Chaithanya

Chaitanya is a 1991 Telugu action thriller set around a road rally, written and directed by Prathap K. Pothan, his only Telugu film as director, and produced by Sathyam Babu under Sri Tirumalesa Productions. Nagarjuna stars with Gautami and Girish Karnad, with Kota Srinivasa Rao and Raghuvaran in supporting roles, and Ilaiyaraaja composed the music. It was released on 7 May 1991 and dubbed into Tamil and Malayalam as Madras To Goa.

What the story is about

Chaitanya is the chief mechanic for the Roots Challenge 1991, a car rally from the Chennai coast to the Goa coast along a route notorious for drug and arms smuggling. The rally’s chief guest is the retired Major Harischandra Prasad, whose daughter Padmini is one of the drivers. When Chaitanya’s friend Sudhakar, a journalist, witnesses the murder of the city’s D.I.G. in a park, the gang behind it comes after him, and Chaitanya, rushing to help, is beaten unconscious. He wakes up in police custody with a revolver in his hand, charged with his friend’s murder and with almost nothing to defend himself. His only hope is to escape, join the rally in disguise and find the evidence that will clear him.

Cast

• Nagarjuna as Chaitanya
• Gautami as Padmini
• Girish Karnad as Harischandra Prasad
• Kota Srinivasa Rao as Commissioner K. J. Prabhakar
• Raghuvaran as Raana and Babu Antony as Cobra
• Chinna as the journalist Sudhakar and Vijayachander as DIG Ram Mohan Rao
• Nizhalgal Ravi and Chinni Jayanth as smugglers, Silk Smitha as Smitha, and Ravi Teja as a racer
• Suthi Velu as a detective and Raavi Kondala Rao as the managing director of the rally company

Making the film

Chaitanya was shot in Chennai, Ooty, Kasaragod and Goa. Thota Tharani was the production designer and Vikram Dharma choreographed the stunts.

Music

Ilaiyaraaja composed the songs, with lyrics by Veturi, released by Echo Music.

Release

The film was released on 7 May 1991 and was dubbed into Tamil and Malayalam under the title Madras To Goa. Wikipedia’s article does not record its box-office performance or contemporary reviews, so we do not characterise either.

Where to watch Chaitanya

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

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Chaitanya; Wikidata; our own cast and crew records.