''Gamyam'' () is a 2008 Indian Telugu-language road film written and directed by Krish in his directorial debut. The film stars
Allari Naresh
Edara Naresh (born 30 June 1982), better known as Allari Naresh, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Telugu films. Starring in over 55 films and known for his various comic roles, Naresh earned two Filmfare Awards ...
,
Sharwanand
Myneni Sharwanand (born 6 March 1984), known mononymously as Sharwanand, is an Indian actor and producer who primarily works in Telugu films alongside a few Tamil films. He made his acting debut in 2004 with the film ''Aidho Tareekhu''. He i ...
, and Kamalinee Mukherjee.
Loosely inspired by ''The Motorcycle Diaries'' (2004), the plot follows the quest of Abhiram (Sharwanand), a rich and arrogant man to seek his love, Janaki (Mukherjee). He is joined by Gaali Seenu (Naresh), a road-side thief in a journey that ultimately results in his self-discovery.
The film received widespread critical acclaim and was a commercial success. It won four
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 ...
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 ...
Janaki is an orphan who crosses many hardships in her life. She manages to finish her MBBS degree and become a doctor. She understands everyday hardships of the common man and wants to serve people as much as she can, so she works in a hospital and spends much of her earnings and time to charity. On the other hand, Abhiram was the only son and heir of the multimillionaire GK. He grows up amongst all the luxuries and finishes his education in London. He comes back to Hyderabad and spends much of his time in parties and with women. He sees Janaki and gets attracted to her. Abhi accepts a challenge with his friends that he would woo Janaki and get her to bed. He starts to grow a relation with Janaki and becomes attracted to her, but her lifestyle is unlike his. On Abhi's birthday party, Janaki learns of his bet and confronts him. He accepts that he was involved in a bet, but he truly loves her and wants to spend his life with her. She angrily leaves the party, and Abhi comes to drop her at her hostel. Their quarrel continues, and they meet with an accident where a woman dies and her son is orphaned. Janaki survives the accident, but Abhi meets with injuries. When he wakes up at the hospital, he is told that Janaki left for her orphanage. Abhi wants to meet her and ask for her apology. In the process, he meets a goodhearted motorbike thief named Gaali Seenu who accompanies him in his journey. The journey Abhi takes changes his life drastically: he is exposed to the hard realities of rural life and its simple joys. The landscapes and the people he meets take him through an emotional journey that alters his perceptions forever and aid in his journey to self-discovery. Abhi and Seenu are captured by naxalites, but manage to escape. However Seenu gets shot in the back in the crossfire while trying to save Abhi and escaping and dies from his injuries. Abhi cries but continues to find Janaki. He finds her in a railway station and tells her about Seenu's death and his journey. Feeling sad for Seenu's sacrifice and Abhi's depression, Janaki and Abhi reconcile.
Cast
*
Allari Naresh
Edara Naresh (born 30 June 1982), better known as Allari Naresh, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Telugu films. Starring in over 55 films and known for his various comic roles, Naresh earned two Filmfare Awards ...
as Gaali Seenu
*
Sharwanand
Myneni Sharwanand (born 6 March 1984), known mononymously as Sharwanand, is an Indian actor and producer who primarily works in Telugu films alongside a few Tamil films. He made his acting debut in 2004 with the film ''Aidho Tareekhu''. He i ...
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 Pessimist
*
Rao Ramesh
Rao Ramesh (born 25 May 1968) is an Indian actor who works primarily in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre, theatre, and television apart from some Tamil films. He is the son of veteran actor Rao Gopal Rao. Rao Ramesh initially appeared in ''Seema ...
Director Krish completed his graduate studies in the United States and returned to India with the sole intention of becoming a filmmaker. Because his parents were not supportive, he started an education consulting firm. Meanwhile, he worked as an assistant to cinematographer-turned-director, Rasool Ellore, who directed '' Okariki Okaru'' (2003) and '' Bhageeratha'' (2005). After a year and a half of success, Krish returned to his dream of becoming a filmmaker. When travelling across the state of
Maharashtra
Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
for research on a film topic, he connected with his vehicle driver. From here, he obtained the initial inspiration and wrote a story about two people with a different outlook towards life, travelling together.
