Rowdy Alludu

Rowdy Alludu (“Rowdy Son-in-law”) is a 1991 Telugu action comedy directed by K. Raghavendra Rao, with Chiranjeevi in a double role opposite Shobana and Divya Bharti. It was produced by Allu Aravind, Dr. K. Venkateswara Rao and Panja Prasad under the Sri Sai Ram Arts banner, with music by Bappi Lahiri. Released on 18 October 1991, it was well reviewed and a major box-office hit.

What the story is about

Kalyan is an industrialist whose scheming enemy, Venkat Rayudu, and his partners swap him for his lookalike, Johnny, a Mumbai auto driver, and frame Kalyan for murder. Johnny soon realises that Kalyan is innocent, and the two set out together to clear his name and beat Venkat Rayudu at his own game.

Cast and crew

• Chiranjeevi as Kalyan and Johnny
• Divya Bharti as Rekha
• Shobana as Sita
• Kota Srinivasa Rao as Venkat Rayudu
• Allu Rama Lingaiah as Papi Kondalu
• Brahmanandam as a doctor and photographer
• Kaikala Satyanarayana as Kalyan’s father and Annapurna as his mother
• J. V. Somayajulu as Madhavaiah
• Captain Raju as Ranjith Kumar

Director: K. Raghavendra Rao. Writer: Satyanand. Producers: Allu Aravind, Dr. K. Venkateswara Rao and Panja Prasad. Music: Bappi Lahiri.

Making the film

The film was conceived as an out-and-out mass entertainer. Allu Rama Lingaiah was uneasy about putting the word “Rowdy” in the title, but Raghavendra Rao, Chiranjeevi and Satyanand persuaded him to keep it. According to The Hindu, it was one of the first Telugu films shot in Switzerland, and the budget kept the unit so small that Allu Aravind doubled as costume and make-up assistant for Chiranjeevi while Shobana did her own make-up. The song “Chiluka Kshemama” was shot over three days with the actors and director improvising the choreography around the light and the scenery, at the Rhine Falls, the Interlaken Casino and Zurich.

Reception and box office

The film was dubbed into Tamil as Pokkiri Mappilai, and reviewing that version in 1992, K. Vijiyan of the New Straits Times wrote that Raghavendra Rao had “concentrated his efforts on pure entertainment”, with disco songs, action and the snow-capped mountains of Switzerland.

At the box office it was a blockbuster: NonstopCinema‘s list of Chiranjeevi’s 100-day films reports that it completed 100 days in almost every theatre where it was shown.

Where to watch Rowdy Alludu

We do not have a confirmed streaming listing for Rowdy Alludu on file. If we verify one with a platform, it will appear on this page.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Rowdy Alludu and the reports it cites, linked above; our own cast and crew records.