''Rowdy Alludu'' () is a 1991 Indian Telugu-language

action comedy Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of acti ...

film directed by

K. Raghavendra Rao Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao (born 23 May 1942) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema besides having directed a few Hindi films. He has garnered four state Nandi Awards and fiv ...

. The film was produced by

Allu Aravind Allu Aravind (born 10 January 1949) is an Indian film producer and distributor in Telugu cinema under his banner Geetha Arts. He co-owns the Indian Super League club ''Kerala Blasters FC''. A part of the Allu–Konidela family, Aravind is t ...

under the banner of

Geetha Arts Geetha Arts is an Indian film production and distribution company known for its works in Telugu cinema. It is established in 1972 by Allu Aravind. The company is based out of Hyderabad. It has produced around 60 films majority of them in Tel ...

. It 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 a

dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...

, with Sobhana and

Divya Bharti Divya Bharti (; 25 February 1974 – 5 April 1993) was an Indian actress who worked predominantly in Hindi and Telugu films. Known for her acting versatility and beauty, she was considered one of the most popular and highest paid Indian actre ...

. Upon release, the film received positive reviews and was a ''Super Hit'' at the box office.

Plot

Kalyan is an industrialist, whose conniving enemy Venkat Rayudu and his partners, replace him with his doppelgänger Johnny, an

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

-based auto driver. They manages to frame Kalyan for murder, but Johnny realizes Kalyan's innocence and saves him. The duo manages to prove Kalyan's innocence, and also defeat Venkat Rayudu and his partners.

Cast

as Kalyan and Johnny (dual role) *

Shobhana Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai (born 21 March 1970) is an Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She acts predominantly in Malayalam films along with Telugu and Tamil films with few Hindi, Kannada and English films. She has won two National Fil ...

as Sita *

as Rekha *

Kota Srinivasa Rao Kota Srinivasa Rao (born 10 July 1942) is an Indian character actor known for his work primarily in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He has also starred in a few films in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam. As a former politician, Rao has ...

as Venkat Rayudu *

Allu Rama Lingaiah 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 ...

as Papi Kondalu * Captain Raju as Ranjith Kumar *

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 perfor ...

as Mental Doctor/ Photographer *

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 ...

as Kalyan's father * J. V. Somayajulu * Ironleg Sastri * Disco Shanthi in an

item number In Indian cinema, an item number or item song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and ...

Production

The film was intended as a mass entertainer. Allu Ramalingaiah originally questioned the use of the word ''Rowdy'' as a prefix to the title name, but was convinced to use the name by K. Raghavendra Rao, Chiranjeevi and Satyanand.

, the then popular Telugu actress, was signed for the role of Rekha and

Shobana Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai (born 21 March 1970) is an Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She acts predominantly in Malayalam films along with Telugu and Tamil films with few Hindi, Kannada and English films. She has won two National Fil ...

was signed for the role of Sita. One of the first movies in Tollywood to be shot in Switzerland, the budget didn't allow the producers to take a big crew to Zermatt. The producer Allu Aravind himself worked as costume and make up assistant for Chiranjeevi and Shobana made herself up. The actors and the director came up with the choreography based on the light and scenery around them for the 3 days they had to shoot the "Chiluka Kshemama" song.

Soundtrack

Box office

''Rowdy Alludu'' was a "Blockbuster" at the Box office and completed 100 days in almost every theater it was shown. It's Tamil dubbed version, ''Pokkiri Mappilai'' was also average in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

References

{{K. Raghavendra Rao 1991 films 1990s Telugu-language films Films directed by K. Raghavendra Rao Indian romantic comedy films Films shot in Mumbai Films set in Hyderabad, India Films set in Mumbai Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films shot in Ooty Films shot in Switzerland Films scored by Bappi Lahiri Geetha Arts films 1991 romantic comedy films