Coolie No. 1

Coolie No. 1 is a 1991 Telugu romantic action film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao and produced by D. Suresh Babu under Suresh Productions. Venkatesh stars as a railway porter opposite Tabu, in her first film as an actress, with Rao Gopal Rao, Sharada, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao, Mohan Babu and Brahmanandam in supporting roles. Ilaiyaraaja composed the music. It was released on 12 July 1991 and dubbed into Tamil under the same title and into Hindi as Coolie Raja.

What the story is about

Ranjani is the spoilt, arrogant daughter of Koteswara Rao, a multimillionaire based in Singapore. On a train journey to Hyderabad she has the train stopped to retrieve a lipstick she has dropped, and the delay costs a woman named Parvathamma her life. Raju is a porter at Secunderabad railway station, and from their first meeting he and Ranjani clash at every turn. When Ranjani calls in her father’s power to get even with him, the feud between the coolie and the heiress becomes a long-running battle of pride that carries both of them from Hyderabad to Singapore and back.

Cast

• Venkatesh as Raju
• Tabu as Ranjani
• Rao Gopal Rao as Koteswara Rao and Sharada as Gruhalakshmi, Ranjani’s parents
• Kota Srinivasa Rao as Ranga Rao
• Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao as Buchi Babu and Mohan Babu as his son Gopal
• Brahmanandam as Nagoji and Babu Mohan as a sub-inspector
• Dubbing Janaki as Parvathamma, Nirmalamma as Sarojamma and Rallapalli as Lawyer Sripathi

Music

Ilaiyaraaja composed the songs, with lyrics by Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry, released on LEO Audio. “Dandalayya” and “Kalaya Nijama” became especially popular, and “Dandalayya” is still regularly played during Ganesh Chaturthi. “Kotha Kothaga” is based on Ilaiyaraaja’s Tamil song “Pudhiya Poovithu” from Thendrale Ennai Thodu (1985). In 2020 Raja Kumari reprised “Attention Everybody” as a tribute to Venkatesh on Rana Daggubati’s South Bay channel.

Release

Coolie No. 1 opened on 12 July 1991, with cinematography by S. Gopal Reddy and editing by K. A. Martand. Wikipedia’s article does not record its box-office performance or contemporary reviews, so we do not characterise either.

Where to watch Coolie No. 1

We do not have a confirmed streaming platform for Coolie No. 1 on file. The OTT details on this page will be updated when a platform’s own listing confirms it.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Coolie No. 1; Wikidata; our own cast and crew records.