''Sri Ramadasu'' is 2006 Indian Telugu-language biographical film, based on the life of musician saint ''

Kancharla Gopanna Kancharla Gopanna ( te, కంచర్ల గోపన్న) ( – 1688), popularly known as Bhakta Ramadasu or Bhadrachala Ramadasu ( te, భద్రాచల రామదాసు), was a 17th-century devotee of the Hindu god Rama, a sain ...

'', produced by Konda Krishnam Raju on Aditya Movies banner and 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 ...

. Starring

Akkineni Nageswara Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1923 – 22 January 2014), widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and producer, known for his works majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became on ...

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...

, Suman, Sneha and music was composed by M. M. Keeravani. Cinematography and editing were handled by S. Gopal Reddy and Sreekar Prasad respectively. Upon release, the film got positive reviews. Nagarjuna received appreciation for his portrayal in the titular role and subsequently went on to win

Nandi Award for Best Actor The Nandi Award for Best Actor was commissioned by the Nandi Awards committee in 1977. The winner is awarded a "Silver Nandi", "Sri Rajendra Prasad Gold Medal", cash award and a commendation certificate. Venkatesh has won the most Best Actor awa ...

that year. Music director M. M. Keeravani also received rave reviews for his work. Along with being critically acclaimed, the film recorded as ''Blockbuster hit'' at the box office. The film won four

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 ...

Plot

The film starts with the penance of Sage Bhadra (

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 ...

) who becomes a hill with the blessings of Lord Rama. In later centuries, Dammakka ( Sujatha), the tribal lady, and worshiper of Lord Rama unearths and looks after the idols of Rama on the hill and awaits someone who can construct a temple there. On the other hand, Gopanna and his cousin Kamala fall in love and marry after a small conflict with their parents. After the marriage, Tanisha, the emperor of Golconda, with the recommendation of Akkanna and Madanna (the uncles of Gopanna), appoints Gopanna as Tehsildar of Husnabad. Thus, a Muslim who had been the Tehsildar of the place is dethroned for the sake of Gopanna. That ignites disgust among a few groups who attempt to murder Gopanna. However, Dammakka saves him while he lies unconscious on the bank of

Godavari The Godavari (IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakeshwa ...

. She shows him the place of Bhadragiri and Gopanna becomes an ardent devotee of Rama. After a series of incidents, he decides to construct the Rama Mandir on the hill. He collects funds from people and with the help of Kabirdas, his guru completes the construction of the temple. Lord Rama, Lakshmana, Seetha, and Anjaneya live in invisible forms in the place during the construction. They keep on guarding Gopanna until he accomplishes his mission. Thus, with immense bhakti on Lord Rama, Gopanna becomes Ramadasu. The enemies of Ramadasu pass on a negative message to Tanisha about him, stating that he constructed the temple with money taken from other people without the king's permission. Exasperated, Tanisha imprisons Ramadasu. After many ordeals faced by Ramadasu in prison, Lord Rama, and Lakshmana appear to Tanisha in a dream and pay the required amount to him. Then Tanisha releases Ramadasu from prison and discovers that the two who cleared the debt were Lord Rama and Lakshmana. After being released from prison, Ramadasu is frustrated that he never obtained a darshanam (appearance/glimpse) of Rama. He realizes that Rama is in his heart and cuts open his chest. Sri Rama and Sitamma appear from his heart and heal his wounds. Rama offers Gopanna the chance to go to Vaikunta as a living man, a boon granted to few. When Gopanna asks what is there in Vaikunta (The Highest Heaven), Rama says there is only happiness and no need to pray. However, Gopanna can only find happiness in saying Rama's name. As the only man ever to refuse Vaikuntha, Rama grants his wish: Ramadasu's spirit will remain forever in the

Bhadrachalam Temple The Sri Sita Ramachandraswamy temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Rama, a prominent avatar of the god Vishnu. It is located on the banks of the Godavari River in the town of Bhadrachalam in east Telangana, India. Often simply referred to as ...

