Chandamama

Chandamama (“Moon”) is a 2007 Telugu romantic drama written and directed by Krishna Vamsi from a story by Akula Venkat, produced by C. Kalyan and S. Vijayanand. Navdeep, Kajal Aggarwal, Siva Balaji and Sindhu Menon play two young couples in a village wedding comedy, with Naga Babu and Ahuti Prasad in support and music by K. M. Radha Krishnan. Released on 6 September 2007, it was well reviewed, ran 100 days and won five Nandi Awards.

What the story is about

Ranga Rao, a widowed and well-respected landlord, adores his daughter Mahalakshmi, and treats his brother’s daughter, the chatty, lively Rani, as a second daughter. When Mahalakshmi comes home from college, he arranges her marriage to Dhorababu, a shy, good-natured young man. After the engagement, Mahalakshmi tells Dhorababu the truth: in the city she fell in love with a witty young man, Kishore, who then said he did not want to marry her, and she will not deceive a good man. Dhorababu sets out to confront Kishore, and the two weddings Ranga Rao is planning start to get very complicated.

Cast and crew

• Navdeep as Kishore
• Kajal Aggarwal as Mahalakshmi
• Siva Balaji as Dhorababu
• Sindhu Menon as Rani
• Naga Babu as Ranga Rao
• Ahuti Prasad as Ramalingeswara Rao, Ranga Rao’s old ally
• Satyam Rajesh as Rani’s brother and Uttej as Kondala Rao
• Abhinayashree as Sakkubai and Radha Kumari as Dhorababu’s grandmother

Writer and director: Krishna Vamsi. Producers: C. Kalyan and S. Vijayanand. Music: K. M. Radha Krishnan; the audio, launched on 20 August 2007 on live television, was released by Supreme Music. Runtime: 156 minutes.

Reviews and box office

Rediff called it “a good entertaining film”, with credit to Krishna Vamsi. Jeevi of Idlebrain found most of the entertainment came from Ahuti Prasad and Navdeep, but missed the emotional depth of the director’s usual work.

The film did well: it completed a 100-day run on 18 December 2007, marked at an Idlebrain-covered function, and T2BLive puts its distributors’ share at ₹8 crore. Its satellite rights went to Zee Telugu, and it was remade in Tamil as A Aa E Ee (2009) and in Kannada as Chellidaru Sampigeya (2009).

Awards

The five Nandi Awards were for Best Home-Viewing Feature Film (C. Kalyan), Best Director (Krishna Vamsi), Best Character Actor (Ahuti Prasad), Best Art Director (Srinivasa Raju) and Best Male Comedian (Uttej).

Where to watch Chandamama

Chandamama is listed on Aha (checked against the platform’s own listing). Availability can vary by region and subscription.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Chandamama (2007 film) and the reviews and reports it cites, linked above; Aha’s listing; our own cast and crew records.