''Vijayam'' () is a 2003 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

social problem film A social problem film is a narrative film that integrates a larger social conflict into the individual conflict between its characters. In the context of the United States and of Hollywood, the genre is defined by fictionalized depictions of soc ...

directed by

Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Singeetam Srinivasa Rao (born 21 September 1931), commonly known as Singeetam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, composer, and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the most versatile directors of India. He is credited with hav ...

and produced by

D. Ramanaidu Daggubati Ramanaidu (6 June 1936 – 18 February 2015) was an Indian film producer known for his work in Telugu cinema. He founded Suresh Productions in 1964 which became of one of the largest film production companies in India. He was placed i ...

. The film stars

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

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 ...

. It was released on 9 May 2003.

Plot

Raja is a tribal man who studies in

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...

and does well in school. On the other hand, Usha is the daughter of a rich businessman. Raja falls in love with Usha, but due to some miscommunication, Usha thinks that Raja is rich akin to her family. When Usha finds out that Raja is a tribal man, she becomes heartbroken. How Raja convinces Usha forms the rest of the story.

Cast

as Raja alias Raju *

as Usha *

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 Usha's father *

Murali Mohan Maganti Murali Mohan (born 24 June 1940) is an Indian actor, producer, politician, and business executive from Telugu cinema. In 1973, Murali Mohan debuted in ''Jagame Maya'', produced by Atluri Poornachandra Rao. He gained recognition with the ...

as a forest officer * Sunil as Srinivas alias Siddu *

Rajeev Kanakala Rajeev Kanakala (born 13 November 1968) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Telugu films and television. He started his career in television serials and short films, where he not only acted but also produced and directed. He is marrie ...

as Usha's brother *

Dharmavarapu Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam (20 September 1954 – 7 December 2013) was a popular Indian actor, comedian and film director who worked in Telugu cinema. He was established as one of the highly paid and top most leading comedians in Telugu film in ...

as the hotel manager *

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 Raju's friend *

Suman Setty Suman Shetty is an Indian actor known for his comic roles. He appears in Telugu and Tamil Films. He won the Nandi Award for Best Male Comedian for his comic role in Jayam film.(in Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidi ...

as Raju's classmate * A. V. S. as H. Umapathi, the librarian *

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 Vanari

Production

''Vijayam'' was directed by

(who also wrote the story and screenplay, while the dialogues were written by Satyanand) and produced by

under

Suresh Productions Suresh Productions (also known as Suresh Movies, Vijaya Suresh Combines) is an Indian film production and distribution company known for its works in Telugu cinema. It is established in 1964 by D. Ramanaidu. It is one of India's largest film p ...

. Cinematography was handled by Hari Anumolu, and editing by the duo Krishnareddy–Madhava. Gajala was cast after Rao saw her performing in a show; she accepted the offer as Rao was the director of her favourite film ''

Pushpaka Vimana Vimāna are mythological flying palaces or chariots described in Hindu texts and Sanskrit epics. The "Pushpaka Vimana" of Ravana (who took it from Kubera; Rama returned it to Kubera) is the most quoted example of a vimana. Vimanas are also menti ...

'' (1987).

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Koti.

Release and reception

''Vijayam'' was released on 9 May 2003. Vijayalaxmi of ''

Rediff.com Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

'' wrote, "It is embarrassing when any filmmaker picks up a bad narrative and packs his movie with lewd comedy in the name of entertainment. But when that director is a man of the stature of Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, it is even more shocking." ''

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, "The major drawback of ''Vijayam'' is that the basic story has not been handled well and it is better that Singeetam goes back to comedies!" 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 ...

'' wrote, "Raja is at ease in most of the scenes. ajalais quite cute. Muralimohan and Giribabu make their presence felt. The film is musically competent with well-scored numbers like Kusalama O Priya and Yenduko Premalo composed by Koti." Jeevi of '' Idlebrain.com'' rated the film 2.75 out of 5, calling it "Oldwine with youth label".

Controversy

The film involves a scene with AVS and

, which Priya Richi of ''

The News Minute ''The News Minute'' is an Indian digital news platform based in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was founded by Dhanya Rajendran, Chitra Subramaniam and Vignesh Vellore in 2014. Apart from Karnataka, it also has bureaus in the states of Telangana, And ...

'' condemned for passing

queerness ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

as comedy. She lamented that this was an example of poor representation of the

LGBT community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a comm ...

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...

References

External links

* {{Singeetam Srinivasa Rao 2000s Telugu-language films Films directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Films scored by Koti Suresh Productions films