Simhasanam

Simhasanam (“The Throne”) is a 1986 Telugu period action epic written, directed, edited and produced by Krishna under his Padmalaya Studios banner. It was his debut as a director, and he also plays a double role, opposite Jaya Prada, Radha and Mandakini, with Waheeda Rehman and Amjad Khan among the supporting cast. Bappi Lahiri composed the music, his first Telugu film. Simhasanam was the first Telugu film released in 70 mm with six-track stereo sound, and it came out on 21 March 1986.

What the story is about

Vikrama Simha, commander of the army of the kingdom of Dasarna, subdues several rebel lords for King Kshemendra Bhupathi and is rewarded with titles and the revered Bhavani sword. Princess Alakananda secretly loves him. When the scheming prime minister Bherunda tries to have the princess killed so that he can seize the throne, Vikrama Simha foils the attempt, only to be accused of treason himself; out of regard for his service the king commutes his death sentence to exile. In the neighbouring kingdom of Avanthi lives Prince Aditya Vardhana, who looks exactly like Vikrama Simha and leads a carefree life that worries his mother, the queen. The film follows the two lookalikes through a struggle for the thrones of both kingdoms.

Cast and crew

• Krishna as Vikrama Simha and Aditya Vardhana
• Jaya Prada as Princess Alakananda Devi
• Radha as Jaswanthi and Mandakini as Chandana
• Waheeda Rehman as the queen mother of Avanthi (voice dubbed by Sowcar Janaki)
• Prabhakar Reddy as Bherunda and Kantha Rao as King Kshemendra Bhupathi
• Kaikala Satyanarayana as the Rajaguru of Avanthi and Gummadi as its prime minister
• Amjad Khan as Kukuteswar (voice dubbed by Nutan Prasad), in his Telugu debut
• Giri Babu, M. Balayya, Allu Ramalingaiah and Jayamalini

Director, writer, editor and producer: Krishna. Dialogues: Tripuraneni Maharadhi. Music: Bappi Lahiri, lyrics by Aatreya and Veturi. Cinematography: V. S. R. Swamy.

How it was made

Krishna launched Padmalaya Studios in November 1984, and the success of his Hindi remake of Pathala Bhairavi in 1985 encouraged him to attempt a grand folklore film. To make the budget work he shot it in Telugu and Hindi at once, with Jeetendra leading the Hindi version, Singhasan: each shot was filmed in Telugu first and the same setup reused for Hindi, and both versions were finished in 65 days. The budget, put at ₹3.2 to 4 crore by The Hans India and Sakshi, was far above the ₹40 to 50 lakh most films of the time cost. The heroine and the commander are modelled on Rudrama Devi of the Kakatiya kingdom and her general Gona Ganna Reddy. All the songs were sung by newcomer Raj Sitaram, which caused friction with S. P. Balasubrahmanyam at the time; “Aakasamlo Oka Tara” and “Vahava Nee Yavvanam” remain popular.

Release and box office

Simhasanam opened with 85 prints in 153 theatres across South India, and crowds caused traffic jams near cinemas. According to Eenadu and Samayam, it was the first Telugu film to gross over ₹1.5 crore in its opening week. CineGoer.com reports runs of 50 days in 38 centres and 100 days in more than 30, plus six 70 mm centres. Wikipedia also gives an estimated total gross for the Telugu version, but without a source, so we leave it out.

Where to watch Simhasanam

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

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