Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari

Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari (transl. Earthly warrior and the otherworldly beauty) is a 1990 Indian Telugu-language supernatural fantasy film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao, from a screenplay written by Rao and Jandhyala and produced by C. Ashwini Dutt under his banner, Vyjayanthi Movies. The film stars Chiranjeevi and Sridevi while Amrish Puri, Kannada Prabhakar, Allu Ramalingaiah and Rami Reddy are featured in supporting roles. The film marked the first collaboration between frequent collaborators, Dutt and Chiranjeevi. The plot revolves around a man who finds a ring that gives the bearer great power but the goddess who lost the ring seeks it back to return to her world.

Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari
Film poster
Directed byK. Raghavendra Rao
Produced byC. Ashwini Dutt
Written byK. Raghavendra Rao
Jandhyala
Story byYandamoori Veerendranath
StarringChiranjeevi
Sridevi
Amrish Puri
Music byIlaiyaraaja
CinematographyK. S. Prakash
A. Vincent
Edited byKotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Production
company
Release date
  • 9 May 1990 (1990-05-09)
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu
Budget₹9 crore[1]
Box officeest. ₹15 crore[1]

Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari was theatrically released on May 9, 1990. The film upon release was a massive success, grossing ₹15 crore at the box office becoming the highest grossing Telugu film the year and the highest grossing Telugu film at that time. The film's soundtrack composed by Ilaiyaraaja were instant chartbusters.[2] The film was subsequently dubbed in Tamil as Kaadhal Devathai, in Hindi as Aadmi Aur Apsara and in Malayalam as Hai Sundhari, capitalising on Sridevi's popularity.[3] It is regarded as a cult classic of Telugu cinema. The film is also considered to be one of the most influential Telugu film of all time.[4]

Plot

Raju, a courageous and spirited young man, is a caregiver to four young orphans. He is a tourist guide in a picturesque hill station. One of the children is accidentally injured. An ayurvedic guru suggests the only cure for the child's injury - herbs found only on the banks of Lake Manasarovar. Raju goes to the Himalayas to retrieve these powerful herbs. During the same time, a celestial being, Indraja, the daughter of Lord Indra, happens to visit Manasarovar. She accidentally drops her ring there. This ring is her passport to Heaven. Raju finds the ring and starts wearing it, oblivious to its divine power. Indraja is unable to enter Heaven as she lost her ring. Brihaspathi, the Deva-guru, instructs her to go back to Earth to retrieve it before the next Kartik Poornima.

In search of the ring, Indraja finds her way to Raju's hometown. Due to her strange language and lack of emotional and social awareness, she is initially considered insane. Her umpteen confessions about her divinity are subject to laughter. Raju and the children take pity on her and provide her shelter in their home. She becomes close to the children and often ends up in trouble trying to take the ring from Raju.

In the meanwhile, Raju is caught up in a moral squabble with KP, an arrogant millionaire. KP's goons launch a series of attacks on Raju and Indraja. Raju overcomes them, unaware that the ring is helping him. KP gets suspicious about Raju's supernatural power. KP approaches Mahadrashta, a sorcerer who sacrifices women to attain his powers. Mahadrashta discovers that Indraja is a celestial being and wants to sacrifice her to become immortal.

The kids take Indraja on a car ride one day and the car loses control. Raju averts a major accident and blames and abandons Indraja. The youngest of the orphans is critically injured when Mahadrashta's men bomb the school. When everyone's asleep, Indraja puts on the divine ring and saves the child. Raju realises Indraja's true self and repents for his folly. The two realize that they have fallen in love.

Raju uses the ring's power to scare K. P. and his goons. During this time, Mahadrashta tries to acquire it from one of the kids by hypnotizing her. A monkey grabs the ring and carries it far away, dropping it in the bowl of Kumkuma at the feet of a statue of Hanuman. Raju and the kids search for the ring in vain.

Mahadrashta and his men plant false evidence in Raju's home to fabricate the lie that Indraja is a sorceress. Raju and Indraja are pelted with stones and Indraja is carried away by Mahadrashta. The kids discover the ring and Raju sets out to save Indraja. A hypnotized Indraja does not recognize or respond to their calls. Upon coming in contact with the ring, she comes to her senses and destroys K. P. and his men. Raju kills Mahadrashta, refusing to use the ring, as he believes human power is enough to defeat evil.

