Allari Premikudu

Allari Premikudu (transl. “Naughty Lover”) is a 1994 Telugu musical romance directed by K. Raghavendra Rao, starring Jagapati Babu with three heroines, Soundarya, Rambha and Kanchan, and Ramya Krishna in a guest role. Keeravani composed the music. It was loosely inspired by the 1989 American film Worth Winning and was one of the most expensive Telugu productions of its time, but when it was released on 5 May 1994 it failed at the box office.

What the story is about

Krishna Murthy, known as Kittu, is a celebrated sitar player with a weakness for high-stakes bets. His regular challenger, Chandram, egged on by his elder brother Hari, bets him ₹3 lakh that he cannot make three very difficult women fall in love with him: Bhavani, a student who hates men and campaigns for women’s welfare; Jhansi, a fearless police officer with no interest in marriage; and Jogeswari Devi, a young woman kept in an ascetic’s life by the scheming Bhairavayya. Kittu takes the bet, and with his sidekick Ahobilam sets out to win all three. Why he really accepted, and what the bet is hiding, the film reveals later, so we will stop at the set-up.

Cast and crew

• Jagapati Babu as Krishna “Kittu” Moorti
• Soundarya as Jhansi
• Rambha as Bhavani
• Kanchan as Jogeswari Devi
• Ramya Krishna as Swapna (guest appearance)
• Kaikala Satyanarayana as Gajapati
• Srihari as Hari
• Rami Reddy as Bhairavayya
• Brahmanandam as Ahobilam
• Sudhakar as Chandram
• Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam as Bhavani’s father

Director: K. Raghavendra Rao. Producers: Suresh and Satyanand (Sri Satya Durga Arts). Music: M. M. Keeravani, released on Akash Audio. Runtime: 139 minutes.

Making of the film

The story behind the film was retold by Chitrajyothy in 2021. Coming off Allari Mogudu (1992) and Allari Priyudu (1993), Raghavendra Rao kept the “Allari” title for a new project that was also the first production of the screenwriter Satyanand, together with businessman Suresh. The original plan was Kamal Haasan with Divya Bharati and Meena. Divya Bharati’s death and Meena’s dates forced changes: Soundarya and Rambha came in, a rewritten story added a third heroine, newcomer Kanchan, and with three heroines the director replaced Kamal Haasan with Jagapati Babu, thinking his popularity with women suited the film better. Dasari Narayana Rao gave the first clap when shooting began on 31 December 1993. It was Soundarya’s first role as a police officer.

Box office

Despite its cast and its high production values, the film did not succeed commercially, as Chitrajyothy records. It was later dubbed into Tamil as Pokkiri Kaadhalan.

Where to watch Allari Premikudu

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

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