Andhrawala

Andhrawala is a 2004 Telugu action film written and directed by Puri Jagannadh, with N. T. Rama Rao Jr. in a double role, Rakshita, Sayaji Shinde and Rahul Dev. Chakri composed the music and Shyam K. Naidu shot it for Sri Bharathi Enterprises. It was made alongside a Kannada version, Veera Kannadiga, with Puneeth Rajkumar, directed by Jagannadh’s protégé Meher Ramesh. It was released on 1 January 2004 and runs 154 minutes.

What the story is about

Munna is a young man from a Hyderabad slum who knows nothing of where he came from until a man named Basha tells him. His father was Shankar Pehalwan, a labourer who stood up for Andhra workers in Mumbai against the gangster Bade Mia, and the feud between them turned murderous. Munna learns how he came to be left on a pavement as a baby, and sets out for Mumbai to take on the man who destroyed his family.

Cast and crew

• N. T. Rama Rao Jr. as Munna and Shankar Pehalwan
• Rakshita as Chitra (voice dubbed by Saritha)
• Sanghavi as Shankar’s wife
• Sayaji Shinde as Bade Mia and Rahul Dev as Dhanraj
• Banerjee as Basha and Nassar as Chitra’s father
• Brahmanandam as the Home Minister, with Raghu Babu, M. S. Narayana and Venu Madhav, and Raghava Lawrence in the song “Naire Naire”

Writer and director: Puri Jagannadh. Music: Chakri (soundtrack on Aditya Music). Cinematography: Shyam K. Naidu.

Release and the hype

Andhrawala was NTR Jr.’s follow-up to the industry hit Simhadri, and the anticipation was enormous. The audio launch, held on 5 December 2003 at Nimmakuru, the birthplace of N. T. Rama Rao, drew a reported 10 lakh fans, as News18 and Times Now have recalled. Business Standard put the budget at ₹14 crore.

Reviews and box office

Reviews were lukewarm. Idlebrain found the first half “OK” and the interval interesting but the second half dull, with the flashback that gives the film its title failing to “evoke the right emotion”. An audio review in Telugu Cinema doubted the songs would last. Despite the hype, the film underperformed at the box office, as The Times of India and The Hindu reported.

Where to watch Andhrawala

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

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