. The movie ends with

Kancherla Gopanna Kancharla Gopanna ( te, కంచర్ల గోపన్న) ( – 1688), popularly known as Bhakta Ramadasu or Bhadrachala Ramadasu ( te, భద్రాచల రామదాసు), was a 17th-century devotee of the Hindu god Rama, a sain ...

, now Sri Ramadasu, looking down fondly at the temple in the modern-day.

Cast

as Kabirdas *

as Kancherla Gopanna / Bhakta Ramadasu * Suman as Lord

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

Lord Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

* Sneha as Kamala * Veda Sastry as Goddess

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

Goddess Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with '' Maya'' ("Illusion"). A ...

* Sujatha as Dammakka *

Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...

Abul Hasan Qutb Shah Abul Hasan Qutb Shah, also known as Abul Hasan Tana Shah was the eighth and last ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, sovereign of the Kingdom of Golconda in South India. He ruled from 1672 to 1686. The last Sultan of this Shia Islamic dynasty, Tana ...

* K.Naga Babu as

Ravana Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and rakshasi Kaikesi. ...

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 ...

* Sunil * Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as Seshabhisha Sastry *

Tanikella Bharani Tanikella Bharani (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, poet, playwright and director who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has worked as an actor in more than 750 films, including some in Tamil and Hindi; while he was ...

as Kamal's father * Venu Madhav * AVS *

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 ...

Raghu Babu Yerra Raghu, known professionally as Raghu Babu, is a Telugu comedian well known for his comic expressions and timing. He has worked in many successful films in Telugu industry. He is the eldest son of famous comedian and character actor Giri B ...

* Sameer Hasan as

Lakshmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja () ...

as Sage Bhadra *

Vindu Dara Singh Vindu Dara Singh (born Virender Singh Randhawa; 6 May 1964) is an Indian actor who does Hindi and Punjabi television films. He is the winner of the third season of ''Bigg Boss''. Before this, In 1996 he played the role of Lord Hanuman in ''Ja ...

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

* Jaya Prakash Reddy as Mathisahib * Ranganath as Gopanna's father *

Raghunatha Reddy Raghunatha Reddy is an Indian actor from Andhra Pradesh. He acted in more than 370 films. Apart from Telugu, he also acted in Tamil, Hindi and Bhojpuri films. He appears in Telugu TV serials also. Early life He was born in Vijayawada to the cou ...

* Subbaraya Sharma * Ananth Babu * Chitti Babu *

Duvvasi Mohan Duvvasi Mohan is an Indian actor who is know for acting in comic roles, primarily in Telugu films.. He is from Jagityal. He entered Tollywood as a producer and financier, but later turned to acting with comedy roles in over 350 films. Partial ...

* J. K. Bharavi * Sudha as Gopanna's mother * Siva Parvathi as Kamala's mother * Hema as Tanisha's wife * Apoorva * Master

Sajja Teja Teja Sajja (born 23 August 1994) is an Indian actor who mainly works in Telugu films. He started his career in 1998 as child actor in the film '' Choodalani Vundi''. Sajja made his debut as an adult in 2019 with the film '' Oh! Baby''. Teja's ...

as Raghunathudu (Ramadasu's son)

Casting

It was announced that

would do a film, produced by Konda Krishnam Raju on Aditya Movies banner and directed by

Jyothika Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films.

was roped in to play the female lead, but refused the offer due to her marriage preparations. Then she was replaced by Sneha later.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by M. M. Keeravani. Lyrics are written by

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 ...

, Chandrabose,

Suddala Ashok Teja Suddala Ashok Teja (born Gurram Ashok Teja; 4 April 1954) is an Indian poet and lyricist known for his work in Telugu cinema and Telugu literature. He has written lyrics for over 2200 songs. He won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics for ...

, Sri Vedavyasa, J. K. Bharavi and Siva Shakthi Datta while vocals are given by

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 ...

