''Dongaata'' is a 1997 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

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 ...

directed by

Kodi Ramakrishna Kodi Ramakrishna (23 July 1949 – 22 February 2019) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, and actor, known for his work in Telugu cinema. Over the course of his career, he directed more than 100 films across various genres, earning a repu ...

. It stars

Jagapati Babu Veeramachaneni Jagapathi Chowdary (born 12 February 1962), professionally known as Jagapathi Babu (), is an Indian actor known for his works in Telugu cinema. He has also appeared in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi films. Babu has appeare ...

Soundarya Sowmya Sathyanarayana (18 July 1972 – 17 April 2004), better known by her stage name Soundarya, was an Indian actress known for her works primarily in Telugu cinema. She was regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the history of Telugu ...

, Suresh, Ritu Shivpuri, with music composed by Bharadwaj. It is produced by Dr. K. L. Narayana under the Sri Durga Arts banner and presented by S. Gopal Reddy. The film was inspired by the English film ''

French Kiss A French kiss, also known as cataglottism or a tongue kiss, is an amorous kiss in which the participants' tongues extend to touch each other's lips or tongue. A kiss with the tongue stimulates the partner's lips, tongue and mouth, which are sens ...

'' (1995), which was remade in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

later on as ''

Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha ''Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha'' ( ''Love Was Bound to Happen'') is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Anees Bazmee, starring Ajay Devgn and Kajol. The film is an unofficial remake of the 1995 film ''French Kiss'', starring M ...

'' (1998).

Plot

The film begins in a village where Subbalakshmi, a naive woman, endears her cousin Prakash Rao, and her father raises him to knit him with Subbalakshmi. Presently, he moves to the city for higher studies. After that, he didn't show up for her. Perturbed, Subbalakshmi proceeds to the town by lying to her father and saying she is going on a tour. On her train journey, a thief, Raju, acquaints her, who has stolen a diamond necklace that he hides in Subbalakshmi's bag to sneak from the Police. ACP Vikram shadows Raju to recover the necklace. Besides, Raju follows Subbalakshmi as ''white on rice'' for the bag. Therein, he rescues her from several pitfalls and supports her in finding the whereabouts of Prakash Rao. During that time, Raju starts liking her but remains silent because of her sweetheart towards her cousin. Subbalakshmi finds Prakash Rao, where she gets blindsided and collapses, viewing Prakash Rao's close intimacy with a tycoon, Lavanya. Prakash Rao is a swindler who exploited Subbalakshmi to hit the top. Presently, he is behind Lavanya's wealth. At that point, Prakash Rao manipulates the situation, convinces Subbalakshmi, and sends her back when Raju again accompanies her. On the way, Subbalakshmi fortuitously meets Prakash Rao's friend Prasad, who reveals his friend's diabolic shade. Being conscious of it, Subbalakshmi tries to commit suicide when Raju bars her and words to rectify Prakash Rao. Right now, Prakash Rao, Raju & Subbalakshmi have reached Jaipur. Herein, Raju turns her into a modern girl. At that juncture, he is stunned to find the necklace in Subbalakshmi's hands, which she has hidden to seek his help. Currently, they make a friendship with Lavanya that frightens Prakash Rao. Moreover, Raju develops a close bond with Lavanya. So, Prakash Rao warns Subbalakshmi, accuses her character, and tries to kill her. However, she is saved by ACP Vikram when she handovers the necklace to him, pleads to quit Raju, and expresses her present love towards Raju, which she hesitates to reveal. Meanwhile, Lavanya necks out Prakash Rao, aware of his true face. So, he reaches Subbalakshmi, trying to con her again, but she discards him and moves to her village. At last, Raju learns about Subbalakshmi's love through ACP Vikram, rushes to the railway station, and confesses that he loves her too. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the union of Raju & Subbalakshmi.

Cast

as Raju *

as Subbalakshmi * Suresh as Prakash Rao * Ritu Shivpuri as Lavanya *

Kota Srinivasa Rao Kota Srinivasa Rao (born 10 July 1942) is an Indian character actor known for his work primarily in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He has also starred in a few films in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hindi cinema, Hindi, Kannada cinema, Kannada and Ma ...

as Subbalakshmi'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 Constable * Sudhakar as Paropakari Papanna, a thief *

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 ...

as ASP Vikram *

Babu Mohan Pally Babu Mohan commonly known as Babu Mohan is an Indian actor and politician formerly from the Bharatiya Janata Party. He prominently works in Telugu films as a comedian and is a former Minister for Labour in Andhra Pradesh. He won Nandi ...

as a pimp * Mallikarjuna Rao as Ambothula Appa Rao * M. Balayya as Raju's father *

Subhalekha Sudhakar Suravajhala Sudhakar (born 19 November 1960), known by his stage name Subhalekha Sudhakar, is an Indian actor who worked in Telugu and Tamil language films. Sudhakar's first Telugu film '' Subhalekha'' (1982) gained him wide recognition throug ...

as Prasad, Prakash's friend *

Ananth Babu Punyamurthula Anant, known by his stage name Ananth Babu (or simply Ananth), is an Indian actor and comedian, known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, I ...

as Hotel owner *

Gautam 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 ...

as SI *Naamala Murthy *Gadiraju Subba Rao *Annuja * Alphonsa in a

special appearance In law, an appearance (from Latin ''apparere'', to appear) occurs when a party to a lawsuit physically appears in court, or to a formal act through which a defendant submits to the jurisdiction of the court in which the lawsuit is pending. History ...

in the song "Lallaguda Mallesha" * Priya as Subbalakshmi's friend *

Ragini Ragini may refer to: *Rāgini, the feminine counterpart of a raga, a melodic mode in Indian classical music *Ragini, an Indian feminine given name from the above People *Ragini (actress) (1937–1976), Indian film actress, one of the Travancore si ...

as Radha *Neelima *

Dubbing Janaki Dasari Janaki, known professionally as Dubbing Janaki, is an Indian actress and voice artist. She has appeared in several films and television shows in various South Indian languages. Early life Janaki was born in Peddapuram, East Godavari ...

as Subbalakshmi's mother

Music

The music was composed by Bharadwaj and released on the Supreme Music Company.

Reception

The film was reviewed by ''Zamin Ryot''. A critic from ''Andhra Today'' said that "The movie has many drawbacks and instead of covering them up, the director harped on them, and made the movie drag and boring".

References

{{Kodi Ramakrishna 1997 films 1990s Telugu-language films Indian romantic drama films 1997 romantic drama films Films directed by Kodi Ramakrishna Films scored by Bharadwaj (composer) Films set in Rajasthan Films shot in Rajasthan Indian remakes of American films