''Aapadbandhavudu'' () is a 1992 Indian Telugu-language

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by K. Viswanath. Produced by Edida Nageswara Rao's Poornodaya Movie Creations, the film stars

Chiranjeevi Konidela Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, philanthropist and former politician known for his work in Telugu cinema. Known as the "Mega Star", he is widely regarded as one of the most succe ...

and

Meenakshi Seshadri Meenakshi Seshadri Mysore (; née Seshadri; born 16 November 1963) as Shashikala Seshadri, is an Indian former actress and beauty pageant titleholder who worked primarily in Hindi, Telugu language, Telugu and Tamil language, Tamil films. Sesh ...

while

Jandhyala Jandhyala Subrahmanya Sastry (14 January 1951 – 19 June 2001), known mononymously as Jandhyala, was an Indian film director, screenwriter, and playwright known for his work in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre, theatre. Popularly referred to a ...

Sarath Babu Sathyam Babu Dixithulu (31 July 1951 – 22 May 2023), known by his stage name Sarath Babu, was an Indian actor who worked predominantly in Tamil and Telugu cinema. He appeared in more than 300 films, including in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and ...

, and Geetha play supporting roles. It was the third collaboration between Chiranjeevi and Viswanath following '' Subhalekha'' (1982) and ''

Swayam Krushi ''Swayamkrushi'' () is a 1987 Indian Telugu-language drama film written and directed by K. Viswanath. The film stars Chiranjeevi and Vijayashanti in main leads, with Sarvadaman D. Banerjee, and Sumalatha in other pivotal roles. The film c ...

'' (1987).The second half hospital scenes are copied from 1975 hollywood movie ''

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest may refer to: * ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Ken Kesey * ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (play), a 1963 stage adaptation of the novel starring Kirk Douglas * ''One Flew Over the ...

''. ''Aapadbandhavudu'' was an average grosser at the box office. But, the film won critical acclaim with five state

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are annual awards presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to recognise excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television, as well as lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. The awards are named after the monolithic ...

, including the

Nandi Award for Best Actor The Nandi Award for Best Actor was commissioned by the Nandi Awards committee in 1977. The winner is awarded a "Silver Nandi", "Sri Rajendra Prasad Gold Medal", cash award and a commendation certificate. Venkatesh has won the most Best Actor a ...

for Chiranjeevi, and the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for Chiranjeevi. The film was screened at the

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is an annual film festival currently held in Goa, on the western coast of India. The festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excel ...

, the

Asia Pacific Film Festival The Asia-Pacific Film Festival (abbreviated APFF) is an annual film festival hosted by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific (FPA). The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954. History The festival was first he ...

, and the AISFM Film Festival. The film was later dubbed and released into Tamil as ''Veera Marudhu''.

Plot

Madhava is a loyal friend, servant, and cowherd to Hema and her father. He also performs in the local dramas, in which he portrays

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

. Hema's father is a teacher and talented poet. However, since his classical poetry is no longer popular, he cannot find a publisher to print his poems. Even though Hema and Madhava love each other, neither realize this due to the societal divisions of caste and economic class present in their village. Hema is the first to realize her love for him, during a drama where she portrays

Parvati Parvati (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, pɑɾʋət̪iː/), also known as Uma (, , IPA: Sanskrit phonology, /ʊmɑː/) and Gauri (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, gə͡ʊɾiː/), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the Devi, ...

, but suppresses her feelings owing to the social stigma. One day, in order to pay for the wedding of Hema's elder sister Lalitha, Madhava sells his cows and gives the money to Hema's father through a family friend, as a loan. When Hema's father hears what he has done, he gives Madhava his manuscripts to have them printed. Madhava goes to town to have them printed; however, when he returns, he sees Hema being taken away to an asylum. He learns about the incident which led Hema's current mental state (i.e., Hema's brother-in-law's attempted rape and Lalitha's death). Madhava pretends to be mentally unstable and is admitted to the same asylum, where he goes through many hardships in order to save Hema. After stopping a guard from attacking her, he is falsely accused of attempted rape and is given shock therapy. 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 to her proposal as he is from the lower strata of society. Hema's fiancé Sripathi convinces him to change his mind. Hema and Madhava finally unite.

Cast

as Madhava *

as Hema *

as Teacher (Hema and Lalitha's father) *

as Sripati * Geetha as Lalita *

Allu Ramalingaiah Allu Ramalingaiah (1 October 1922 – 31 July 2004) was an Indian character actor, comedian, and producer known for his works in Telugu cinema. In 1990, he was honoured with the Padma Shri for his contribution to Indian cinema. In 1998, he rec ...

as Sripati's father *

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 Madhava's friend *

Nirmalamma Nirmalamma (18 July 1920 – 19 February 2009) was an Indian actress in the Telugu cinema. She appeared in more than 1000 films and was well known for her grandmother roles in several films. She won two Nandi Awards. Early life She was born in ...

as Brahmanandam's grandmother *

Kaikala Satyanarayana Kaikala Satyanarayana (25 July 1935 – 23 December 2022) was an Indian actor, producer, and politician who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. He appeared in more than 750 films over six decades. He was a recipient of the Raghupathi Venkai ...

as Village President * Vijayachander as Baba * Silpa as Mental Asylum Nurse *

Kalpana Rai Kalpana Rai (9 May 1950 – 6 February 2008) was an Indian actress from Andhra Pradesh who predominantly appeared in Telugu films. She acted in more than 430 films. She was born in Kakinada. Personal life Kalpana Rai was born in Kakinada. ...

as Mental Asylum Nurse *

Suthi Velu Kurumaddali Lakshmi Narasimha Rao (7 August 1947 – 16 September 2012), better known by his stage name Suthi Velu, was an Indian actor and comedian known for his works in Telugu cinema. He has acted in more than 200 films, and won four state ...

as Mental Asylum Patient *

Prasad Babu Prasad Babu is an Indian actor who acts predominantly in Telugu language, Telugu films and also TV serials. Filmography Telugu * ''Anthuleni Katha'' (1976) as Thilak * ''Mana Voori Pandavulu'' (1978) * ''Dongala Veta'' (1978) as Anand * ...

as Mental Asylum Guard * Mukku Raju as Dancer (cameo appearance)

Soundtrack

All songs are composed by M. M. Keeravani and audio is owned by Lahari Music.

Awards

;

* Third Best Feature Film - Bronze – Edida Nageswara Rao * Best Actor – Chiranjeevi * Best Dialogue Writer – Jandhyala * Best Art Director – B. Chalam & Arun D Ghodgavnkar * Best Choreographer – Bhushan Lakhandri ;

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

* Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu – Chiranjeevi Music director
archive.org * Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu – K. Viswanath * Nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu - Meenakshi Sheshadri

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aapadbandhavudu 1992 films Films directed by K. Viswanath Films scored by M. M. Keeravani 1990s Telugu-language films 1990s Indian films Films about rape in India Films about women in India Medical-themed films 1990s avant-garde and experimental films Indian romantic drama films Films set in psychiatric hospitals Films about depression Indian nonlinear narrative films Psychiatry in fiction