''Mantri Gari Viyyankudu'' s a 1983 Telugu-language film released directed by Bapu and stars

Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu, as well as some fil ...

in the lead role and

Poornima Jayaram Poornima Bhagyaraj (née Jayaram) is an Indian actress in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has also done a few Hindi and Telugu films. She is best known for her leading roles from 1980 to 1985. She married director K. Bhagyaraj, who directed one ...

, Nirmalamma and

Allu Ramalingaiah Allu Ramalingaiah (1 October 1922 – 31 July 2004) was an Indian character actor, comedian, and producer known for his works in Telugu cinema. In 1990, He was honoured with the Padma Shri for his contribution to Indian cinema. In 1998, he r ...

in important roles.

Plot

Kobbarikayala Subba Rayudu (

) is a self-made millionaire, who after attaining a high status, forgets the people who helped him initially and spends life counting his successes. A chance meeting several years later between his son, Siva ( Subhalekha Sudhakar) and his former friend Ravulapalem Rambhadraiah's (

Raavi Kondala Rao Raavi Kondala Rao (11 February 1932 – 28 July 2020) was an Indian actor, screenwriter, playwright, and journalist who worked in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He acted in over 400 films. He won Nandi Award for Best Story Writer for '' ...

) daughter (

Tulasi ''Ocimum tenuiflorum'', commonly known as holy basil, ''tulsi'' or ''tulasi'', is an aromatic perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and widespread as a cultivated plant throughout the Southeast Asian ...

) leads to both of them falling in love. Subba Rao invites his friend and his wife Annapoornamma ( Nirmalamma) to his mansion and insults them reminding of their lower status in society. The rest of the movie is about how Annapoornamma- who challenges Subba Rao that he would one day come to her house begging for their help - gets it done with the main lead taken by her son Babji (

) with help from others.

Cast

.... Babji *

.... Anuradha *

.... Kobbarikayala SubbaRao * Nirmalamma .... Annapoornamma *

Nutan Prasad Tadinada Varaprasad popularly known as Nutan Prasad (12 December 1945 – 30 March 2011) was an Indian actor who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He was a native of Kaikaluru, Andhra Pradesh, India. He started his film ...

.... Ravulapalem Rambhadraiah * Subhalekha Sudhakar .... Siva *

.... Suseela *

Kaikala Satyanarayana Kaikala Satyanarayana (25 July 1935 – 23 December 2022) was an Indian actor, producer, director, and politician who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. He appeared in over 750 films and served as the Member of Parliament in the 11th Lok Sa ...

.... Kappala Appa Rao * Rallapalli * Srilakshmi *

Potti Prasad Potti Prasad (born Kavivarapu Prasada Rao) was an Indian actor who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. He was introduced to the films by Jandhyala. His notable roles include Chantabbai and Sagara Sangamam. He made his screen debut with Appu ...

Vijayan Vijayan is a South Indian name and may refer to: Given name *Pinarayi Vijayan (born 1944), Indian politician * Vijayan (actor) (1944–2007), Tamil & Malayalam film actor *Vijayan (stunt coordinator), action choreographer for South Indian films *Vi ...

...special appearance

Crew

* Lyrics:

Veturi Veturi Sundararama Murthy (29 January 1936 – 22 May 2010), known mononymously by his surname Veturi, was an Indian poet, lyricist and journalist who is popular for writing Telugu songs. His career in the Telugu cinema spanned more than four de ...

* Playback Singers:

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 ...

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...

* Songs Recording: S. P. Ramanathan * Dialogue Recording: K. D. Sathisan * Re-recording: Pandu (

Prasad Studios Prasad Studios & Prasad Film Labs are motion picture post-production studios headquartered in Hyderabad, India, founded by Prasad Group in 1956. The production house has produced over 150 movies in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. ...

) * Make-up: Mallikharjuna Rao & Siva * Costumes: T. Kondala Rao & Krishna * Hair Stylists: Adavi Subba Rao & Kalavathi * Stills : Syamala Rao * Publicity: Lanka Bhaskar * Press Relations: I. Arjuna Rao * Dance Directors: Siva-Subramaniam * Art Director: Bhaskar Raju * Stunt Director:

* Production Manager: K. V. Narasaiah * Production Controller: M. Rama Rao & D. Yoganand * Operative Cameraman: Sarath * Assistant Directors: Ammineni Madhavi Rao & K. Mahesh Raju * Associate Director: K. V. Rao * Editor: Anil Malnad * Cinematography:

Lok Singh Lok Singh was an Indian cinematographer who primarily worked in Telugu movies mostly in the 80s and 90s. He worked for over 31 movies with Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, f ...

* Composer: Ilaiyaraaja * Screenplay & Dialogues:

Mullapudi Venkata Ramana Mullapudi Venkata Ramana (28 June 1931 – 24 February 2011) was an Indian writer known for his work in Telugu language. Noted for his humorous and metaphorical style of writing, Mullapudi received Raghupathi Venkaiah Award from the Government ...

* Producer: Jaya Krishna * Director: Bapu

Production Companies

* Production company: Muddu Art Movies * Cassettes & Gramophone recording & Release: Echo recording Company * Studios:

& AVM Studios * Outdoor Units: Srikrishna Outdoor Unit & Sarada Enterprises * Printing & Processing: Prasad Film Labs * Special Effects:

* Film Lab: AVM Studios * Press Publicity: L.A. Advertisers * Poster Printing: National Litho Printers * Radio Publicity: Sri Prabhakara Advertisers

Soundtrack

All songs were composed by Maestro Ilaiyaraaja.

Production

The movie was a remake of a Malayalam film. Producer Jaya Krishna, during an interview, stated that he bought the rights for 40,000 INR. While Bapu-Ramana wanted to have K. V. Mahadevan (who was their usual choice) as the composer, producer Jaya Krishna insisted on having Ilaiyaraaja as the composer, since Ilaiyaraaja-

's first combination, ''

Abhilasha (1983 film) ''Abhilasha'' () is a 1983 Indian Telugu-language thriller film directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy and produced by K. S. Rama Rao. The film stars Chiranjeevi and Raadhika while Rao Gopal Rao and Gollapudi Maruti Rao play vital roles and the m ...

'' was a major musical and commercial success. ''Mantri Gari Viyyankudu'' was the only movie with Ilaiyaraaja-Bapu/Ramana combination. Heroine

was the top heroine in Malayalam and was introduced to Telugu movies through this movie. The budget was 22 lakh rupees .2 millionand

's remuneration was 1.5 lakh rupees. Both Ilaiyaraaja and

were given 60,000 Rupees. Cinematographer

was paid 50,000 INR. The shooting was done mostly in and around

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

except for a couple of songs mani Ne Cheli Padudunoand one fight, which were shot in

Ooty Ooty (), officially known as Udhagamandalam (also known as Ootacamund (); abbreviated as Udhagai), is a city and a municipality in the Nilgiris district of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north west of Coimbatore and so ...

. The shooting was completed in 40 days.

Reception

The movie was both a critical and commercial success and completed 50 days in most of the centers it was released. While the movie was the first foray for Bapu/Ramana combination into pure commercial cinema, it was praised for still having the Bapu/Ramana touch. The movie became a rage among youth, especially the college scenes and the songs endeared the youth of Andhra to the movie. The movie would have done even better had it not released a week after '' Khaidi'', which was breaking all kinds of industry records at that time.

External links

* {{Bapu (film director) 1983 films Films directed by Bapu Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja 1980s Telugu-language films