''Maa Balaji'' () is a 1999 Indian Telugu-language

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film 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 ...

. The film stars

Vadde Naveen Vadde Naveen is an Indian actor and producer known for his works in Telugu films. His father Vadde Ramesh was a film producer. Career Although his first film released was ''Korukunna Priyudu'' (1997), his first movie as an actor was ''Kranth ...

, Maheswari, and Laya. The music was composed by Vandemataram Srinivas. The film was released on 23 September 1999 and was commercially successful. It is a remake of the

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

film ''

Punjabi House ''Punjabi House'' is a 1998 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film written and directed by Rafi Mecartin. It stars Dileep (actor), Dileep and Harisree Ashokan as Unni and Ramanan with Mohini (Tamil actress), Mohini, Jomol, Lal (actor), La ...

'' (1998).

Plot

Balaji is a young and ambitious man. But he is unsuccessful in his trials to make money and ends up in debt of 10

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

. Unable to repay the amount, he jumped off into the sea to commit suicide after insuring an amount of 10 lakh for his debtors with the LIC. However, he is saved and lands up in the house of a rich Punjabi man Balwinder Singh whose mute daughter Pooja falls in love with him.

Cast

Music

Music was composed by Vandemataram Srinivas. The lyrics were written by Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry and

Bhuvana Chandra Bhuvana Chandra is an Indian lyricist, renowned for his work in the Telugu cinema. He served in the Indian Air Force for 18 years before turning into a lyricist. He penned lyrics for more than 2000 songs. He also wrote more than 100 stories, a no ...

Reception

Jeevi of '' Idlebrain.com'' rated the film 4 out of 5 and noted, “First half is in a lighter vein and second half is very gripping. Climax is the heart and soul of the film”. Griddaluru Gopala Rao of ''

Zamin Ryot ''Zamin Ryot'' is an Indian Telugu-language weekly newspaper published from Nellore. It was started by N. Venkatrama Naidu in . It has been called the longest continuously running Telugu newspaper. It is one of the notable district newspapers ...

'' gave the film a negative review criticising the story, characterisations, dialogues, and direction as clichéd, and artificial. A critic from ''

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 that "A remake of the Malayalam movie, 'Punjabi House', it is meant to be a rib-tickler but the Telugu version, 'Maa Balaji comes out a cropper as the theme has nothing much to boast by way of being a comedy". ''Andhra Today'' wrote "The powerful storyline, coupled with the competence of the director made the movie quite interesting and the climax scene is the highlight of the movie. Another point that needs mention is that the movie is not crammed with unnecessary roles in the name of comedy".

References

External links

*
''Maa Balaji''
at JioCinema
''Maa Balaj''i
at

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

{{Kodi Ramakrishna 1990s Telugu-language films 1999 comedy-drama films 1999 films Films directed by Kodi Ramakrishna Films scored by Vandemataram Srinivas Indian comedy-drama films Telugu remakes of Malayalam films