Pandurangadu

Pandurangadu
Directed by	K. Raghavendra Rao
Written by	J. K. Bharavi
Screenplay by	K. Raghavendra Rao
Produced by	K. Krishnamohana Rao
Starring	Nandamuri Balakrishna Tabu Mohan Babu Sneha K. Viswanath Suhasini
Cinematography	Jayaram
Edited by	Sreekar Prasad
Music by	M. M. Keeravani
Release date	May 30, 2008
Country	India
Language	Telugu

Pandurangadu is a 2008 Telugu, devotional film starring Nandamuri Balakrishna, Sneha, Tabu, Suhasini, Bhargavi and Archana. K. Raghavendra Rao directs the project, while M. M. Keeravani composes the music for the film which is scheduled to release in 2008. Shobu Yarlagadda of Arka Media Works was Executive producer for the movie. The story is about the Pundarika, the legendary devotee of god Panduranga - a form of Krishna. The film met with negative reviews from critics and was declared a flop at the box office.

Plot

Pundarika Ranganathudu (Nandamuri Balakrishna) is a follower of Lord Krishna (Nandamuri Balakrishna) but for the wrong reasons and does not listen to his father (K.Vishwanath) and his mother. He does all the mischievous things that Lord Krishna did in his reign. Once when his family members ask him to marry he leaves his village and runs away. After his family members perform a yagnam he comes back to his village. In the neighboring village Lakshmi (Sneha) is a big devotee of Lord Krishna. One night Lord Krishna appears in her dreams and asks her to marry Pundarika. So Lakshmi's father approaches Pundarika but he refuses. Later, after some persuasion from Lakshmi, Pundarika accepts the marriage. Meanwhile a dancer Amrutha (Tabu) comes to their village. Pundarika is mesmerized by her beauty and gets into a relationship with her. He offers all the gold in his house to her. But, after the marriage, he stops visiting Amrutha. Knowing this Amrutha's mother calls Pundarika for a meal and serves kala kuta rasayanam, which makes him violent at a small sound and grabs all his wealth. Then he lands in an unknown place where he kicks a saint (Mohan Babu) and is cursed. The rest of the film is about how Pundarika returns backs to his family and becomes a devotee of Lord Krishna.

Cast

• Nandamuri Balakrishna as Lord Krishna & Pundarika Ranganadu (Duelrole)
• Sneha as Lakshmi
• Tabu as Amrutha
• K. Vishwanath as Pandurangadu's father
• Brahmanandam
• Mohan Babu as Saint
• Sunil

Crew

• Director: K. Raghavendra Rao
• Screenplay: K. Raghavendra Rao
• Story: JK Bharavi
• Producer: K Krishnamohana Rao
• Music: M. M. Keeravani
• Cinematographer: Jayaram
• Editing: Srikar Prasad

Panduranga Mahatyam

This movie is a remake of an old Telugu movie Panduranga Mahatyam (1957) directed by Kamalakara Kameshwara Rao in which the great actor of Telugu film industry Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR) played the lead role. The film starred NTR, Anjali Devi, Chittor V Nagaiah, B. Saroja Devi. Music by T.V. Raju.

Criticism

The movie contained a lot of skin show, mostly from tabu, and from sneha in a song.The excessive skin show, bordering on obscenity does not befit the devotional movie, and is probably one of the reasons of the movie's poor performance.

Probably emboldened by the success of his earlier devotional movies like Annamayya(a super duper mega hit) and Sri Ramadasu, a typically demure(a quality which belies the great romantic in him) Raghavendra Rao chose to take his artistic liberties too far with a film of this genre resulting in farce and drawing flak. The character of sage Narada has been trivialized by making him mouth certain inane dialogues unbecoming of his divine nature like "Naku Antha Sannivesam ledu Swami" which is the literary equivalent of the popular slang "Naku Antha Scene Ledu" meaning "I'm not so good/ lucky as to do/enjoy something"!!! And no to speak of the manner in which Tabu's prostitute character was treated, the same which was done so temperately in the classic original of Panduranga Mahatmyam. The story of the illicit relationship between a married debauched Pandurangadu and the prostitute was a golden excuse for the Darsakendra to indulge in his famed sensuously resplendent "fruit-and-navel" artistry like in that entirely unnecessary "Premavalambanam Priya Chumbanam" song. Also the other miscellaneous cast conduct themselves so casually(esp. the children) that one is made to feel whether it is a devotional movie or a household drama!

One song was shot in Thailand amidst lakes, pagodas and dragons, as it was a commercial masala movie!

Songs

Track	Song	Singer(s)	Lyrics	Duration
1	Aadauv Devakidevi	Pranavi		01:00
2	Govindude Koka Chutti	Madhu Balakrishnan, Sunitha, M. M. Keeravani	Sri Vedavyas	05:36
3	Hey Krishna Mukunda	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Hima Bindhu	Suddala Ashok Teja	05:00
4	Sahasra Sheersha	Shankar Mahadevan	Sri Vedavyas	01:05
5	Yemani Adaganu	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Malavika, Sowmya	Sri Vedavyas	03:37
6	Sri Sri Sri Rajadhi Raja	Shankar Mahadevan, Geetha Madhuri	Sri Vedavyas	03:50
7	Govinda Krishna Jai	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	Veturi	03:50
8	Matrudevobhava	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Malavika, M. M. Keeravani	Suddala Ashok Teja	06:06
9	Brundavamuna	M. M. Keeravani, Usha	Sri Vedavyas	02:26
10	Jwalath Karaala	Chorus	K. Shiva Dutta	00:41
11	Premavalambanam	Vijay Yesudas, Chithra	Sri Vedavyas	04:08
12	Kosaladeshapu	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Sunitha	Chandrabose	04:42
13	Mathapithrusamo	Madhu Balakrishnan	K. Shiva Datta	00:33
14	Neela Megha	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	Sri Vedavyas	02:36
15	Jaya Ranga Ranga Vittala	M. M. Keeravani	JK. Bharavi	02:03

Reception

The movie has mixed reactions from the critics and the audience. The movie was an average grosser at the boxoffice. Bala Krishna's performance as Lord Krishna and pundarika has been highly appreciated.

References

2. About Tabu's intermittent role in Tollywood [Tabu's re-entry into Tollywood] http://tabuthegreatest.wordpress.com/

External links

• Pandurangadu at IMDb