Yamadonga


Yamadonga is a 2007 Indian Telugu-language socio-fantasy film directed by S.S. Rajamouli and produced by Urmila Gangaraju and P. Chiranjeevi. The film stars Jr. NTR, Mohan Babu, Priyamani, Ali, Brahmanandam, and Mamta Mohandas in the lead roles. The film released worldwide on 15 August 2007. Upon release, it received mixed to positive reviews from critics and audiences, the film was a blockbuster at the box office. This is the third collaboration of Jr. NTR and S. S. Rajamouli after Student No. 1 and Simhadri.

Plot

Raja, an orphan boy, is a thief. Mahi, young girl, falls in love with him. Raja manipulates her by gaining her sympathy. She gives him a necklace, which he throws away because it is worthless; however, it always comes back to him. 10 years later, Mahi's family treats her like a slave while they enjoy the money that her grandfather left behind. Mahi waits for her "prince" to come rescue her. Raja is still a conman, but when he enters into the debt of Dhanalakshmi, a pretty but not-so-innocent lender, he flees.
Meanwhile, Mahi's family wants Mahi out of the way so that they can inherit all of her money. They hire someone to kill her, only to find out that in the event of Mahi's death, all the money goes to charity. Raja Saves Mahi and treat her like Princess which she waited from her childhood. Raja made deal with Mahi's Uncles which go wrong. They Hired a goon to kill Raja and he Kills Raja. Raja reaches Yamaloka. He gets to know that Yama planned his death to take revenge where at first Drunk Raja once abused Yama. He creates confusion by stealing the Yamapasam, since one in possession of Yamapasam becomes the King of Hell. Raja promises festivals and parties and to make Hell better than Heaven. Yama contests his claim. Narada enters the scene and proposes an election. Both Yama and Raja agree.
Yama, along with Chitragupta, tries to get the Yamapasam, but fails. Raja wins the elections; however, Yama angrily calls him a human. Raja decides to use the Yamapasam to make Yama a human; however, the plan backfires when Yama ends up with the Yamapasam. After regaining power, Yama sends Raja back to earth. Raja finds out about the cruelty that Mahi has suffered and decides to fight back against her cruel family. Raja steals a whip and thrashes her family with it, forcing them to become servants. Raja gets drunk and insults Yama again. This time, Yama decides that he and Chitragupta will enter Bhulokam. Yama disguises himself as Dhanalakshmi, and Chitragupta acts like her father.
Yama attempts to create havoc in Raja's life. Raja finds out that Yama is on Earth and decides to cleverly fight back. Soon, Raja finds himself fighting against the people who originally killed him. Yama sends his death whip after him, and Raja tries to run from it. Soon, Raja and Yama meet face-to-face in an abandoned temple. Yama is there to collect Raja's soul. Raja begs for a few more minutes of life and apologizes to Yama for his sins and all he has said and done. Yama becomes sympathetic but regretfully informs him that he cannot call back the death whip. Raja fights his enemies and is close to death, when suddenly, the chain that followed him his whole life was revealed to have been blessed by Lord Vishnu himself, and it saves Raja's life. Raja and Mahi decide to live together and get married.
The movie ends with Yama being caught by his wife.

Cast

Critical response

described as "The film is a visual treat for all ages and classes. Rajamouli has done an excellent job molding NTR Jr's character in the film much like his grandfather's and also for bringing NTR back on the screen in an animated form. NTR Jr's overall performance and his dialogue delivery are a joy to watch. Mohanbabu playing 'Yama' once again proved to be the versatile actor that he is".
Sify gave an "average" verdict explained "This socio-fantasy film works, thanks to the new look of NTR and enigmatic performance of Mohan Babu. The songs and background score of MM Keeravani, the technical aspects and entertainer quotient in the first half make the film watchable". jeevi of gave 3/5 stars said "First half of the film is entertaining. The second half should have been better. The plus points of the film are Mohan Babu, NTR, sets, cinematography and music. On the flip side, the screenplay of the film is not gripping in second half. The runtime of the film is pretty lengthy ".

Box office

The film became a blockbuster and ran 50-days in 205 centers. It completed a 100-day run in 92 centres and become one of the top Telugu films of the 2007 and gave NTR Jr. a massive success after his previous blockbuster Simhadri.

Music

The music was composed by M. M. Keeravani and released by Vel Records.

Awards

; Nandi Awards 2008.
; Filmfare Awards 2008
; CineMAA Awards 2008
The DVD version of the film was released on 29 February 2008. This DVD release was distributed by Tolly2Holly all around the world, but for India. It is available in Anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, progressive 24 FPS, widescreen and NTSC format.

Trivia