Godavari (film)

Infobox_Film
name = Godavari


director = Sekhar Kammula
producer = G. V. G. Raju
writer = Sekhar Kammula
starring = Sumanth,
Kamalinee Mukherjee,
Neetu Chandra
music = K. M. Radha Krishnan
cinematography = Vijay C. Kumar
editing = Marthand K. Venkatesh
distributor = flagicon|India Amigos Creations
flagicon|USA KAD Entertainment
released = 19 May, 2006 [cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0813548/releaseinfo|title=Release dates for Godavari (2006)|work=IMDB]
runtime = 153 min.
country = flagicon|India India
language = Telugu
awards =
budget = Rs. 7 crores [cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0813548/business|title=Box office/business for Godavari (2006)|work=IMDB] (70 million) (estimated)
imdb_id = 0813548

"Godavari" ( _te. గోదావరి) is a 2006 Telugu musical, romantic film which was directed and written by Sekhar Kammula. G.V.G. Raju produced the film. Sumanth and Kamalinee Mukherjee played the lead roles. The film was a success at box office. Music of the film was composed by K.M. Radha Krishnan, who also composed music for the film, "Anand".

There are movies that draw crowd on their sheer merit. These movies need very little hype, no star value addition, very little skin show and no high decibel brawl. You don't find huge cut outs of the hero of the film staring at the traffic or innumerable banners showcasing the support of fans associations. Movies like these make their entry almost unnoticed but make their presence felt gradually because of their originality and brilliance.

"Anand" was such a movie last year and "Godavari" is the movie this year. If watching Anand was pleasurable like drinking a nice hot cup of coffee, watching "Godavari" is like sipping a soothing cool drink on a breezy beach on a summer evening. Smoky hillocks, swirling waters and a boat make sure that every scene in "Godavari" is picture perfect. The scenery doesn't undermine the captivating cinematography rather adds to it. Shot almost entirely on a boat on the meandering Godavari River the movie delves deeper into the human psyche: what kind of a man a self-respecting, independent and nubile woman seeks, why love is such a mushy phenomenon for some and how a man recovers from rejection. It's a little bit like Mills and Boons kind of romance on River Godavari. Add to that an insightful talking dog with a sense of humor and the entertainment is complete.

Synopsis

Sriram (Sumanth), an engineer who returned from the United States of America, wants to be a politician. However, people don't believe that he can lead the society. Seetha Mahalakshmi (Kamalinee Mukherjee) runs a designer store. But her family insists that she gets married. But eventually the marriage gets canceled.

Sriram is in love with Raji (Neetu Chandra), but she is already engaged to Ravi and tries to convince her father many times to marry him to Raji. But Raji's dad is only interested in rich and powerful people. Sriram cannot digest the fact that Raji starts loving Ravi and it only hurts his heart. The family plans to go to Bhadrachalam for the marriage and choose to go by boat across the Godavari River. At first, Sriram refuses to go. But after being convinced by Raji, Sriram says yes to it.

There, Sriram meets Seetha Mahalakshmi. Initially, both Sriram and Seetha get into a lot arguments and debates. But the fact that Sriram feels so depressed that Raji chose not to marry him, Seetha Mahalakshmi starts to hang out with him, and eventually become friends. Soon enough, both fall in love, not even noticing it.

But one day on a scavenger hunt, Raji finds out that her fiance is a spoiled brat who cares only about himself. Raji later goes to Sriram and tells him that she is willing to marry him. Sriram is unsure as the marriage itself is only one day away. Seetha finds out that Raji is willing to marry Sriram. This shatters all of Seetha's dreams of Sriram. Somehow Seetha gets involved in helping them run away, in vain, because Sriram is late for the moment, for which Raji becomes aware of his recklessness and changes her mind again to marry Ravi. On the wedding day, Seetha leaves immediately for home. Couple of days after the wedding, Sriram goes to Seetha's house. Sriram tells Seetha that he didn't turn up on that day because he knew that Raji is unsure. He then asks her hand for marriage. All ends well.

Cast

* Sumanth ... Sriram
* Kamalinee Mukherjee ... Seeta Mahalakshmi
* Neetu Chandra ... Raji
* Kamal Kamaraju ... IPS officer who marries to Raji
* Tanikella Bharani ... Captain Chintamani
* Gangadhar Panday ... TDP Guy

Crew

* Director: Sekhar Kammula
* Screenplay: Sekhar Kammula
* Story: Sekhar Kammula
* Dialogue: Sekhar Kammula
* Producer: G.V.G Raju
* Music: K.M. Radha Krishnan
* Cinematography: Vijay C. Kumar
* Editor: Marthand K. Venkatesh
* Lyrics: Veturi
* Art Direction: Kishore Choksey
* Costume Designer: Aravind Joshua

Trivia

* 90% of the film was shot on the Godavari River.

* This is Kamalinee Mukherjee's second time working with Sekhar Kammula after "Anand".

* Most of the technical team that worked for "Anand" also worked for the film, except the producer.

* There was a bit trouble while shooting was going on because of Sumanth's divorce with Keerthi Reddy.

* Out of all the small Telugu films that released in U.S., this film was the biggest hit.

*Sekhar Kammula lent his voice to the stray dog in the movie

*Sekhar Kammulaon being asked in an interview about an undercurrent of the Ramayana in Godavari:I thought Sita is more for support. I wrote her character as a more supportive one. Ram, for me, is lord Rama. The story of the Ramayana is not the power of god; it is the power of the human. That avatar says you shouldn't pray for a life without struggles. Rather, struggles should be overcome and in an idealistic, fair way. You should have support to do it. Today, wrong is becoming right and I firmly believe things will change when the educated middle class will get into governance. So, that is reflected in my hero.( [http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2006/jun/07sd1.html Sekhar Kammula: Women and men are the same] )

*Sekhar Kammula is influenced by Bapu's Andhala Ramudu and thanks Bapu-Ramana for introducing Godavari River to him.

* Madhavan and Trisha Krishnan were originally picked for the film before they opted out.

Godavari gave face lift to the motley troop that etched them on to the telugu film field. Dialogues were splendid, coming straight from the director Sekhar Kammula. Though it bore resemblances to the director's previous film Anand this was unique artwork, highlighting synergy of river backdrop, dialogues, camera , and actors.

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0813548|title=Godavari
* [http://telugutanam.blogspot.com/2006/06/lyrics.html Godavari Lyrics]
* [http://musicmazaa.com/telugu/lyrics/movie/Godavari.html Godavari Songs and Lyrics]
* [http://www.idlebrain.com/movie/archive/mr-godavari.html godavari review]