Gaayam

Gaayam (meaning “The Wound”) is a 1993 Telugu political crime thriller directed by Ram Gopal Varma, who wrote it with Mani Ratnam, drawing on the Vijayawada gang wars of the 1980s and on The Godfather. Jagapati Babu stars with Revathi and Urmila Matondkar, with Kota Srinivasa Rao as a scheming politician, and Sri composed the music in his debut. Released on 22 April 1993, it was a commercial success, won six Nandi Awards and, according to Telugucinema.com, established Jagapati Babu as a popular star.

What the story is about

Durga is a powerful crime lord who runs a parallel system of justice for people the law has failed. When a newly posted police officer, Inspector Bharadwaj, briefly detains him, Durga recognises Bharadwaj’s wife: Anitha, his college sweetheart. Years earlier, Anitha, an idealistic journalism student, had agreed to marry him on one condition, that unlike his brother, the hoodlum Mohana Krishna, he would never turn to crime. When Mohana Krishna was murdered amid his rivalry with the corrupt corporator Gurunarayana, Durga took revenge and took over the city’s underworld, and Anitha walked away. Now she is an investigative journalist, Gurunarayana is a powerful MLA, and Durga wants to enter politics himself, which Gurunarayana is determined to stop.

Cast

• Jagapati Babu as Durga
• Revathi as Anitha
• Urmila Matondkar as Chitra, Durga’s cousin
• Kota Srinivasa Rao as Gurunarayana
• Sivakrishna as Inspector Bharadwaj
• Charan Raj as Mohana Krishna and Rami Reddy as Sarkar
• Tanikella Bharani as Lawyer Saab, Annapoorna as Chitra’s mother, Uttej as Yadgiri and Benarjee
• The lyricist Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry as the journalist Swamy

Making the film

Varma was in financial trouble after the failures of Antham and Raatri, and was also producing Money, when he approached Surendra to make a film for his company. He chose Jagapati Babu after being impressed by a fight scene in Peddarikam, and Gaayam was the first film in which Jagapati Babu dubbed his own voice. The first draft had no Chitra; Mani Ratnam suggested the character and suggested Urmila Matondkar for it, and she choreographed her own song, “Cheli Meeda”. “Alupannadi Unda” was shot at R. K. Beach and Jagadamba Theatre, and the climax at Vikranth Theatre in Hyderabad.

Music

The soundtrack was the debut of Sri, son of the composer Chakravarthy, with lyrics by Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, released by Surya Audio.

Box office and awards

According to Telugucinema.com, Gaayam was a commercial success and established Jagapati Babu as one of Telugu cinema’s popular actors; no collection figure is given. It won six Nandi Awards: Best Supporting Actress for Urmila Matondkar, Best Villain for Kota Srinivasa Rao, Best Lyricist for Sirivennela, Best Cinematographer for Rasool Ellore, Best Editor for Shankar and Best Audiographer for Srinivas. It was dubbed into Tamil as Desam, and Varma later produced a sequel, Gaayam 2, directed by Praveen Sri, with Jagapati Babu and Kota Srinivasa Rao returning.

Where to watch Gaayam

We do not have a confirmed streaming platform for Gaayam on file. The OTT details on this page will be updated when a platform’s own listing confirms it.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Gaayam and the retrospective it cites, linked above; Wikidata; our own cast and crew records.