''Rajakumarudu'' (translated in promotional material as ''The Prince'') is a 1999 Indian
Telugu-language
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...
film directed by
K. Raghavendra Rao. It stars
Mahesh Babu
Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has featured in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 list since 2012. He has appeared in more tha ...
and
Preity Zinta
Preity G. Zinta (pronounced ; born 31 January 1975) is an Indian actress primarily known for her work in Hindi films. After graduating with degrees in English honours and criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in '' Dil Se..'' in 19 ...
. The film was produced by
C. Aswani Dutt under the
Vyjayanthi Movies
Vyjayanthi Movies is an Indian Production company, film production company founded in 1974 by C. Aswani Dutt, C. Aswini Dutt. One of the leading production houses in Telugu cinema, it is known for its large-scale productions featuring high produ ...
banner.
Krishna
Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
made a guest appearance. The music was composed by
Mani Sharma
Yanamandra Venkata Subrahmanyam (Telugu: యనమండ్ర వెంకట సుబ్రహ్మణ్యం; born 11 July 1964), professionally known as Mani Sharma, is an Indian composer and music producer known for his work primaril ...
. The film was released on 30 July 1999.
''Rajakumarudu'' was the debut film for Babu in a lead role after previous roles as a child actor. The film received positive reviews and was commercially successful.
The film won two
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 ...
.
Plot
Raj Kumar goes on a holiday to
Khandala
Lonavala-Khandala is a hill station and a Municipal Council in the Pune district, Maharashtra, India. It is about west of Pune and to the east of Mumbai. It is known for its production of the hard candy '' chikki'' and is also a major stop on t ...
and stays with his uncle Dhananjay. He comes across Rani and falls for her. However, he ends up teasing her and she begins to despise him. She is determined to avoid him, but he won't leave her alone. Raj Kumar saves Rani from some thugs, and she is impressed. After spending some time together, she begins to like him and eventually love him.
Unfortunately his uncle has made other plans for him. He reveals the past of the hero's parents and his family. He mentions the challenge that he made with his in-laws to get the hero married to his daughter. Complying to this, the hero informs the heroine that their relationship needs to end there.
Going with his uncle to the village for his uncle's daughter, to his joy he sees that it's none other than Rani.
The rest of the movie revolves around the plot that is woven by him and his uncle to gain the heroine's hand and re-uniting the uncle with his family. This is done in a fun, comical way.
Cast
*
Mahesh Babu
Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has featured in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 list since 2012. He has appeared in more tha ...
as Raja (credited as Mahesh)
*
Preity Zinta
Preity G. Zinta (pronounced ; born 31 January 1975) is an Indian actress primarily known for her work in Hindi films. After graduating with degrees in English honours and criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in '' Dil Se..'' in 19 ...
as Rani
*
Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English language, Engl ...
as Dhanunjay
*
Sumalatha
Sumalatha Ambareesh (born 27 August 1963) is an Indian actress and politician. She has acted in over 220 films across multiple languages, primarily in Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada, with a few appearances in Tamil and Hindi cinema. She received ...
as Rajyalakshmi
*
Srihari
Srihari (15 August 1964 – 9 October 2013) was an Indian actor who was active mainly in Telugu cinema. He appeared in some Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films as well. He won seven Nandi Awards and one Filmfare Award.
Early life
Srihari was born ...
as Narsimharayudu
*
Prasad Babu
Prasad Babu is an Indian actor who acts predominantly in Telugu language, Telugu films and also TV serials.
