Chandralekha

Chandralekha is a 1998 Telugu comedy drama co-written and directed by Krishna Vamsi and produced by Nagarjuna and V. Ram Prasad under Great India Enterprises. Nagarjuna stars with Ramya Krishna and Isha Koppikar, in her debut, and Sandeep Chowta composed the music. It is a remake of Priyadarshan’s 1997 Malayalam film Chandralekha, and it reunited Nagarjuna, Krishna Vamsi and Sandeep Chowta after Ninne Pelladata (1996). Sanjay Dutt made his first appearance in a Telugu film in a special role. It was released on 30 July 1998.

What the story is about

Sitarama Rao, “Seeta”, is a struggling, unemployed young man who comes to Hyderabad to get his sister’s approval to sell the family property, because his father has been falsely implicated in a bank fraud. Rebuffed by his brother-in-law, he teams up with his old schoolmate Tirupathi on a scheme to open a cool-drinks shop, and the two end up swindling Tirupathi’s moneylender uncle to raise the deposit. Then Seeta rescues a wealthy young woman, Chandra, after a car accident, and at the hospital everyone mistakes him for her husband, “Raj Kapoor”, whom none of her family has ever met. Unable to correct the mistake, Seeta is drawn into her family’s life, and the comedy of mistaken identity takes over from there.

Cast

• Nagarjuna as Sitarama Rao “Seeta”
• Ramya Krishna as Chandra
• Isha Koppikar as Lekha
• Murali Mohan as Chandra’s father, Tanikella Bharani as Seeta’s brother-in-law and Brahmaji as Tirupathi
• Chandra Mohan, M. S. Narayana and Uttej in supporting roles
• Sanjay Dutt in a cameo, and Srikanth as himself

How it was made

Krishna Vamsi was sceptical about directing a remake but was convinced after watching the Malayalam original. Tabu was reported for Ramya Krishna’s role before the casting changed. According to Wikipedia, Sanjay Dutt was never paid for his guest appearance.

Music

Sandeep Chowta composed the songs, with lyrics by Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, released on Aditya Music.

Release and reception

Chandralekha opened on 30 July 1998. The Telugu weekly Zamin Ryot gave it a positive review, praising Nagarjuna’s acting and Krishna Vamsi’s screenplay and direction. Wikipedia’s article does not give box-office figures, so we do not quote any.

Where to watch Chandralekha

We do not have a confirmed streaming platform for the 1998 Chandralekha on file. The OTT details on this page will be updated when a platform’s own listing confirms it.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Chandralekha (1998) and the review it cites, linked above; Wikidata; our own cast and crew records.