, Chitra,

Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. Personal life and early career Shankar Mahadevan was born in Chembur, Mumbai into a Tam ...

, M. M. Keeravani,

Vijay Yesudas Vijay Yesudas (born 23 March 1979) is an Indian playback singer and actor. He has sung over 1000 film songs. Vijay works predominantly in the South Indian film industry, mostly in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi. He is the son o ...

, Devi Sri Prasad, S. P. B. Charan,

Madhu Balakrishnan Madhu Balakrishnan is an Indian playback singer who sings in different languages Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada. Personal life Madhu Balakrishnan was born on 24 June 1974 to Balakrishnan and Leelavathy at Paravur, Eranakulam. His earlier ...

, Hariharan, Sunitha, Malavika and Pranavi. Music was released on Aditya Music Company.

Reception

Upon release, the film was met with highly positive reviews. The lead actor

and music director M. M. Keeravani received extremely positive appreciations for their respective works in this film. Particularly, Nagarjuna's performance was highly praised by most of the critics. Telugu movie reviewing website ''idle brain'' gave 3.75 out of 5 and wrote, "He (Nagarjuna) did extremely well in the title role. His histrionics in the last reel where ‘Dasaradhi’ song comes are extraordinary. Nobody knows how Sri Ramadasu looks like and whenever we think about Sri Ramadasu in the future, the image of Nagarjuna becomes the visual aid. The first half of the film is decent. The emotional graph starts growing up from ‘Antha Ramamayam’ song and goes to the peak by the film reaches climax. The second half of the film is very good. The plus points of this film are Nagarjuna's histrionics, Keeravani's music, K Raghavendra Rao's direction of J. K. Bharavi's script. ''Sri Ramadasu'' film comes as fresh breeze when we are bombarded with routine and formula flicks. I recommend this devotional flick to everybody." Another reviewing website ''India glitz'' gave an extremely positive review and praised Nagarjuna's performance, in particular, stating, "Nagarjuna is a revelation in a role that calls for nuances and skill. It is no romp for him. He has put in hard labor both in terms of looks as well as body language. The triumph of this role lies in the fact that Nags got the subtleties right. An award is just round the corner for him. Keeravani in a sense is the other hero of the movie. There are 19 songs, each dipped in his own devotion to his art. Like in Annamaiya (''Annamayya''), he has delivered more than he has been asked for. His songs create the right mood and momentum for the film to proceed. The bhakti rasa is splendidly brought out." ''The Hindu'' praised Nagarjuna and M. M. Keeravani and wrote, "Nagarjuna steals the show as Ramadasu. After playing the role of his lifetime in ''Annamayya'', Nagarjuna comes up with another winner in ''Sri Ramadasu''. Nag (Nagarjuna) once again proves he is equally at ease portraying epic characters apart from playing mass, sentiment and glamor roles. The highlight of the film is the performance of Nagarjuna in the prison episode. Keeravani gives a musical chartbuster and both songs as well as background score and re-recording is excellent and takes the audience into a musical journey. Graphic works are superb."

Release

''Sri Ramadasu'' was released in 229 screens including 173 in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

18 in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, two in

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 ...

, one in

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 ...

and 25 overseas.

Box-office performance

The film had a 100-day run in 67 centres and collected over 30 crores.

Awards

; Filmfare Awards - 2006 *

Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer - 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 ...

- S.P. Balasubramaniam *

Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer – South The Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer Award - South is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South, Filmfare Awards for South Indian films. Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they ...

- S. Gopal Reddy ;

- 2006 (in

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 ...

) * Best Home-viewing Feature Film - Konda Krishnam Raju * Best Actor -

* Best Makeup Artist - Ramachandra Rao * Best Costume Designer - Basha

References

External links

Official website
* {{K. Raghavendra Rao 2006 films 2000s Telugu-language films Indian biographical films Indian epic films Films scored by M. M. Keeravani Films about religion Films directed by K. Raghavendra Rao Hindu devotional films History of India on film