''Damarukam'' () is a 2012 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

-language

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fic ...

written and directed by Srinivasa Reddy, and produced by R. R. Venkat on R. R. Movie Makers. It stars

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...

Anushka Shetty Sweety Shetty (born 7 November 1981), known by her stage name Anushka Shetty, is an Indian actress known for her works in Telugu and Tamil cinema. She is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards South, two Nandi Awards, two SIIMA Awards and o ...

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English language, Engl ...

, and P. Ravishankar. The music is composed by

Devi Sri Prasad Gandham Sriprasad (2 August 1979), known as Devi Sri Prasad or more commonly by his initials DSP, is an Indian music composer, singer, and lyricist primarily known for his work in Telugu cinema, along with Tamil cinema. He has received numerous ...

with cinematography by Chota K. Naidu. The film was released in 2012 and opened to positive reviews from critics who appreciated Nagarjuna's performance. Naidu won

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 for South Indian films. Winners Superlatives See also * Filmfare Award for Best Cinematography * ...

Plot

The

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

of the movie is born with the divine grace of

Lord Siva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism. Shiva is known as ''The Destroyer' ...

, and the boy's parents are advised to name him Mallikaarjuna as he is destined to accomplish a great work. During his childhood, Malli faces a great tragedy as his parents and grandparents are killed by a huge

black panther A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

as they return from Kaasi. This incident leaves his younger sister, Sailu,

paralyzed Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, r ...

from the waist down (Sailu had a talent for dancing before this incident). Malli then develops strong hatred toward Lord Siva. Meanwhile, the scene shifts to a

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

named

Andhaka In Hindu literature, Andhaka (Sanskrit: अन्धक, IAST: Andhaka; lit. "He who darkens") refers to a malevolent asura, whose pride is vanquished by Shiva and Parvati.. His story finds mention in various Hindu texts, including the '' Mats ...

asura. We see him performing a severe penance to obtain a boon from Lord Siva. Lord Siva blesses the demon with the boon that he will not interfere in the latter's attempt to sacrifice a virgin girl to obtain complete rulership over the three worlds. The demon is advised by his aged friend Maayi that the sacrifice must be made a month having two solar eclipses, in such a way that he has to marry the girl and sacrifice her before the solar eclipse ends. This will render the demon peerless and a master over all the five elements. The story then shifts to Malli, now an adult whose motive is to help people and take care of his bedridden sister. He falls in love with Dr. Maheswari on a visit to the hospital where his sister is being treated. There are many scenes where the atheist Malli forces the people of his colony, who include Rudraksha, Ringu Raja, the President, and others, not to worship, on account of his childhood tragedy. Then, one day, Sailu tells her brother that she wants to die because of unbearable pain. Malli questions Lord Siva about his condition and drives away in his car, only to meet with an accident. But Lord Siva intervenes and saves him. Lord Siva calls himself Saambayya, befriends Malli, and goes to his home. The demon chooses Dr. Maheswari as his target for the sacrifice and prevents the aghoraas (who arrive at the temple) from having access to Mahi, on the first solar eclipse day. Malli rescues Mahi from the Aghoraas, and Mahi's parents entrust Malli to take care of Mahi. Mahi's parents decide to have Mahi marry a relative, Raahul, who is to arrive from the US. This advice is given by a saint known to Mahi's family. On his arrival at the airport, Andhakaasura kills Raahul in the washroom, and possesses his

dead body A cadaver, often known as a corpse, is a dead human body. Cadavers are used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a li ...

. Andhakaasura enters Mahi's home and kills the three dogs who guard Mahi. The demon also paralyzes Mahi's father, when he learns the truth about him. He also tries to kill Malli and Mahi, on their way to a temple, but Lord Siva intervenes by sending his divine mount,

Nandi Nandi may refer to: People * Nandy (surname), Indian surname * Nandi (mother of Shaka) (1760–1827), daughter of Bhebe of the Langeni tribe * Onandi Lowe (born 1974), Jamaican footballer nicknamed Nandi * Nandi Bushell (born 2010), South Afr ...

, who saves Malli. This infuriates the demon, who feels that Lord Siva has not kept his promise. He challenges the Lord, to which he replies that it was his duty to protect his devotee. The demon then decides to oppose Lord Siva, so he kills the

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

known to Mahi's family, impersonates him, and convinces Malli, Mahi and others that Saambayya is not a good person by faking his death at the hands to Saambayya. This makes Malli angry at Saambayya, and he returns the ring of friendship to Saambayya. Finally, Malli convinces Mahi's family that Rahul is Andhakaasura. Then, the demon carries Mahi to the spot of sacrifice and prepares for the ritual. Meanwhile, Malli is advised by the Aghora chief to worship Lord Siva, and he tells Malli that the purpose of his birth is to destroy the demon and the means to do it, as he was the reason for the tragedy in Malli's childhood and Lord Siva saved him as Saambayya. Malli confronts the demon and is initially defeated, but he heads skyward to get a blessing from Lord Siva and finally destroys Andhakaasura by piercing him with the

Trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

given by Lord Siva.

