloped, but her father sent her away to protect her from their village Zamindar Veerabhadra ( Rahul Dev) who wants to make Pournami his concubine. He fears that the same fate might befall Chandrakala, and he does not agree to teach her dancing.

Meanwhile, Chandrakala's stepmother (Manju Bhargavi) rents their penthouse to Siva Kesava ( Prabhas), a western-style dance instructor. After some fights, Chandrakala develops feelings for Kesava, but he does not reciprocate them. In a flashback, he reveals that he and Pournami married, and that she had sacrificed herlself to save his life. Pournami tells him her dying wish: her sister should dance in the temple to keep the tradition alive. He promises her that he will make it happen. After learning of her sister's fate, Chandrakala agrees to learn the dance with her father's blessings. Kesava promises them that he would protect her from Veerabhadra, and he saves her when Veerabhadra tries to abduct her. She tries hard and becomes a skilled dancer in a very short time. Finally, she performs ardently in the temple, and again, their village is blessed with rains. After some drama involving Veerabhadra’s and Kesava's fiancée Mallika ( Sindhu Tolani), Chandrakala and Kesava become one.

After a few years, Kesava and Chandrakala get married and have a daughter named Pournami. However, the daughter does not want to learn the dance. The film ends with Kesava narrating the tradition to the daughter in the temple.

Cast

* Prabhas as Shiva Keshava Naidu, Narasimha Naidu's son, Pournami & Chandrakala's husband, Jr.Pournami's father
* Trisha as Pournami, Chandrakala's elder sister,Shiva Keshava's love interest & first wife
* Charmy Kaur as Chandrakala,Pournami's younger sister,Shiva Keshava's second wife, Jr.Pournami's mother
* Rahul Dev as Veerabhadra, the village Zamindar
* Sindhu Tolani as Mallika
*Mukesh Rishi as Narasimha Naidu (Kesava's father)
* Geetha as Kesava's mother
* Madhu Sharma as Mohini
*Kota Srinivasa Rao as Nagendra Naidu
* Chandra Mohan as Pournami & Chandrakala's father
*Manju Bhargavi as Pournami's stepmother
* Sunil as Pournami's brother
*Tanikella Bharani as Mallika's father
*Sana as Mallika's mother
*Veda Sastry as Dancer
*Harsha Vardhan as Pournami's uncle
*Subbaraju as Nagendra's son
*Brahmaji as Nagendra's son
* Madhu Sharma as Music owner Wife
*Sravan as Nagendra's son
* Narsing Yadav as Mallika's servant
* Mallikarjuna Rao as Priest
*Prabhas Sreenu as Tea Seller
* Ajay
* Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao
*Narra Venkateswara Rao
*G. V. Sudhakar Naidu

Music

The music and background score was composed by Devi Sri Prasad and the lyrics were written by Sirivennela Sitaramasastri.

Awards

*Nandi Award for Best Art Director - Ashok (2006)(in Telugu)

References

External links

*

{{M. S. Raju

2006 films
Films directed by Prabhu Deva
Indian dance films
Films scored by Devi Sri Prasad
2000s Telugu-language films
Indian remakes of foreign films