''Raaj'' is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language film directed by V. N. Aditya and produced under the banner of Kumar Brothers Cinema.

Sumanth Yarlagadda Sumanth Kumar (born 9 February 1975), known mononymously as Sumanth, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He is the eldest grandson of Telugu actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao. He is also a partner in Annapurna ...

Priyamani Priya Mani Raj (née Iyer; born 4 June 1984 ), known professionally as Priyamani, is an Indian actress who works in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi films. She is the recipient of a National Film Award, three Filmfare Awards Sout ...

and

Vimala Raman Vimala Raman is an Australian actress and former model who has worked in Indian cinema. She appears in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil language films. Born and brought up in Australia, she made her debut in 2006 with the Tamil film ''Poi''. An est ...

played the lead roles.

Koti Koti may refer to: Places * Koti, Armenia * Koti Department, Burkina Faso, and its capital Koti, Burkina Faso * Koti, Hyderabad, India * Koti, Novo Mesto, Slovenia * Koti Island, Mozambique * Koti (princely state), now part of Solan district, Hi ...

is the music composer for this film. It released on 18 March 2011 to extremely negative reviews. It was later dubbed into

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and

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 ...

under the title ''Maharani – The Beauty Queen''. RKD Studios have bought the sole and exclusive rights of the film in Hindi and all other Northern Indian languages.

Plot

The story is about Raaj (

), a fashion photographer who is caught between his wife Mythili (

) and his ex-lover Priya (

). Raaj chooses not to tell Mythili about Priya and finds it difficult to adjust to his wife during the early days of their marriage. However, their relationship improves with time, and they finally get closer. Just when things settle down, Priya comes back into Raaj's life unexpectedly. Raaj gets curious about why Priya left him abruptly earlier. Priya is later kidnapped by a scorned lover ( Ajay). Raaj saves her from his clutches subsequently. In an unexpected twist, it is revealed that Mythili and Priya were actually classmates in school. Raaj later uncovers Priya's ulterior motive, tells Mythili the truth. Priya sacrifices herself. Raaj reconciles with his wife.

Cast

as Raaj *

as Priya *

as Mythili * Ajay as Ajay, Priya's ex-lover *

Murali Mohan Maganti Murali Mohan (born as Maganti Raja Ram Mohan Roy; 24 June 1940) is an Indian actor, producer, politician, and business executive from Telugu cinema. In 1973, Murali Mohan debuted in ''Jagame Maya'', produced by Atluri Poornachandra Rao. ...

as Bhuvanagiri Bhavani Prasad *

Satyam Rajesh Rajesh Babu, better known as Satyam Rajesh, is an Indian actor who primarily appears in Telugu films. He has worked in more than 350 films. Rajesh got the moniker 'Satyam' following his appearance in the 2003 film of the same name. Early lif ...

as Rajesh, Raaj's friend *

Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao (born 21 June 1944) and Paruchuri Gopala Krishna (born 25 September 1947), collectively referred to as the Paruchuri Brothers, are a screenwriting duo whose work is predominant as story writers, dialogue writers, ac ...

as Venkatachalam, Mythili And Priya's father *

Giri Babu Yerra Seshagiri Rao, popularly known as Giri Babu, is an Indian actor, producer, and director who primarily works in Telugu films. His son, Raghu Babu, is also a notable actor-director. Career Giri Babu hails from a middle-class agricultura ...

as Rama Chandra Murthy, Raaj's father *

Suhasini Maniratnam Suhasini Maniratnam (; born 15 August 1961) is an Indian actress who works in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada films. Early life Suhasini's paternal cousins Anu Hasan, Shruti Haasan and Akshara Haasan have also since become acto ...

as Snehalatha, Raaj's mother *

Janaki Sabesh Janaki Sabesh is an Indian media professional, actor, model, storyteller, author of children's book, theatre and voiceover artist. Throughout her film career, she has played the "screen mother" to several leading actors, appearing predominantly ...

as Annapurna, Mythili And Priya's mother *

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 Nandagopal / Nandu, Raaj's friend * K Viswanath as Sivaramaiah, Raaj's grandfather *

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 Shakuntala, Raaj's grandmother *

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

as Chanti, Raaj's friend *

Srinivasa Reddy Yaramala Srinivasa Reddy is an Indian actor known for his work in Telugu cinema. He began his career as a television anchor, hosting comedy programs before transitioning to films. Srinivasa Reddy made his acting debut with '' Ishtam'' (2001) and ...

as Seenayya Seenu, Raaj's friend

Soundtrack

* "Sootiga Chooseva" ,

Hemachandra Hemacandra was a 12th century () Śvetāmbara Jaina acharya, ācārya, scholar, poet, mathematician, philosopher, yogi, wikt:grammarian, grammarian, Law, law theorist, historian, Lexicography, lexicographer, rhetorician, logician, and Prosody ...

, Sunitha * "Andamutho Pandemuga" , Siddharth, Malavika * "Kalakaaduga" , Shashikiran, Anjana Soumya * "Nanne Nenu Marichipoya" , Deepu,

Sravana Bhargavi Ravuri Sravana Bhargavi (born 16 August 1989) is an Indian playback singer. She has recorded several songs in Telugu films. Personal life Sravana Bhargavi holds a bachelor of Royal Infirmary Of Edinburgh Scotland She got engaged to singer ...

* "Prathi Kala Naalo" , Srikrishna, Pranavi * "Bhimavaram Bulloda" , Srikrishna, Sunitha

Reception

Radhika Rajamani of ''

Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

'' gave the film a rating of and opined that "Barring the good cinematography, Aditya has churned out an insipid film". A critic from ''

123telugu Mallemala Entertainments is an Indian media and entertainment company which produces films and television programs. Its television productions include reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purpo ...

'' said that "''Raaj'' has nothing special for an ordinary Telugu cinema viewer".

References

{{Reflist 2011 films 2010s Telugu-language films Films scored by Koti (composer) Films directed by V. N. Aditya