Lakshmi (2006 Film)

''Lakshmi'' is a 2006 Indian Telugu-language action drama film directed by V. V. Vinayak and produced by Nallamalupu Bujji. The film stars Venkatesh, Nayanthara, and Charmme. The music was composed by Ramana Gogula, with cinematography by Chota K. Naidu. The film was a blockbuster at the box office and also marked Nayanthara's Telugu debut.

The film was remade in Indian Bengali in 2007 as '' Sangharsha'' and in Bangladeshi Bengali in 2008 named ''Pita Matar Amanot'' .

Plot

Lakshmi Narayana, the managing director of Lakshmi Group of Companies, is the eldest son in a family of two brothers and two sisters. He is strict in disciplining his younger brothers, ensuring they live up to their late father's expectations, even resorting to physical punishment when they stray. He owns a factory worth hundreds of crores, where Sailaja, one of his employees, harbours feelings for him.

Janardhan, a former employee of Lakshmi Industries accused of forgery, seeks revenge by sowing discord within Lakshmi's family. He arranges for Lakshmi’s sister to marry his nephew, a fact that is only revealed after the wedding. This leads to tensions within the family, culminating in Lakshmi disclosing that he and his youngest sister were adopted after being orphaned and mistreated by their relatives. His younger brothers, manipulated by Janardhan, turn against him, resulting in Lakshmi and his sister being expelled from their home. Only his other sister and the factory workers stand by him. Lakshmi begins working in his own factory as a regular labourer and moves into a modest home with his sister, later joined by their mother.

Meanwhile, it is revealed that Lakshmi was once in love with Nandini, the niece of his foster father. Their relationship was disrupted when she was harassed by the son of Rayudu, a powerful Kolkata-based don. Lakshmi severely injures the man in self-defense, putting him into a coma and inciting Rayudu's wrath. The remainder of the story follows Lakshmi as he confronts Janardhan, Rayudu, and the challenges threatening his family.

Cast

* Venkatesh as Lakshmi Narayana
** Master Teja as Young Lakshmi
*** Manoj Nandam as Adolescent Lakshmi
* Nayanthara as Nandini
* Charmme as Sailaja "Sailu"
* Pradeep Rawat as Rawat
* Sayaji Shinde as Janardhana Rao
* Brahmanandam as Sattar (Guest role)
* Sunil as Suresh
* Jayabharathi as Lakshmi's mother
* Ranganath as Lakshmi's father
* Uma as Lakshmi's sister
* Sharwanand as Lakshmi's brother
* Rajiv Kanakala as Lakshmi's brother
* Sameer as Lakshmi's brother-in-law
* Sudha as Nandini's mother
* Telangana Shakuntala as Shakuntala
* Venu Madhav as Tiger Satti
* Ahuti Prasad as doctor
* Chalapathi Rao
* Jenny
* L. B. Sriram as Sivayya
* Naramalli Sivaprasad
* Chatrapathi Sekhar as Bujji
* Satya Prakash as Charminar Babji
* Fish Venkat as Babji's henchman
* Rajendran as Babji's henchman
* Raghu
* Rajitha
* Sanjay as Dr. Lokesh

Production

Jyothika was initially signed as the female lead but declined the role due to her marriage preparations. She was subsequently replaced by Nayanthara. The film was officially launched on 24 August 2005. A fight sequence was filmed at Gachibowli factory, while two songs were shot in New Zealand.

Soundtrack

Music for the film was composed by Ramana Gogula and was released on Aditya Music audio label. The soundtrack was released on 18 December 2005 at Taramati Bandari.

Reception

Critical reception

''Indiaglitz'' gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and said, "V V Vinayak's direction is on safe lines. He keeps to the linear path, without taking any chances. He knows whom he is catering to and delivers what he promised". Jeevi of '' idlebrain.com'' gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and said, "First half of the film is OK and the scenes before interval are good. The second half divulges into a entirely different flashback episode. There are certain good moments in the film and has got orientation towards masses and family crowds. However, the VV Vinayak could not blend in Venkatesh’s family image and Vinayak’s mass taking in a smooth way. The biggest advantage of this film is that Lakshmi is the only mass film for the entire season of Sankranthi which gives good market penetration in C and D centers as well in the first week itself".

In the 50 days of function at Eluru, the hero Venkatesh said, "The success of Lakshmi film encouraged me a lot. The success of the film go to the entire unit of ''Lakshmi''. I am happy to have delivered many hits in my career spanning 20 years from ''Kaliyuga Pandavulu'' to ''Lakshmi''. People started calling me Lakshmi Bava after the release of this film."

Box office

The film was released in 316 screens, including 284 from then Andhra Pradesh. The film collected Rs.8 crores in its opening week. ''Lakshmi'' collected around according to ''Sify''. It had a 50-day run in 215 centres. The film was dubbed in Tamil under the same title. The film had a 100-day run in 94 centres.

Awards

* Venu Madhav won Nandi Award for Best Male Comedian for his role in this film.(in Telugu)

References

External links

*

{{V. V. Vinayak

2006 films
2000s Telugu-language films
Indian action drama films
2000s masala films
Films directed by V. V. Vinayak
Films shot in Hyderabad, India
Telugu films remade in other languages
2006 action drama films