Yamadonga
| Yamadonga | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | S.S. Rajamouli |
| Screenplay by | S. S. Rajamouli M. Ratnam (dialogue) |
| Story by | K. V. Vijayendra Prasad |
| Produced by | Urmila Gunnam Cherry |
| Starring | Jr. NTR Mohan Babu Priyamani Mamta Mohandas Ali Brahmanandam |
| Cinematography | K. K. Senthil Kumar |
| Edited by | Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao |
| Music by | M. M. Keeravani |
Production company | Viswamitra Creations |
| Distributed by | Viswamitra Creations |
Release date |
|
Running time | 179 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
Yamadonga (transl. Big Thief or Thief of Yama) is a 2007 Indian Telugu-language fantasy action comedy film[1] directed by S.S. Rajamouli and produced by Urmila Gangaraju and Cherry. The film stars Jr. NTR, Mohan Babu, Priyamani, and Mamta Mohandas while Ali and Brahmanandam play supporting roles. The film released worldwide on 15 August 2007. Upon release, it received positive reviews from critics and audiences, and the film was a blockbuster at the box office.
Plot[]
Raja, an orphan boy, is a thief. Mahi, a young girl, falls in love with him. Raja manipulates her by gaining her sympathy. She gives him a necklace, which he throws away because it is worthless; however, it always comes back to him. 10 years later, Mahi's family treats her like a slave while they enjoy the money that her grandfather left behind. Mahi waits for her "prince" to come to rescue her. Raja is still a conman, but when he enters into the debt of Dhanalakshmi, a beautiful but not-so-innocent lender, he flees.
Meanwhile, Mahi's family wants Mahi out of the way so that they can inherit all of her money. They hire someone to kill her, only to find out that in the event of Mahi's death, all the money goes to charity. Raja saves Mahi and treats her like a princess, which she waited for from her childhood. Raja made a deal with Mahi's uncles, which goes wrong. They hire a goon to kill Raja, and he ills Raja. Raja reaches Yamaloka. He gets to know that Yama planned his death to take revenge on Raja who once made fun of Yama drunkenly. Raja creates confusion by stealing the Yamapasam, since one in possession of Yamapasam becomes the King of Hell. Raja promises festivals and parties and to make Hell better than Heaven. Yama contests his claim. Narada enters the scene and proposes an election. Both Yama and Raja agree.
Yama, along with Chitragupta, tries to get the Yamapasam, but fail. Raja wins the elections; however, Yama angrily insults him. Raja decides to use the Yamapasam to make Yama a human; however, the plan backfires when Yama ends up with the Yamapasam. After regaining power, Raja flees back to Earth, challenging Yama. Raja finds out about the cruelty that Mahi has suffered and decides to fight back against her cruel family. Raja steals a whip and thrashes her family with it, forcing them to become servants. Raja gets drunk and insults Yama again. This time, Yama decides that he and Chitragupta will enter Bhulokam (Earth) to avenge his insult. Yama disguises himself as the beautiful Dhanalakshmi, and Chitragupta acts like her father.
Yama successfully manages in separating Raja and Mahi, whose love prevented Yama from interfering. After Mahi's uncles call upon the goons that previously killed Raja, the chief hitman kidnaps Mahi for himself, and hits Raja with his car. Raja is severely injured and falls off a cliff into the temple of Lord Narasimha. Yama sends the Yamapasam after him to take his life, however the divine power within the temple drives away the Yamapasam. Yama once again changes his form into Dhanalakshmi to lure Raja out, but Raja reveals that he knows Yama in disguise. Raja begs for only half an hour of life only in order to rescue Mahi, and apologizes to Yama for his sins and all he has said and done. Yama realizes his errors, and becomes sympathetic but regretfully informs him that he cannot call back the Yamapasam. Raja fights off his enemies and is close to death, when suddenly, the chain that followed him his whole life was revealed to have been blessed by Lord Vishnu Himself, and it saves Raja's life. Raja and Mahi decide to live together and get married.
Cast[]
- Jr NTR as Raja
- Sri Simha as young Raja
- Mohan Babu as Yama Dharma Raja
- Priyamani as Maheshwari aka Mahi
- Mamta Mohandas as Money Lender Dhanalakshmi
- Ali as Sathi
- Brahmanandam as Chitragupta
- Khushbu as Yama's wife
- Jaya Prakash Reddy as Maheshwari's father-in-law
- Siva Parvathi as Maheshwari's mother-in-law
- Raghubabu as Maheshwari's father-in-law's son
- Ranganath as Maheshwari's grandfather
- Rajiv Kanakala as Indra Deva
- Naresh as Narada
- Narsing Yadav as Guard in Yama's Palace
- Bharani as Varuna Deva
- MS Narayana
- Narendra Jha as Narayana
- Stunt Silva
- Kaala Bhairava
- Rambha (Guest appearance in song "Nachore")
- Navneet Kaur as Rambha (Guest appearance in a song in elections)
- Preeti Jhangiani as Urvashi (Guest appearance in a song in elections)
- Archana as Menaka (Guest appearance in a song in elections)
Actor N. T. Rama Rao is featured in a cameo appearance as himself using archived footage.[2]
Production[]
This is the third collaboration of Jr. NTR and S. S. Rajamouli after Student No. 1 and Simhadri. Actress Priyamani slipped while walking on the stones and got her ankle sprained with a minor bleeding injury during shooting.[3] ARK Rajaraja have written the dialogues for the Tamil version.
