Govindudu Andarivadele

Govindudu Andarivadele (meaning “The lord is a people’s man”), also known as GAV, is a 2014 Telugu-language romantic action comedy written and directed by Krishna Vamsi and produced by Bandla Ganesh for Parameswara Art Productions. It stars Ram Charan, Kajal Aggarwal, Srikanth, Kamalinee Mukherjee, Prakash Raj, Jayasudha, Rahman and Adarsh Balakrishna. Partly inspired by the 1991 film Seetharamayya Gari Manavaralu, it was released on 1 October 2014 to positive reviews.

Story

Balaraju, the respected head of his village, is left heartbroken when his son Chandrasekhar, the doctor he helped educate, chooses to marry and settle abroad. Twenty-five years later, Chandrasekhar tells the story to his son Abhiram in London. Abhiram decides to travel to the village and heal the rift. Posing as a student who has come to learn about farming and martial arts, he wins his way into his grandfather’s household without revealing who he is, and gets caught up both in the family’s troubles and in a growing attraction to his cousin Satya.

Cast

• Ram Charan as Abhiram, an NRI from London
• Kajal Aggarwal, opposite Ram Charan
• Prakash Raj as Abhiram’s grandfather
• Jayasudha as Prakash Raj’s character’s wife
• Rahman as Abhiram’s father
• Srikanth as Abhiram’s younger uncle
• Kamalinee Mukherjee as Chitra, a village girl
• Adarsh Balakrishna as the antagonist, a flashy MP’s son

Development and casting

Originally titled Vijetha, the film was confirmed as Govindudu Andarivadele in March 2014. Krishna Vamsi approached Ram Charan, whom he had known since childhood, for the lead, and Kajal Aggarwal was confirmed as the heroine by the end of 2013. The Tamil actor Rajkiran was first cast as the grandfather, but after some scenes were shot he was replaced by Prakash Raj; Ram Charan said the Rajkiran portions had looked too much like a Tamil film. Yuvan Shankar Raja composed the music after S. Thaman dropped out, Krishna Vamsi’s first film with him. For the role, Ram Charan grew a ponytail and learned stick fighting.

Filming

Principal photography began in Hyderabad on 6 February 2014, the day the film was announced, and ended on 22 September 2014. It was shot across Rameswaram, Nagercoil, Kanyakumari, Pollachi, Karaikudi and Konaseema, with a large set built at Ramanaidu Cine Village, and about a quarter of the film was shot in London, including a rugby match at Hemel Hempstead. A romantic song was filmed in Jordan. Sameer Reddy was the cinematographer and Naveen Nooli the editor.

Release

The film was released worldwide on 1 October 2014 with a U/A certificate and drew positive reviews. It was an average grosser, though still among the highest-grossing Telugu films of 2014. Critics compared it to family dramas such as Attarintiki Daredi.

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.