Initially, he wanted to make this story 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 ...
. With ''Aaj Jeeyenge'' as the title, one of his ideas was to picturise the story starting in
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
, travelling through
Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
, and ending the film's climax in
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...
. On an occasion, he met Nagaraju Gandham, a
Nandi Award
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 s ...
-winning theatre writer. With Gandham, he prepared the script. When the daughter of a popular producer of Telugu films approached him for scripts for a small-budget film, he narrated the story which was now based in
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
. To further tighten the loose-ends in his script, he consulted with his family, friends, and well-wishers in the film industry such as K. Raghavendra Rao,
Gangaraju Gunnam
Gunnam Gangaraju is an Indian producer, screenwriter, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu television. He is best known as the creator and co-producer of the TV sitcom ''Amrutham'' (2001–2007), widely considered to be ...
, and
Sirivennela Sitaramasastri
Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry (born Chembolu Seetharama Sastry; 20 May 1955 – 30 November 2021) was an Indian poet and lyricist known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He acquired the stage name Sirivennela after writing the ...
. After undergoing several modifications and changes, the eighth version of the script was decided to be the final one. Without commitment from any producer, he decided to produce the film. Eventually, his father, Saibabu Jagarlamudi, produced the film with his brother-in-law, Bibo Srinivas, and friend, Rajeev Reddy, investing.
Themes and influences
The primary theme of the film is
self-discovery
A "journey of self-discovery" refers to a travel, pilgrimage, or series of events whereby a person attempts to determine how they feel, personally, about spiritual issues or priorities,'' The Motorcycle Diaries'' (2004), ''
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...
'' wrote about the storyline: "A spoiled rich brat realizing the social responsibility by taking an unusual journey." '' Rediff.com'''s Aditya Vardhan also noted its similarities with ''The Motorcycle Diaries.'' He added, "Krish weaves his own story around the basic theme and takes us on a journey capturing the mood of the countryside."
Soundtrack
The music was composed by E. S. Murthy, Anil.R and was released by Vel Records. The lyrics were written by
Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry
Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry (born Chembolu Seetharama Sastry; 20 May 1955 – 30 November 2021) was an Indian poet and lyricist known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He acquired the stage name Sirivennela after writing the ...
and E. S. Murthy.
Reception
'' Rediff.com'' critic G P Aditya Vardhan gave stars out of 5 and stated: "Krish .has a serious theme and blended it with the right mixture of comedy and very good performances." While praising Allari Naresh's performance, Vardhan compared his role to
Jagapathi 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 cinema, Tamil, Kannada cinema, Kannada, Malayalam cine ...
's role in '' Anthahpuram'' (1998). "Allari Naresh has finally found his groove," he added. '' Idlebrain.com'' rated 3.25/5 also opined the same by writing, "There are similarities between Gaali Seenu character in Gamyam and Jagapati Babu's role in ''Anthahpuram''."
''
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...
'' which rated 3/5, wrote: "''Gamyam'' is a good cinema with a touch of artistic values. The film's strengths are writing and direction. New director Radhakrishna shows that offbeat movies can be made entertainingly. He deserves praise for his honest effort and superb writing."
Awards
;
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 ...
Allari Naresh
Edara Naresh (born 30 June 1982), better known as Allari Naresh, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Telugu films. Starring in over 55 films and known for his various comic roles, Naresh earned two Filmfare Awards ...
Sirivennela Sitaramasastri
Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry (born Chembolu Seetharama Sastry; 20 May 1955 – 30 November 2021) was an Indian poet and lyricist known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He acquired the stage name Sirivennela after writing the ...
for "Enthavaraku"
;
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 ...