Konda Polam

Konda Polam (transl. “Hillside farm”) is a 2021 Telugu jungle adventure directed by Krish Jagarlamudi and produced by First Frame Entertainments, adapted from the novel of the same name by Sannapureddy Venkata Rami Reddy. Panja Vaisshnav Tej plays a shepherd’s son who joins his family’s long trek through the forest, with Rakul Preet Singh, Sai Chand, Kota Srinivasa Rao and Nassar. Released on 8 October 2021 to mixed-to-positive reviews, it lost money in cinemas, but its song “Dham Dham Dham” later won Chandrabose the National Film Award for Best Lyrics.

What the story is about

Ravi has topped the Indian Forest Service exam, and the interview panel in Delhi wants to know why he chose the forest. The answer is in his past. The only educated young man in a village of shepherds, Ravi spent four years in Hyderabad failing to find a job, held back by his lack of confidence. Back home, at his grandfather’s urging, he joins his father, Guruvappa, on a “konda polam”: in a drought, the shepherds take their flocks into the forest hills for 40 days in search of grazing and water. Ravi starts out as a frightened outsider, learns from the other shepherds and from Obulamma, a fearless young orphan, and faces tigers, sandalwood smugglers, livestock thieves and dwindling food and water along the way. How the forest changes him is the heart of the film.

Cast and crew

• Panja Vaisshnav Tej as Kataru Ravindranath Yadav “Ravi”
• Rakul Preet Singh as Obulamma “Obu”
• Sai Chand as Guruvappa, Ravi’s father
• Kota Srinivasa Rao as Ravi’s grandfather
• Nassar as the head of the UPSC interview panel (cameo)
• Annapurna as Ravi’s grandmother
• Ravi Prakash as Ankayenna
• Mahesh Vitta as Bhaskar

Director: Krish Jagarlamudi. Music: M. M. Keeravani. Runtime: 142 minutes.

Making of the film

Director Mohan Krishna Indraganti recommended the novel to Krish, who acquired the rights in 2020. Much of the film was shot in the forests of Vikarabad, Telangana, during the first lockdown, in a bio-bubble with a small cast and crew. As Krish explained to The News Minute, “konda polam” is the name for the journey shepherding families make into the forest with their flocks during famines; the character of Obulamma does not exist in the novel and was written for the film.

Keeravani’s songs, with lyrics by Keeravani, Chandrabose and Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry, include “Obulamma” and “Shwaasalo”; the album was launched at an event in Kurnool on 2 October 2021. The film reunited Shreya Ghoshal with Keeravani for the first time since Badrinath.

Reviews

Critics praised the unusual story, the visuals and the performances, but many found it too long. Neeshita Nyayapati of The Times of India (3.5/5) said it “gets more things right than wrong”. Sankeertana Varma of Firstpost (3.5/5) felt it “lacks the ‘epicness’ it foretells”, and Haricharan Pudipeddi of the Hindustan Times thought it tried to address too many conflicts at once. The Hindu called it “life lessons from the wild” that needed more depth.

Box office

The film struggled in cinemas: The Hans India reported big losses in its first week. A follow-up report in The Hans India said satellite and streaming deals recovered the budget, with Amazon Prime Video paying ₹3.5 crore for the streaming rights.

Where to watch Konda Polam

According to The Hans India and the film’s Wikipedia article, the streaming rights were sold to Amazon Prime Video. We do not have a streaming date or a platform listing on file, so check Prime Video before you press play.

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