Filmography
Telugu
* ''Anthuleni Katha'' (1976) as Thilak
* ''Mana Voori Pandavulu'' (1978)
* ''Dongala Veta'' (1978) as Anand
* ...
as Rajyalakshmi's brother
*
Sivaji Raja
Sivaji Raja (born 26 February 1962) is an Indian actor who primarily appears in Telugu films and television series. He appeared in more than 400 films. He is also known for his work in TV serials '' Amrutam'', ''Alasyam Amrutham Visham'', ''Mr.R ...
as Rajyalakshmi's brother
*
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 Hyderabad Police Sub-Inspector Wagle
*
Asrani
Govardhan Asrani (born 1 January 1941), known popularly by mononym Asrani, is an Indian actor and director whose Bollywood career has spanned over five decades. He has acted in over 350 Hindi films. Asrani has played the lead roles, character ...
as Mumbai Police Inspector
*
M. S. Narayana as Police Constable
*
AVS as Rajyalakshmi's brother
*
Jaya Prakash Reddy
Jaya Prakash Reddy (8 May 1946 – 8 September 2020) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Telugu films. Born in Sirvel of Andhra Pradesh, he came into the limelight with the film ''Samarasimha Reddy'' (1999) where he played the ro ...
as Sarvarayudu
*
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 ...
as Rajyalakshmi's brother
*
Gundu Hanumantha Rao
Gundu Hanumantha Rao (10 October 1956–19 February 2018) was an Indian actor and comedian who worked predominantly in Telugu films, theatre, and television.
Career
Gundu Hanumantha Rao was in confectionery business before stepping into the e ...
as Coconut seller
*
Ananth as Bystander during stick fight
*
Venu Madhav as Raja's collegemate
*
Sana as Rajyalakshmi's sister-in-law
*
Rajitha
Mallela Rajitha is an Indian actress who works in Telugu films. She has been active since the late 1980s.
Career
Rajitha made her debut in film industry at the age of 18 with the Telugu movie, '' Brahma Rudrulu'' in which she portrayed Ak ...
as Rajyalakshmi's sister-in-law
*
Sajja Teja as Vengalla Rayudu
*
Kaushal Manda
Kaushal Prasad Manda is an Indian actor and model who predominantly works in Telugu language films and TV serials.
Career
Manda made his debut as a child artist in 1982–1983 with Telugu TV serial Evanni Chedanunchu. Then he participated i ...
as Raja's collegemate
*
Khayyum as Raja's collegemate
*
Krishna
Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
as Krishnamurthy (guest appearance; uncredited)
*
Shailaja as Rani's friend
*
Jeetu Verma
Jeetu Verma is an Indian actor known for his roles in Bollywood films. He was born in Jadaun Rajput family. His notable appearances include '' Humraaz'', ''Soldier'', '' Taarzan: The Wonder Car'' and Rohit Shetty's ''Bol Bachchan''. In 2020, he ...
as a rapist
Soundtrack
Music was composed by
Mani Sharma
Yanamandra Venkata Subrahmanyam (Telugu: యనమండ్ర వెంకట సుబ్రహ్మణ్యం; born 11 July 1964), professionally known as Mani Sharma, is an Indian composer and music producer known for his work primaril ...
.
Release and reception
''Rajakumarudu'' released with 78 prints in 116 screens.
Jeevi of ''
Idlebrain.com'' wrote that "There are some excellent scenes in the second half that will make us realize how good is Mahesh at comedy. He is got perfect timing. He will the force to reckon with in the future".
Griddaluru Gopalrao 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 ...
'' wrote that "All old stuff. There is not a single interesting new thing thing so it turns out to be an ordinary film" and added that "the dialogues of Paruchuri brothers were hilarious".
Box-office
The film had a 50-day run in 80 centres and a 100-day run in 44 centres. It was dubbed in Hindi as ''Prince No. 1'' and in Tamil as ''Kaadhal Vennila''. The film was again dubbed and released theatrically in Tamil during January 2017 as ''Ivan Oru Thunichalkaran''.
Awards
;
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 ...
[(in Telugu)]
*
Best Home - Viewing Feature film in 1999.
*
Best Art Director - Srinivasa Raju
References
External links
*
{{K. Raghavendra Rao
1990s Indian films
1990s Telugu-language films
1999 films
1999 romantic comedy films
Films directed by K. Raghavendra Rao
Films scored by Mani Sharma
Indian romantic comedy films
Vyjayanthi Movies films