''Takkari Donga'' () is a 2002 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

-language

revisionist western The revisionist Western (also called the anti-Western, sometimes revisionist antiwestern) is a sub-genre of the Western film. Designated a post-classical variation of the traditional Western, the revisionist subverts the myth and romance of th ...

film produced, written, and directed by Jayant Paranjee. The film starred

Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor, producer, media personality, and philanthropist who works mainly in Telugu cinema. He has appeared in more than 25 films, and won several accolades including, eight Nandi Awar ...

Lisa Ray Lisa Rani Ray (born 4 April 1972) is a Canadian actress and model who has also worked internationally. Ray began her modelling career in India in the early 1990s, appearing for leading Indian brands like Bombay Dyeing and Lakmé. She made her ...

Bipasha Basu Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and former model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades ...

, and

Rahul Dev Rahul Dev (born 27 September 1968) is an Indian actor and former model who predominantly works in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam language films and few Marathi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Punjabi and Odia flims. Early life R ...

in pivotal roles. Shot entirely in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, upon release, ''Takkari Donga'' received mixed reviews, having won five state Nandi Awards including Best Audiography, Best Cinematography, and Best Action. The film had an ''Average'' run at the box office. The film was dubbed into

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

as ''Choron Ka Chor'' by Goldmines Telefilms in 2014 and into

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

as ''Vetri Veeran''. and it was dubbed in

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

as ''Choron Ka Raja''.

Plot

The film starts with the slain bandit Shaka killing his own elder brother for information related to diamond valley, who is also known to rancher Veeru Dada. In the encounter, Veeru jumps off into a river from a cliff. After 18 years in Gajner,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

, we have Veeru with an amputated leg, giving info to Raja, a mischievous, and tough

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill th ...

who loots banks in style. Raja gives Veeru a share of 50% for all his tip-offs. Raja becomes more daring as the price tag on his head increases by thousands. There is another mischievous thief, Panasa. She and her uncle follow Raja so she can dupe him and escape with all the looted money. As things go on a frolicking way between Panasa and Raja, Shaka is searching for Veeru. Veeru realizes Shaka will kill him soon. Hence, Veeru offers a large diamond to Raja and asks him to take his daughter Bhuvana to his brother Dharma's place via a dangerous route. Enroute, there are some romantic encounters, and they fall in love. Raja sees a house that emotionally disturbs him. When Bhuvana asks about it he reveals that it is his childhood house and his father and sister were killed by an unknown masked person and he became a thief on the journey of finding him. When Bhuvana asks how will he identify the killer, he tells her there is a scar on the killer's hand by which he can identify him. Later, when they go to Dharma's place, Dharma is killed. Raja goes to a nearby shop to arrange a funeral for Dharma. But it is Shaka who is disguised as the shop owner. When Shaka arrives he sees a map in Bhuvana's hand. He forcibly tries to take it and in excitement he said that for that map he killed his brother, Bhuvana's father, Dharma and that map is the way to diamond valley. Meanwhile, a fight ensues in which the map is burnt. Then Shaka ties Raja to a tree and forcibly takes Bhuvana as only she knows the route to that hidden diamond treasury. Meanwhile, Raja releases himself and went to Shaka. A fight takes place. Later, Shaka reveals he knows who killed Raja's father and he will give details about him only when Raja helps him cross the dangerous terrain to reach diamond valley with hidden treasure. Raja agrees. With the help of Raja, Shaka finds the path to the hidden treasure. While Shaka is taking the diamonds, Raja notices the scar on Shaka's hand by which he realizes it is Shaka who killed his father and sister. t the climax, Raja kills Shaka and reunites with Bhuvana.

Cast

as Raja *

as Bhuvana *

as Panasa * Kolla Ashok Kumar as Veeru Dada *

as Shaka *

Tanikella Bharani Tanikella Bharani (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, poet, playwright and director who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has worked as an actor in more than 750 films, including some in Tamil and Hindi; while he was ...

as Doobey (Panasa's uncle) * Rajasimha as Bartender * Ravi Chalapati *

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

(special appearance)

Production

90% of the film's shoot was done in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Mani Sharma and the lyrics were written by

Bhuvana Chandra Bhuvana Chandra is an Indian lyricist, renowned for his work in the Telugu cinema. He served in the Indian Air Force for 18 years before turning into a lyricist. He penned lyrics for more than 2000 songs. He also wrote more than 100 stories, a no ...

, Vennelakanti, Chandra Bose and Kula Sekhar. * Theme - Instrumental * "Nalugurikee" -

Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. Personal life and early career Shankar Mahadevan was born in Chembur, Mumbai into a Tam ...

* "Aleba Aleba" - K. K, Kalpana * "Hey Mama" - Tippu, Kalpana * "Bagundammo" -

SPB Charan Sripathi Panditharadhyula Charan is an Indian film playback singer, actor, producer and director known for his works in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema. He is the son of legendary singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam. He first worked as a playbac ...

, Usha * "Chukkallu Chandhrudee" -

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

, Prasanna

Reception

A critic from ''

Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded by Rajagopal Mudaliar in the 1930s & currently owned by Samagrah Commercial Pvt Limited. It is published in Hyderabad, Telangana, by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited ...

'' wrote that "A smooth, technically brilliant movie after a considerable time in Telugu, Takari Donga is entertaining and, in spite of its stereotypical pitfalls, is certainly a refreshing break from the deluge of routine love stories". A critic from ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the sec ...

'' said that "Though it is not new for the Telugu film makers to make cowboy films, this film scores in technical quality, with cinematographer Jayanan Vincent leading in his department. The visual is set against a kind of dusty hue throughout its run, reflecting the wild West". A critic from ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest s ...

'' stated that "If you don't mind half a dozen songs slackening the pace of the film ''Takkari Donga'' is a complete entertainer".

Awards

; Nandi Awards * Best Audiographer - P. Madhusudhan Reddy (in

) * Special Jury Award -

* Best Fight Master - Vijayan * Best Cinematographer -

Jayanan Vincent Jayanan Vincent is an Indian cinematographer. He is the son of cinematographer and director, A. Vincent, and elder brother to Ajayan Vincent. He is known for his work in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi films and he is a member of the Indi ...

* Best Child Actor - ''Koushik Babu''

References

External links

* {{Jayanth C. Paranjee, state=collapsed 2000s Telugu-language films 2002 films Indian action comedy films Indian Western (genre) comedy films 2000s Western (genre) comedy films 2002 action comedy films Films shot in New Mexico Films shot in San Francisco Films shot in Texas Films shot in Utah Films set in Rajasthan Films shot in Rajasthan Treasure hunt films Films scored by Mani Sharma Films shot in Colorado Films shot in the United States Films directed by Jayanth C. Paranjee