Cast

as Mallikarjuna / Malli *

as Maheswari / Mahi *

/ Sambayya * Ravi Sankar as

asura

Rakshasa Rākshasa (, , ; ; "preservers") are a race of usually malevolent beings prominently featured in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Folk Islam. They reside on Earth but possess supernatural powers, which they usually use for evil acts such as ...

Ganesh Venkatraman Ganesh Venkatraman is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films. He had acted in Radha Mohan's '' Abhiyum Naanum'' (2008), before working in '' Unnaipol Oruvan'' (2009) and ''Kandahar'' (2010). He is also the 3rd runner ...

as Rahul *

Brahmanandam Kanneganti Brahmanandam (born 1 February 1956) is an Indian actor and comedian known for his work in Telugu cinema. Recognised as one of India's finest and highest-paid comic actors, he holds the Guinness World Record for the most screen cred ...

as Rudraksha *

M. S. Narayana M. S. Narayana (16 April 1951 – 23 January 2015) was an Indian actor and comedian who worked in Telugu cinema. Narayana worked in over 750 films in his career spanning 23 years. He died on 23 January 2015 due to organ failure in Hyderabad, Ind ...

as Vankara Satyam * Devan as Visvanadham *

Avinash Avinash may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Avinash'' (film), a 1986 Indian Hindi-language film * Tiger (YRF Spy Universe) (Avinash Singh Rathore), fictional agent in the ''Tiger'' franchise of the YRF Spy Universe People * Avinash Sachde ...

as Kaapaalika's chief *

Brahmaji Brahmaji (born 25 April 1965) is an Indian who works in Telugu cinema. He is a regular actor in director Krishna Vamsi's films. Brahmaji appeared in an important role in Krishna Vamsi's debut film as a director, '' Gulabi''. He appeared in Kri ...

as Visvanadham's brother * Priya as Parvati, Mallikarjuna's mother *

Sameer Hasan Vinnakota Sameer (also known as Sameer Hasan) is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Telugu films and television. Personal life He is married to Aparna. Sameer and Aparna won the finals of ''Moguds Pellams'', a TV program conducted by ...

as Jaidev, Mallikarjuna's father * Geetanjali as Vasavi, Mallikarjuna's grandmother *

Giri Babu Yerra Seshagiri Rao, popularly known as Giri Babu, is an Indian actor, producer, and director who primarily works in Telugu films. His son, Raghu Babu, is also a notable actor-director. Career Giri Babu hails from a middle-class agricultura ...

as Rama Chandra Murthy, Mallikarjuna's grandfather * Chandra Mohan as Chandram, Mallikarjuna's friend *

Raghu Babu Yerra Raghu, known professionally as Raghu Babu, is a Telugu comedian. He has worked in many films in Telugu industry. He is the eldest son of comedian and character actor Giri Babu. His native place is Ravinuthala. He is known for his ...

as Goke Ring Raju *

Krishna Bhagavan Krishna Bhagavan (; born Meenavalli Paparao Chowdary; 2 July 1965) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He has appeared in more than 350 films, mostly as a comedian. He is also well known as a writer. Early life Krishna Bhagavan wa ...

as Colony President *

Thagubothu Ramesh Ramilla Ramesh, better known as Thagubothu Ramesh, is an Indian actor and comedian known for his work in Telugu cinema. Known for his signature portrayal of inebriated characters, he earned the nickname "Thagubothu" () due to his memorable per ...

as Full Bottle Vasu * Pragati as Rajeshwari *

Abhinaya Abhinaya (Sanskrit ''abhi-'' 'towards' + ''nii-'' 'leading/guide') is the art of expression in Indian aesthetics. More accurately it means "leading an audience towards" the experience (') of a sentiment ('). The concept, derived from Bh ...

as Sailaja / Sailu as Mallikarjuna's younger sister * Jeeva as Maayi * Pruthviraj as Ad Film Director *

Duvvasi Mohan Duvvasi Mohan is an Indian actor who is known for acting in comic roles, primarily in Telugu cinema, Telugu films. He is from Jagtial. He entered Telugu cinema as a producer, but later turned to acting and appeared in comedy roles in over 350 fi ...

as Duvvasi * Ajay * Kavitha *

Satya Krishnan Satya Krishnan is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Telugu films. She was born in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. She worked as a hotel management professional and entered the film industry with the film '' Dollar Dreams''. Mostly s ...

Rajitha Mallela Rajitha is an Indian actress who works in Telugu films. She has been active since the late 1980s. Career Rajitha made her debut in film industry at the age of 18 with the Telugu movie, '' Brahma Rudrulu'' in which she portrayed Ak ...

* Sravan * Kamal * Prabhu * Ramaraju * Vijaya Rangaraju * Apoorva * Kalpana * Lakshmi * Aruna * Amurtha Gowri * Sruthi * Archana * Anitha * Nandini * Nancy * Master Gaurav as Young Malli * Charmy as Sakkubai (

item number In Indian cinema, an item number or special song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films ( Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu c ...

)

Production

Casting

The film sees

and

playing the leads.

P. Ravi Shankar Pudipeddi Ravi Shankar (born 28 November 1966), also known as Sai Ravi, is an Indian actor, dubbing artist, director and a writer. As an actor, he predominantly appears in Kannada films, in addition to Telugu and Tamil films. As a dubbing a ...

