Bobbili Raja

1990 155’ col Telugu d/sc B. Gopal pc Suresh Prod. p D. Rama Naidu st/dial Parachuri Bros. lyr Seetharama Sastry c Ravindra Babu m Ilaiyaraja lp Venkatesh, Divya Bharati, Vanisree, Gummadi Venkateshwara Rao

Continuing motifs familiar from Chiranjeevi’s hits (e.g. Attaku Yamadu Amayiki Mogudu, 1989), Raja (Venkatesh) first ‘tames’ the aggressive heroine (Bharati) and then her mother (Vanisree). When the mother has Raja’s father killed, Raja grows up in a forest where, later, he meets the heroine. The mother arrives there too and has the hero beaten up, but he eventually gets his revenge. Future Hindi star Divya Bharati (who later committed suicide) makes her Telugu debut in this hit, which depended on Ilaiyaraja’s music for its success.

Film