Anandam (transl. Happiness) is a 2001 Indian Telugu-language romance film, directed by Srinu Vaitla and starring Akash and Rekha in the lead roles. The music of the film was composed by Devi Sri Prasad.[1] The film was sensational hit at box office and ran for 200 days in two centers, 175 days in two centers and 100 days in all major centers. It was a commercial and critical success of the time. This film made Akash an overnight star of the Telugu film industry.[2] The film was remade in Kannada as Ananda, in Tamil as Inidhu Inidhu Kaadhal Inidhu, both versions being produced by Ramoji Rao, and in Hindi as Thoda Tum Badlo Thoda Hum''.[3][4]
| Anandam | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Srinu Vaitla |
| Written by | Chintapalli Ramana (Dialogues) |
| Screenplay by | Srinu Vaitla |
| Produced by | Ramoji Rao |
| Starring | Akash Rekha Venkat Tanu Roy Brahmanandam Tanikella Bharani |
| Cinematography | Sameer Reddy |
| Edited by | Kola Bhaskar |
| Music by | Devi Sri Prasad |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Mayuri |
Release date |
|
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
Plot
editKiran (Akash) and Aishwarya (Rekha) are neighbours since childhood and always fight with each other on trivial things. Kiran hates her so much that he feels relieved when she moves to Ooty along with her parents. There, Aishwarya comes across an unopened greeting card addressed to Deepika (Tanu Roy). She learns that Deepika's family were the previous tenants in that home and tries to find out the whereabouts of Deepika to hand over the greeting card. But she finds out that Deepika committed suicide unwilling to marry the person chosen by her parents and as her plans of elopement failed as her boyfriend did not come to rescue her.
Aishwarya feels bad for Deepika and tries to leave the matter, but couldn't when she finds letters written by Vamsi, Deepika's boyfriend. She reads them and gets moved by the emotion in it. She decides to break the information of Deepika's suicide to Vamsi, but first, she writes a letter to him as Deepika to prepare him for the bad news. On the other hand, Vamsi was no more as he dies in an accident while coming to Deepika to marry her. Incidentally, Kiran was Vamsi's friend and receives the letter written by Aishwarya. He too wants to prepare Deepika slowly for bad news and write her back as Vamsi. They continue exchanging letters for some more time and at last decide to break the news and arrange a meeting.
When they see each other instead of Deepika and Vamsi, they get shocked and slowly reveal the truth to each other. They both get impressed with each other for the sympathetic and competent handling of the sensitive matter. They move back to their places but start to having feelings for each other. Slowly they express their emotions and become one.
Cast
edit- Akash as Kiran
- Rekha as Aishwarya
- Venkat as Vamsi
- Tanu Roy as Deepika
- Chandra Mohan as Aishwarya's father
- Tanikella Bharani as Kiran's father
- Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as College Lecturer
- Brahmanandam as House Owner
- Chitram Seenu as Chandu
- Shiva Reddy as Purse
- Ramachandra as Kiran's friend
- Sudha as Aishwarya's mother
- Delhi Rajeswari as Kiran's mother
- M S Narayana as House Owner
- Jaya Prakash Reddy as Police Officer
- Banerjee as Deepika's father
- Jenny as College lecturer
- Shankar Melkote as House Owner
- Babloo as Kiran's friend
- Nutan Prasad
- Shwetha Menon in a special appearance in the song "Mona Lisa"
Production
editUday Kiran and Shriya Saran were initially considered for the lead roles.[5] Newcomer Akash was cast as the lead despite not knowing Telugu at the time. He wrote down his dialogues in Tamil and English.[6] Rekha Vedavyas made her Telugu debut with this film.[7] Jayaprakash Reddy turned comedian with this film.[8]
Soundtrack
editThe soundtrack is composed by Devi Sri Prasad. The soundtrack of the movie is released through Mayuri Audio.[9] The songs were well received.[10]
| Anandam | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 20 August 2001 | |||
| Recorded | 2001 | |||
| Genre | Film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 29:54 | |||
| Label | Mayuri Audio | |||
| Producer | Devi Sri Prasad | |||
| Devi Sri Prasad chronology | ||||
| ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Anandam" | Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry | Tippu | 4:22 |
| 2. | "Kanulu Terichinna" | Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry | Mallikarjun, Sumangali | 4:41 |
| 3. | "Monalisa" | Bhuvanachandra | Devi Sri Prasad, Kalpana | 5:01 |
| 4. | "Evarina Epudaina" (Male) | Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry | Pratap | 1:57 |
| 5. | "Evarina Epudaina" (Female) | Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry | Chitra | 1:58 |
| 6. | "Oka Merupu" | Potula Ravikiran | Sunita Rao | 5:08 |
| 7. | "Premante Emitante" | Devi Sri Prasad | Devi Sri Prasad, Mallikarjun, Sumangali | 5:19 |
| 8. | "Theme Music" (Instrumental) | 1:28 | ||
| Total length: | 29:54 | |||
Reception
editGudipoodi Srihari of The Hindu noted, "Dialogues prove to be the basic strength of the film, particularly during the humorous scenes. Akash and Rekha make a good pair and their performances suit the characters they play".[11] E. M. Bhargava of Full Hyderabad opined, "credit should be given to the director for treating the story with a lot of care (pardoning him a few unnecessary scenes) and for creating the feel good factor. The film certainly becomes worth a watch".[12]
Dropped sequel
editIn 2013, Jai Akash announced that he was working towards directing a sequel to the film titled Anandam Aarambam and had cast a completely new team from the original; however it was shelved.[13][14]
References
edit- ^ "Anandam is the most memorable film of my career: Srinu Vaitla - Times of India". The Times of India. 28 September 2019.
- ^ "Anandam hero Akash: 'ఆనందం' హీరో ఆకాశ్ ఆస్తులు తెలుసా.. ఆ దేశంలో భారీగా పెట్టుబడులు..! [Anandam hero Akash: Do you know the assets of 'Anandam' hero Akash .. Huge investments in that country ..!]". News18 (in Telugu). 16 May 2021.
- ^ "Inidhu Inidhu Kadhal Inidhu". The Hindu. 16 May 2003. Archived from the original on 30 June 2003. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
- ^ "Anand film review". Viggy.
- ^ Vamshikrishna (22 October 2021). "uday kiran_shriya saran : ఉదయ్ కిరణ్, శ్రియ మిస్ అయిన బ్లాక్ బస్టర్ మూవీ...! [uday kiran_shriya saran: Uday Kiran, Shriya Missed Blockbuster Movie ...!]". TV5 (in Telugu).
- ^ "என் படங்கள Release பண்ண விடாம சதி பண்ணாங்க! - Jai Akash Emotional | Neethane Enthan Ponvasantham". YouTube. 21 August 2021.
- ^ "Rekha's Anandam". Idlebrain.com. 5 September 2001.
- ^ Murali Krishna CH (9 September 2020). "Filmdom mourns Tollywood actor Jayaprakash Reddy's demise". New Indian Express.
- ^ "Anandam (2001)". Music India Online. Archived from the original on 20 August 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
- ^ "Happy Birthday Sreenu Vaitla: 5 Successful Films of the Noted Filmmaker". The Times of India. 24 September 2020.
- ^ "Anandam - by Gudipoodi Srihari". The Hindu.
- ^ Bhargava, E. M. "Aanandam Review". Full Hyderabad.
- ^ "Jai Akash pinning hopes on Anandam sequel". The Times of India. 22 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
- ^ "Hope to taste success with 'Anandam' sequel: Jai Akash". Sify. 22 November 2013. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.