''Vinayakudu'' is a 2008

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 romantic drama film written and directed by

Sai Kiran Adivi Sai Kiran Adivi is an Indian Telugu film director & writer. Career Sai Kiran first worked as an assistant director to Sekhar Kammula. He made his debut as a director with '' Vinayakudu'' (2008), starring Krishnudu in the lead role. His next f ...

. The film stars Krishnudu and

Sonia Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to: People * Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya) :* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films :* Sonia ...

of ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most succ ...

'' fame in the lead roles and

Poonam Kaur Poonam Kaur is an Indian actress and model who primarily appears in Telugu and Tamil films. She is also a politician, based out of Telangana and a member of the Congress Party. Career Born and raised in Hyderabad, India, Poonam Kaur did he ...

plays the role of Sonia's friend. The film released on 21 November 2008 to critical and commercial acclaim. The film is about a fat man falling in love with an arrogant woman. The film was partially re-shot in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Balasekaran Balasekaran is an Indian film director and writer of Tamil and Telugu-language films. He is known for his work '' Love Today'', starring Vijay. He was once an assistant to K. Balachander. He also worked in Tamil serials as writer in ''Nandin ...

as ''Vinayaka'' with extra scenes filmed with

Santhanam Santhanam or Santanam ( te, సంతానం) is an Indian name that may refer to: People * K. Santhanam (1895–1980), Indian politician * Madabusi Santanam Raghunathan (born 1941), Indian mathematician * Maharajapuram Santhanam (1928–1992) ...

. It spawned a sequel titled ''

Village Lo Vinayakudu ''Villagelo Vinayakudu'' ( ''Vinayakudu in the Village'') is a 2009 Telugu-language comedy film produced by Mahi V Raghav, written, and directed by Sai Kiran Adivi. The film is a sequel to the 2008 hit, '' Vinayakudu''. Krishnudu reprises his ro ...

'' with Krishnudu. In 2020, Adivi expressed interest in remaking the film in Hindi.

Plot

Karthik ( Krishnudu), a soft, ever-happy kind of guy, comes to Hyderabad for a job interview at Hi-Rise, an ad agency. He gets selected, and in the office the next day, he sees Kalpana (

) and likes her. He's generally not taken seriously by anyone because of his soft-spoken nature and his rotund personality, but he's the kind who doesn't take that seriously! Kalpana too doesn't care for him and finds faults with him, due to their initial interactions at work. Slowly though, she starts interacting with him more. Her parents, who leave to USA to visiting her brother's family (Mahesh & Aparna), initiate a matrimonial alliance for Kalpana with Rajeev (Samrat Reddy). Kalpana meets Rajeev and they both observe that they have a lot of tastes in common. Meanwhile, another thread of a budding relation is seen between Karthik's friend Altaf (Suryatej) and Kalpana's friend Sandhya a.k.a. Sandy (

). At about the same time that Kalpana realizes Rajeev is not for her, she gets closer to Karthik but the hell gets loose suddenly due to a petty altercation between Altaf and Sandy. Eventually, Karthik and Kalpana lose even the friendly relation they have. What's the big fat love story then and how it evolves forms the rest of the story.

Cast

Production

Sonia Deepti Sonia Deepti (born 29 July 1984) is an Indian actress who has primarily appeared in Telugu films. Her debut performance as Shravs in the 2007 Sekhar Kammula film ''Happy Days'' won her the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Telugu. ...

was first cast after director

was impressed with her performance in ''

'' (2007). Adivi worked as an assistant director for ''Happy Days'' where he got to know actor Krishnudu, who was signed to make his lead debut after Adivi's assistant Sekhar recommended him.

was cast in an important role. Post-production work began in September 2008.

Awards

;

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 ...

- 2008 * Second Best Feature Film - Silver - Prem Patra * Best Debut Director - Sai Kiran Adivi

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film was scored by Sam Prasan. The audio release was held at a function on September 3.

Reception

Radhika Rajamani of ''Rediff'' called the film "an okay watch" while praising the lead pair's performances. A critic from ''123 Telugu'' called the film "timepass" and "a brave attempt. A critic from ''GreatAndhra'' wrote that "It' a well written, well handled and in one line to say' a well made movie'". Deepa Garimella of ''Full Hyderabad'' wrote that "To its credit, Vinayakudu is a brave, brave attempt at the unconventional". A critic from ''Filmibeat'' praised the lead pair and the direction. A critic from ''Indiaglitz'' stated that "But still on a whole, the debutant director Sai Kiran has hit the bull's eye almost with his very first venture".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinayakudu (Film) 2000s Telugu-language films 2008 films Indian romantic comedy films Films about obesity 2008 directorial debut films 2008 romantic comedy films Films directed by Sai Kiran Adivi