, Pradeep Rawat,

Krishna Bhagavaan Krishna Bhagavan (; born Meenavalli Paparao Chowdary; 2 July 1965) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He has appeared in more than 350 films, mostly as a comedian. He is also well known as a writer. Early life Krishna Bhagavan wa ...

, Ahuti Prasad,

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

, Venu Madhav,

, M.S. Narayana and Jeeva are in the cast. Editing is by

Gautham Raju Gautham Raju is an Indian actor who predominantly acts in Telugu films. He acted in more than 200 films. He got No Nandi Awards as a Best Male Comedian. He also received Rajababu award. Early and personal life Gautham Raju was born in Rajolu ...

, art is by Ashok, cinematography is by Chota K. Naidu and music is by

., Times of Ap reported that

Lakshmi Rai Lakshmi Rai, professionally credited as Raai Laxmi, is an Indian actress and model who predominantly works in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi languages. Early life Raai Laxmi was born in Bangalore, Karnataka to Ram Rai and Manjul ...

was set to shake legs with Nagarjuna for the introduction song in this movie. The makers then have decided to set Charmy in the place of Lakshmi Rai for the introduction song in this movie. Nagarjuna had shown his six-pack abs for the first time in the movie.

Filming

The shooting of the film began on 25 April 2011. The first schedule of the film was in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where Nagarjuna would romance Anushka Shetty to the choreography of

Raju Sundaram Basuva Raju Sundaram (born 6 September 1968) is an Indian dance choreographer, actor and film director, who works primarily in Tamil, Telugu films also appeared in Kannada and Malayalam films. He appeared as an actor in films like ''Jeans'' (19 ...

. On 29 September 2012, The theatrical trailer of this socio-fantasy film has released with the movie Rebel, which graced the theatres that day. According to the producer Dr Venkat, the trailer has received a huge response from the film goers. This movie is the first Telugu film ever with over 70 minutes of special effects. A team of visual effects experts at Firefly Creative Studio have been working on the movie for over a year now. Firefly, the company which worked on special effects for films like Anji, Arundathi,

Magadheera ''Magadheera'' () is a 2009 Indian Telugu-language epic romantic fantasy action drama film co-written & directed by S. S. Rajamouli, based on a story by V. Vijayendra Prasad and with dialogues by M. Rathnam. Produced by Allu Aravind under ...

and

Anaganaga O Dheerudu ''Anaganaga O Dheerudu'' (released internationally as ''Once Upon A Warrior'') is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language fantasy adventure film written and directed by Prakash Kovelamudi in his first mainstream film. It is produced by Walt Disney Pictu ...

. Vyshnavi Films purchased the overseas theatrical rights.

Release

After much delays the film was released on 23 November 2012

Critical reception

idlebrain.com jeevi gave a rating of 3/5 stating "First half of the film is good, Plus points of the film are Nagarjuna and the grandeur". Great andhra also rated 3/5 DNA India gave the film 2.5 and Times of India gave 3.5 ratings. Reddif also rated 3/5 and said "This socio-fantasy is one-of-its-kind in today's times and can be watched once for the stunning visuals".

Accolades

Soundtrack

Music was composed by

. Music was released on

Aditya Music Aditya Music India Private Limited is an Indian music record label company, which owns the label Aditya Music. It produces music for the Telugu cinema industry and is headquartered at Hyderabad, Telangana. Overview The company was founded b ...

. The audio release was held on 10 September 2012 at

Shilpakala Vedika Shilpakala Vedika is a terracotta auditorium and convention centre located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The auditorium is in area. "Shilpa" means sculpture, ''kala'' means art, and ''vedika'' means platform. Hence it is an art sculpture pl ...

in Hyderabad. Devi Sri Prasad scored the music and there are 10 songs for which lyricists

Jonnavittula Jonnavithula Ramalingeswara Rao is an Indian film lyricist, politician and a poet known for his works in Telugu Cinema. He is also known for his parody songs. He won Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist – Telugu for the film '' Sri Rama Rajyam'' ...

, Chandra Bose, Sahithi and Bhaskara Bhatla have penned the lyrics. entertainment.in.msn.com gave a moderate review stating "Devi Sri Prasad's 50th album is unique from his usual run-of-the-mill compositions, but not his best. As a fan of the composer, the listener will be satisfied, but as a music lover, one doubts if this album would live up to listeners' expectations." telugu.way2movies.com gave a positive review stating "Damarukam has the mix of devotional tracks on Lord Siva along with the romantic duets and a mass track. The devotion numbers are highly appealing and catch your attention while the duets are likeable with the repeated listen. Sakkubai will be instantly liked by masses. DSP scores well with his 50th album Damarukam." Musicperk.com rated the album 8.5/10 quoting "A must-listen album by DSP. Not a song to be left out".

References

External links

* {{Srinivasa Reddy 2012 films 2010s Telugu-language films 2010s fantasy action films Indian fantasy action films Supernatural films Paranormal films Hindu mythology in popular culture Films shot in Varanasi Films shot in Switzerland