The very same evening is Kartik Poornima, the final call for Indraja to return to heaven. Her thoughts are flooded with the loving memories of her time with Raju and the kids. She is caught between her love for Raju and her obligation to return to heaven to remain divine and immortal. Indraja throws away her ring and chooses to go back to Raju to lead a mortal life.

Cast

Production

Writer Srinivas Chakravati shared the idea of a story with Rao, where daughter of Indra who comes to the Earth loses her ring without which she cannot return. Rao upon liking the story developed it with other seasoned writers.[5]

A massive set was raised at Vijaya Vauhini Studios for the film,[6] which producer Dutt claimed "perhaps the biggest set ever for a Telugu film, after Prema Nagar."[5]

This is the third time Chiranjeevi and Sridevi paired in a film and the first to be as a mainstream onscreen pair.[7][8]

Reception

The film had 100-day runs in a number of theaters and a 200-day run in one centre,[9] it collected over more than 110 million at box office and broke all the records which were set up by past movies and became a blockbuster. This film's box office performance was undeterred by the floods raging then united Andhra Pradesh.[5]

Soundtrack

The background score and soundtrack for Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari were provided by maestro Ilaiyaraaja. All songs are written by Veturi, who is known for single cards in this era of Telugu movies. "Yamaho" was a remake from Ilaiyaraaja's own "Madurai Marikozhundhu" from the Tamil movie Enga Ooru Pattukaran. The song "Abbanee Teeyani" went on to be remade in Hindi as "Dhak Dhak Karne Laga" in the film Beta.

Telugu (original) tracklist
  1. "Abbanee Teeyani" – S. P. Balu, K. S. Chitra
  2. "Priyatama" – S. P. Balu, S. Janaki
  3. "Yamaho" – S. P. Balu, S. Janaki
  4. "Mana Bharatamlo" – S. P. Balu
  5. "Jai Chiranjeeva" – S. P. Sailaja
  6. "Andalalo" – S. P. Balu, S. Janaki
  7. "Dhinakku" – S. P. Balu, K. S. Chitra
Hindi (dubbed) tracklist
  1. "Sundar Dekho Lage Bada Shama" - Kavita Krishnamurthy, Amit Kumar
  2. "Tumne Is Tarah Maara Dekh Gaya Mai Zamarla Tumhara" - Kavita Krishnamurthy, Amit Kumar
  3. "Balama Hai Tu Mere Dil Ka Mehma" - Kavita Krishnamurthy, Amit Kumar
  4. "Chamke Tu Chama Chama Chham Chham" - Kavita Krishnamurthy, Amit Kumar
  5. "Pehle Bharat Me Korawo Pandawo Ka Raj Tha" - Kavita Krishnamurthy, Amit Kumar
  6. "Tanak Dhin Ta, Tanak Dhin Ta" - Kavita Krishnamurthy, Amit Kumar

Awards

Sequel

Producer Dutt declared that a sequel is already on cards which would be about the off spring of Indraja and Raju.[4] Dutt denied the speculations that Ram Charan and Janhvi Kapoor, son and daughter of Chiranjeevi and Sridevi respectively, would play those roles by saying, "it'll be wonderful if it can happen."[5]

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References
  1. "Did you know how much Chiranjeevi and Sridevi were paid for 'Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari'? - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  2. "Chiranjeevi reminisces about a timeless classic". Deccan Chronicle. 10 May 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  3. "JVAS-II: Fancy turning Reality? – Chitramala.com". Archived from the original on 8 August 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2007.
  4. Iyer, Siddharth (8 May 2020). "Chiranjeevi and Sridevi's classic 'Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari' to get a sequel". Republic World. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  5. Mary, S. B. Vijaya (7 May 2020). "Celebrating 30 years of the Chiranjeevi-Sridevi Telugu blockbuster 'Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  6. Pecheti, AuthorPrakash. "30 years of 'Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari'". Telangana Today. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  7. "Archive News". The Hindu.
  8. "Yesterday, today and `Naalai'". 10 November 2006 – via www.thehindu.com.
  9. CineGoer.com – Box-Office Records and Collections – Chiranjeevi's 175-Day Centres List Archived 14 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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