Kodama Simham

ఈ సినిమా వివరాలు తెలుగులో చదవండి →

Kodama Simham (transl. “The majestic lion”) is a 1990 Telugu cowboy adventure film directed by K. Murali Mohana Rao and produced by Kaikala Nageswara Rao, starring Chiranjeevi with Radha, Sonam, Mohan Babu, Pran and Kaikala Satyanarayana. Raj–Koti composed the music. Released on 9 August 1990, it was a large-scale production that became a commercial success, and it was later dubbed into Hindi as Main Hoon Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi and into English as Hunters of the Indian Treasure. Our record lists a running time of 141 minutes.

What the story is about

The film transplants the Western to British-ruled India. Bharath is a rough rancher with a heart of gold in a lawless boomtown of gunslingers, outlaws, saloons and jailhouses, run by a corrupt mayor. When Bharath disrupts the mayor’s gambling and prostitution rackets, the mayor’s men attack his family, and with his dying breath his father tells him that his real parents are still alive. Bharath sets out to find them, and the search leads him into an old mystery involving missing royal treasure and the Kohinoor diamond.

Cast

• Chiranjeevi as Bharath
• Radha as Bijili
• Sonam
• Mohan Babu as Sudigali
• Kaikala Satyanarayana as Dharma Dev
• Pran as Mayor Ranjith
• Tiger Prabhakar as Gajapati
• Vani Viswanath as a bartender
• Ranganath as the king
• Gollapudi Maruti Rao as Bharath’s father
• Allu Ramalingaiah as a bar owner
• Brahmanandam as a constable

Making of the film

According to OKTelugu, Kaikala Nageswara Rao, producing under the presentation of his brother Kaikala Satyanarayana, set out to make a cowboy film with Chiranjeevi, who was keen but warned that the genre would need a bigger budget than usual. Nageswara Rao brought in his former classmate K. Murali Mohana Rao, reuniting the director with Chiranjeevi after Sangharshana (1983). The story was developed by the producer with Vijayendra Prasad, Siva Shakti Datta and the Paruchuri Brothers, mixing cowboy conventions with Indian elements. Nadhiya was considered for a female lead but was unavailable after her marriage, so Hindi actress Sonam was cast.

Filming spanned five states, with locations including Madras, Ooty, Talakona, Mysore, Bangalore, Kochi and Rajasthan, elaborate sets at Vauhini Studios and a special set at Chengalpattu, 64 kilometres from Madras. Chitra Jyothi puts the budget at ₹4 crore, a large sum for the time. All the songs were written by Veturi.

Reception and legacy

Coming three months after Chiranjeevi’s blockbuster Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari, the film opened to high expectations. iQlikmovies records that it ran for over 100 days in nearly 20 centres, and praises Chiranjeevi’s take on the cowboy, his dancing, and Mohan Babu’s comic villain Sudigali. In a contemporary review, Griddaluri Gopalrao of Zamin Ryot praised Chiranjeevi’s performance and the direction.

S. S. Rajamouli borrowed from it for Magadheera (2009): the scene in which Ram Charan’s Kaala Bhairava sinks into sand and is rescued by his horse was inspired by a similar scene with Bharath, which Rajamouli reworked so that the hero thanks his horse.

Where to watch Kodama Simham

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

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