''Ankuram'' () is a 1993 Telugu-language

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

written and directed by

C. Umamaheswara Rao C. Umamaheswara Rao is an Indian film director, screenwriter, aesthetician and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has also scripted and directed a few television Serial (radio and television), serials for Doordarshan ...

. It stars

Revathi Asha Kelunni Nair (born 8 July 1966), better known by her stage name Revathi, is an Indian actress and director, known for her works predominantly in Tamil & Malayalam cinema - in addition to Telugu, Hindi & Kannada films. She has won several ...

Sarath Babu Sathyam Babu Dixithulu (born 31 July 1951), known by his stage name Sarath Babu, is an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu cinema. He has worked in more than 200 films. He has appeared in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada a ...

and Om Puri. The film is about an inspiring journey of a middle-class woman to return an abandoned child to his father. ''Ankuram'' runs, in the background, issues like social stigmas,

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

, naxalism, bureaucracy and

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

. The film was premiered at the 1993 International Film Festival of India in the mainstream section. The plot unfolds like a Chinese puzzle; it's a journey where we discover gradually the reason for the lead being harassed by the police, the blocks she faces uncovering a father's identity, and the darker side of an authoritarian police force and its brutality towards tribals. The film has received the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several ...

for that year.

Plot

The movie starts with the marriage of a young couple. The bride Sindhura (Revathy) finds a child on a train. She wants to support the child, against the wishes of her husband's family, until she locates the child's parents. She starts enquiring about the passenger who left his child on the train. Satyam (Om Puri), father of the child, has been on the chase by feudals and police. The police are unable to find him and arrest his pregnant wife. Tribals protested and planned to attack the police. They were stopped by Dr. Mitra (Charuhasan), a pro-tribal doctor. A sadistic officer forced the mother to do situps, resulting in loss of her life. Angered crowd killed the police officer, which caused more violence between officials and tribals. During the course of the search, Sindhura is implicated in a false case and loses her married life. She faces the threats by rowdies to her own parents and sisters. She persists with the help of Rao (Sarat Babu) (a civil liberty activist and lawyer), goes to the village, brings the atrocities towards the oppressed people to light, and returns the child. ''Ankuram'' ends with the message that citizens who can speak have the responsibility of speaking about the rights of the fellow citizens who can not speak.

Awards

; National Film Awards *

(1992) - (director) -

(1992) ;

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 ...

Nandi Award for Best Director Nandi may refer to: People * Nandy (surname), Indian surname * Nandi (mother of Shaka) (1760–1827), daughter of Bhebe of the Langeni tribe * Onandi Lowe (born 1974), Jamaican footballer nicknamed Nandi * Nandi Bushell (born 2010), South Af ...

. ; Filmfare Awards South *

Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Telugu ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English language, English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, r ...

(1992)

Cast

* Revathy as Sindhura *

as Lawyer Vishwanatha Rao * Om Puri as Satyam *

M. Balaiah Mannava Balayya (9 April 1930 – 9 April 2022) was an Indian actor, writer, director and producer in Telugu cinema. He acted in 300 films. Early life and career Mannava Balayya, was born at Chavupadu, Amaravathi mandalam, Guntur district ...

as Sindhura's father * Kota Sankararao as Police officer *

Charuhasan S. Charuhasan (born 5 January 1931) is an Indian actor, director and retired lawyer who has acted in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films. He won the National Film Award for Best ActorSubha J Rao,Entertainment for a cause, The Hind ...

as Mitra *

Hari Prasad Hari Prasad is a fictional character from British ITV soap opera, ''Emmerdale'', played by John Nayagam. He made his first on-screen appearance on 5 December 2005. Development In November 2005, an '' Inside Soap'' columnist reported that John ...

as Sindhura's husband * P. L. Narayana * Raasi as Sindhura's sister * Sai Chand *

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 Photographer *

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...

as Veera Babu

Crew

* Story, Screenplay & Direction: Umamaheswara Rao. C * Production: K. V. Suresh Kumar from Film India Art Creations * Music:

Hamsalekha Gangaraju (born June 23, 1951), professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and a songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, di ...

* Camera:

Madhu Ambat Madhu Ambat is an Indian cinematographer. With a career spanning over 40 years, he is one of the most prolific cinematographers in Indian cinema. He is best known for his work in films such as ''Amaram'', '' Anjali'', and '' Makaramanju''. He c ...

* Lyrics:

Sirivennela ''Sirivennela'' () is a 1986 Indian Telugu-language romance film written and directed by K. Viswanath. The film stars Suhasini, Sarvadaman Banerjee and Moon Moon Sen. The film has music composed by K. V. Mahadevan. The film won five Nandi Awar ...

* Playback:

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

and Chitra

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features one popular track "Evaro okaru epudo apudu nadavara mundhuga" with lyrics by

and voice by playback singers

and Chitra. The theme of the song is that the first person walking towards a new goal is always alone at first and then others follow. The film has one comic song "Athaarintiki Railekkindhi rubber bomma" which was shot in the train while Revathy was traveling. It also has another song "Hai guru! Chelaregaro selavulochhayani" picturized on college students.

References

{{National Film Award Best Feature Film Telugu 1993 films 1990s Telugu-language films Films scored by Hamsalekha Indian feudalism Best Telugu Feature Film National Film Award winners te:అంకురం (సినిమా)