''Kondaveeti Simhasanam'' () is a 2002 Indian Telugu-language action drama film directed by

Dasari Narayana Rao Dasari Narayana Rao (4 May 1942 – 30 May 2017) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, lyricist, and politician, primarily known for his work in Telugu cinema. Over his four decade career, he directed more than 150 feature ...

and starring himself,

Mohan Babu Manchu Bhakthavatsalam Naidu, credited and also known as Mohan Babu, is an Indian actor and film producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. An alumnus of the Madras Film Institute, Mohan Babu has acted in more than 500 films ...

and

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 ...

with

Harshavardhan Harshavardhana (Sanskrit: हर्षवर्धन; 4 June 590 – 647) was an emperor of Kannauj from April 606 until his death in 647. He was the king of Thanesar who had defeated the Alchon Huns, and the younger brother of Rajyava ...

Deepti Bhatnagar Deepti Bhatnagar is a former Indian actress and model known for her work primarily in Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu films, along with a few appearances in other languages. She made her film debut in Ram Shastra, ''Ram Shastra'' (1995), direc ...

, Laya and Udaya Bhanu in supporting roles. The film is modern retelling of the relationship between

Lord Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda'' ...

, the village head, and

Anjaneya Hanuman (; , ), also known as Maruti, Bajrangabali, and Anjaneya, is a deity in Hinduism, revered as a divine ''vanara'', and a devoted companion of the deity Rama. Central to the ''Ramayana'', Hanuman is celebrated for his unwavering devotio ...

, his servant. The film was released to highly negative reviews.

Cast

as Ramachandra Naidu alias Ramachandraiah *

as Satti *

as Chitti *

as Aravind *

as Rani * Laya as Varala * Udaya Bhanu *

Jayachitra Jayachitra (born 5 September 1957) is an Indian actress films who works mostly in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Early life Her father Mahea was a veterinary doctor, who had earlier worked as a lawyer. Her mother Ammaji (a.k.a. Jayasree) ...

as Nagamanamma Naidu alias Nagamani * Ambika * Annapoorna *

Telangana Shakuntala Telangana Shakuntala (27 March 1951 – 14 June 2014) was an Indian actress who worked in the Telugu cinema. She was known chiefly for playing comedy and villainous characters in Tollywood. Her performances in movies like '' Osey Ramulamma'', ...

as Ramachandraiah's mother *

Kanta Rao Tadepalli Lakshmi Kantha Rao (16 November 1923 – 22 March 2009) was an Indian actor and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. Regarded as one of the finest method actors, Rao appeared in more than 400 feature films, ...

Narra Venkateswara Rao Narra Venkateswara Rao was an Indian actor known for his works in Telugu cinema. He hailed from Agraharam village (Ramachandrapuram) in Zarugumilli, Zarugumalli Mandal, Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, India. Career He acted in over 500 fi ...

P. J. Sarma Pudipeddi Jogeswara Sarma was an Indian film dubbing artist, turned actor and writer, known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has worked for over 500 films as an actor and dubbing artist. He is the father of actors P. Sai Kumar ...

*Purushottama Rao *

Mada Venkateswara Rao Mada Venkateswara Rao (4 June 1935 – 24 October 2015) was an Indian actor from Andhra Pradesh. He acted in more than 600 films. He played notable roles in the films ''Mutyala Muggu'', '' Lambadolla Ramdasu'', and '' Mayadari Malligadu''. He wa ...

Suthivelu 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 ...

* Chitti Babu *K. K. Sharma *

Jenny Jenny may refer to: * Jenny (given name), a popular feminine name and list of real and fictional people * Jenny (surname), a family name Animals * Jenny (donkey), a female donkey * Jenny (elephant), a female elephant in the German Army in Worl ...

* Ranganath as Ramachandraiah's father *Magunta Sudhakar as Gangadhara Naidu *Ravi Kumar *

Raghunatha Reddy Raghunatha Reddy is an Indian actor who works in Telugu-language films as a character artist. He is known for his metallic voice. Early life, career and personal life Raghunatha Reddy was born in Krishna District and did his schooling in Vij ...

Mumtaj Mumtaj (born 5 July 1980) is an Indian former actress of Tamil cinema. She entered the film industry through the Tamil film ''Monisha En Monalisa'' (1999) by T. Rajender and subsequently garnered popularity appearing in glamorous roles in f ...

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 ...

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 ...

Production and release

The film began filming on 16 November 2000 under the title ''Sardar Nagireddy'' with Laurence as the director. Koti replaced

Vandemataram Srinivas Kanneboina Srinivasa Rao Yadav, known professionally as Vandemataram Srinivas, is an Indian music director and playback singer who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has won two Filmfare Awards and six Nandi Awards. He got the prefix "Vand ...

as the music composer. The initial version starred Dasari Narayana Rao, Mohan Babu, Soundaraya, Laya, Deepti Bhatnagar and Arun Kumar. Dasari Narayana Rao plays Mohan Babu's guru. Mohan Babu has three getups in the film including that of a 99-year old. Soundarya worked as an assistant director while Mohan Babu worked as the production manager. The initial version featuring Arun Kumar was slated to release on 4 May 2001. The film's release was postponed to June 2001 after it found no buyers. The film was delayed and Arun Kumar's portions were reshot with

with Dasari Narayana Rao as the director. The film's release was delayed to late January 2002.

Reception

A critic from ''

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'' gave the film a verdict of "Horrible" and opined that "It is the most boring and sleep inducing film of the year. It is high time that Dasari retires as a director. Mohan Babu as usual hams his way through the film and Dasari too overacts as Naidu". Gudipoodi Srihari of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' said that "Had the story been narrated straight, avoiding flashbacks, playing up main roles, adding a pinch of social purpose and fun, the film would have looked altogether different, clear and delightful". Jeevi of ''

Idlebrain.com Idlebrain.com is an Indian entertainment website dedicated to Telugu cinema. Established in 1999 by G. V. Ramana, popularly known as Jeevi, a graduate of BITS Pilani, the site is among the oldest websites on the Internet focused on Telugu films ...

'' stated that "Watching ''Kondaveeti Simhasanam'' is like experiencing a 3-hour continuous torture. Keep a safe distance from this film". A critic from ''Full Hyderabad'' criticised the film for its age old story.

Cast

Production and release

Reception

Box office

Notes

References