Release[]
It was released on 15 August 2007. The Tamil version of the film was released on 29 November 2019 under the title Vijayan.[4][5]
Critical response[]
Oneindia.in described as "The film is a visual treat for all ages and classes. Rajamouli has done an excellent job molding NTR Jr's character in the film much like his grandfather's and also for bringing NTR back on the screen in an animated form. NTR Jr's overall performance and his dialogue delivery are a joy to watch. Mohanbabu playing 'Yama' once again proved to be the versatile actor that he is".[6]
Sify gave an "average" verdict explained "This socio-fantasy film works, thanks to the new look of NTR and enigmatic performance of Mohan Babu. The songs and background score of MM Keeravani, the technical aspects and entertainer quotient in the first half make the film watchable".[7] Jeevi of Idlebrain.com gave 3/5 stars said "First half of the film is entertaining. The second half should have been better. The plus points of the film are Mohan Babu, NTR, sets, cinematography and music. On the flip side, the screenplay of the film is not gripping in second half (after NTR returns to earth). The runtime of the film is pretty lengthy (3.05 hours)".[8]
Box office[]
The film became a blockbuster and ran 50-days in 405 centers. It completed a 100-day run in 210 centres and become one of the top Telugu films of the 2007 and gave NTR Jr. a massive success after his previous blockbuster Simhadri.[9]
Music[]
The music was composed by M. M. Keeravani and released by Vel Records.[10]
| Yamadonga | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 14 July 2007 | |||
| Recorded | 2007 | |||
| Genre | Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 32:41 | |||
| Label | Vel Records | |||
| Producer | M. M. Keeravani | |||
| M. M. Keeravani chronology | ||||
| ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Nuvvu Muttukunte" | Ananta Sriram | Ranjith, Pranavi Acharya | 3:53 |
| 2. | "Rabbaru Gajulu" | Ananta Sriram | Daler Mehndi, Pranavi Acharya | 5:19 |
| 3. | "Olammi Tikkareginda" | Bhuvana Chandra | N. T. Rama Rao Jr, Mamta Mohandas | 4:11 |
| 4. | "Nachore Nachore" | Bhuvana Chandra | Deepu, Ganga | 4:54 |
| 5. | "Nunugu Misalodu" | Ananta Sriram | M. M. Keeravani, Sunitha Upadrashta | 5:03 |
| 6. | "Young Yama" | Ananta Sriram | M. M. Keeravani, Shankar Mahadevan, Mano, Pranavi Acharya | 4:54 |
| 7. | "Srikara Karunda" | Bhuvana Chandra | Mano | 1:29 |
| 8. | "Chala Challaga Gali" | Bhuvana Chandra | M. M. Keeravani, Sangeethaa-Sangeetha Sajith. | 1:57 |
| 9. | "Bambharala Chumbhanala" | Bhuvana Chandra | Mano, Pranavi Acharya | 1:01 |
| Total length: | 32:41 | |||
Awards[]
- Nandi Awards 2008.[11]
- Best Editor – Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
- Best Makeup Artist – Nalla Seenu
- Best Costume Designer – Rama Rajamouli
- Nandi Award for Best Special Effects – Kamal Kannan
- Filmfare Awards 2008
- Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu) – Jr NTR
- CineMAA Awards 2008
- Best Actor – Jr NTR
Home media[]
The DVD version of the film was released on 29 February 2008.[12] This DVD release was distributed by Tolly2Holly all around the world, but for India. It is available in 16:9 Anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, progressive 24 FPS, widescreen and NTSC format.[13] The film was also dubbed into Hindi language as Lok Parlok, and in Odia as Yamraja.
References[]
- ^ "SS Rajamouli and Jr NTR's Yamadonga to be released in Tamil". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
Yamadonga, the 2007 Telugu-language fantasy action comedy film directed by SS Rajamouli, starring Jr NTR, Mamta Mohandas, Priyamani and Mohan Babu, in the lead roles and Khushbu, Ramba and Brahmanandam in prominent roles.
- ^ "nonstopcinema.com". Soundarya in NTR-Rajamouli's Yamadonga!. Archived from the original on 11 January 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2007.
- ^ "indiaglitz.com". Priyamani injured in shooting. Retrieved 16 January 2007.
- ^ "SS Rajamouli and Jr NTR's Yamadonga to release in Tamil". Box Office India. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ "SS Rajamouli and Jr NTR's Yamadonga to be released in Tamil - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ "Yamadonga – Review". Oneindia.in. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
- ^ "Yamadonga Review". Archived from the original on 25 June 2013.
- ^ "Yamadonga". idlebrain. Retrieved 15 August 2007.
- ^ "Top five Telugu films of 2007". Rediff.
- ^ https://www.saavn.com/s/album/telugu/Yamadonga-2007/E0bx3lBXpb0_
- ^ "Nandi awards 2007 announced". idlebrain. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
- ^ "Yamadonga DVD Info". Retrieved 24 March 2008.
- ^ "Yamadonga DTS". Retrieved 24 March 2008.
External links[]
- 2007 films
- Telugu-language films
- 2000s Telugu-language films
- Indian films
- Films scored by M. M. Keeravani
- Films directed by S. S. Rajamouli
- Indian action comedy films
- 2007 action comedy films
- 2000s fantasy-comedy films
- Indian fantasy action films
- Indian religious comedy films
- Religious action films
- 2007 comedy films
- 2000s fantasy action films