Aapathbandhavudu

Infobox_Film
name = Aapathbandhavudu


writer = K. Viswanath,
Jandhyala
starring = Chiranjeevi,
Jandhyala,
Meenakshi Seshadri,
Sharath Babu
director = K. Viswanath
producer = Edida Nageshwara Rao
distributor =
cinematography =
released = October 9, 1992
runtime =
editing =
language = Telugu
music = M.M. Keeravani
awards =
country = India
budget =
imdb_id = 0345679|

"Aapathbandhavudu" is a 1992 Telugu film and the third movie from Chiranjeevi and classical director K. Viswanath. Unlike the previous movies, "Subhalekha" and "Swayamkrushi", Aapathbandhavudu was not a commercially successful movie. Released on 9 October 1992, the movie followed the immensely successful Chiranjeevi's movie "Gharana Mogudu" (which was a mass masala entertainer) and disappointed his fans as his character is one of self pity and is totally deglamorized. But the movie did win critical acclaim especially for Chiranjeevi and did get him that year's Nandi Award for Best Actor. He narrowly missed out that year's National Film Award for Best Actor.

Synopsis

Madhava (Chiranjeevi), is a loyal friend, servant, and cowherd to Hema (Meenakshi Seshadri) and her father (Jandhyala). He also stars in dramas, in which he plays Lord Shiva. Hema's father is a school teacher and is a great poet, but since his classical poetry is no longer popular, he cannot find a publisher to print his poems. Even though both, Hema and Madhava love each other deep down in their hearts, both of them do not realize this due to societal divisions of not only caste but being of different economic classes as well. But, Hema is the first to realize her love during a drama where she portrays the role of Lord Shiva's consort, but suppresses her feelings owing to societal divisions. One day, in order to pay for Lalitha(Geetha)'s wedding (Hema's elder sister), Madhava sells his cows and gives the money to a family friend to give to Hema's father as a loan. When her father hears what he has done, he gifts Madhava with his manuscripts. Madhava goes to town to have them printed. When he returns, he sees Hema being taken away by an insane asylum van. He learns that Hema has gone into shock after her brother-in-law tried to rape her and in the process killed her sister(Geetha) who tried to prevent him. Madhava pretends to be crazy and enters the asylum, where he goes through many hardships in order to save her. He, after stopping a guard from attacking her, is falsely accused of attempted rape and is electrocuted. He tries many times to help her regain her memory. When she finally does and realizes what he did for her, she wants to marry him after she is safely rescued. However, Madhava objects due to his being of a lower strata of society. But Hema's fiancée (Sarath Babu) convinces him and Madhava finally agrees.

As mentioned earlier, Chiranjeevi's action was the highlight of the film, especially in scenes where he stutters in mental asylum after being electrocuted, or where after Hema's father dies, he was simply fantastic. Jandhyala, acting for the first time, was also marvellous and one would not think that this was his debut as an actor. Meenakshi Seshadri excelled in her role in both emoting and dancing. The remainder of actors lent valuable support to the main lead actors. Keeravani's music was another highlight and the songs became very popular.Aapathbandhavudu is rated as the 10th best film of K.Vishwanath by telugu movie website [http://www.freshandrotten.com/2008/03/top-10-films-of-kvishwanath.html Fresh and Rotten ]

Cast

* Chiranjeevi .... Madhava
* Jandhyala .... School Teacher (Hema's father)
* Meenakshi Seshadri .... Hema
* Sarath Babu .... Sripathi
* Allu Ramalingaiah .... Sripathi's Father
* Geetha .... Lalitha
* Nirmalamma
* Brahmanandam
* Kaikala Satyanarayana
* Silpa........nurse in mental asylum
* Kalpana Rai........nurse in mental asylum
* Suthi Velu
* Vijayachander...........Baba
* Prasad Babu........guard in mental asylum

Crew

*Director: K. Viswanath
*Writers: K. Viswanath (story & screenplay) and Jandhyala (dialogues)
*Producer: Edida Nageshwara Rao
*Executive Producer: Edida Sriram
*Music: M. M. Keeravani
*Lyrics: Sirivennela Seetarama Sastry & Jandhyala
*Playback Singers: S.P. Balasubramaniam & K. S. Chitra

Production and other companies

*Production Company: Poornodaya Movie Creations

Songs

*Athala Vithala
*Aura Ammaku
*Chukkalara
*Puvvu Navve
*Odiyappa

Awards

*Nandi Award for Best Actor for Chiranjeevi

Box office and trivia

* Was a failure at the box office
* Jandhyala acted for the first and the last time in his career.

External links

*imdb title|id=0345679|title=Aapathbandhavudu