Murari

Murari is a 2001 Telugu supernatural family drama written and directed by Krishna Vamsi. Mahesh Babu and Sonali Bendre, in her Telugu debut, play the leads, with Lakshmi, Sukumari, Kaikala Satyanarayana and Gollapudi Maruthi Rao in supporting roles; Mani Sharma composed the music and Ram Prasad shot it. Released on 17 February 2001 to positive reviews, it was a commercial success and a comeback for Mahesh Babu after Yuvaraju and Vamsi, won three Nandi Awards, and drew big crowds again in a 2024 re-release.

What the story is about

In the 19th century a greedy, debt-ridden zamindar tries to steal the panchaloha idol of the goddess Durga from the village temple, and the goddess’s curse falls on his family: every 48 years a male heir dies young. In 2001 the next in line is Murari, the carefree youngest son of the family, adored by his father, his brothers and their families, and especially close to his eldest sister-in-law, Gopi. His grandmother Sabari, who lost her own husband to the curse 48 years earlier, fears for him. Murari, meanwhile, has fallen for Vasu, the daughter of Gopi’s foster father, Chanti, whose family has long been estranged from his own.

Cast

• Mahesh Babu as Murari
• Sonali Bendre as Vasundhara “Vasu” (voice by S. P. Sailaja)
• Lakshmi as Gopi, Murari’s eldest sister-in-law
• Sukumari as Sabari, his grandmother
• Kaikala Satyanarayana as Sathipandu, his father
• Gollapudi Maruthi Rao as Chanti and Annapoorna as his wife, Vasu’s parents
• Raghu Babu as Rambabu and Ravi Babu as Bullabbayi
• Prakash Raj as the zamindar ancestor, and Dhulipala as a sage in his final film appearance

How it was made

Krishna Vamsi got the idea after hearing, on a temple visit, of a villager whose three sons had died at intervals after a widow’s curse, and researched temples and read books such as Autobiography of a Yogi. Influenced by Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand, he first wanted the hero to die, but his team objected. As he told Idlebrain.com, he modelled the characters on the Krishna story: Vasu on Satyabhama and Rukmini, Gopi on Yashoda, and the two joint families loosely on the Pandavas and Kauravas. The film was shot for about 50 days around Ramachandrapuram, and the curse scenes at the Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy temple at Ammapally near Shamshabad, which, The Hindu reported, became popular with filmmakers afterwards amid a belief that films shot there do well. Sonali Bendre learned Telugu for the role, and the film was also the Telugu debut of action choreographer Peter Hein. Mahesh Babu said in 2012 that Murari was his favourite role.

Music

Mani Sharma’s seven-track album has lyrics by Veturi, Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, Chandrabose and Suddala Ashok Teja, sung by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chitra, Jikki, Shankar Mahadevan, Udit Narayan and others. He reused every tune except “Alanati Ramachandrudu” in the Kannada remake.

Box office and re-release

Vogue India and T2BLive put its distributors’ share at ₹13 crore, and The Times of India has called it Mahesh Babu’s “maiden blockbuster”. A remastered 4K version returned to cinemas on 9 August 2024 for Mahesh Babu’s 49th birthday; according to T2BLive, it earned about ₹9 crore more.

What critics said

Jeevi of Idlebrain.com rated it 3.5 out of 5 and called it a “classic masterpiece for the class audience”. Sify compared its two loving big families to Ninne Pelladata and found Mahesh “in his elements as light-hearted prankster”, and Fullhyd.com rated it 8 out of 10 as a good family film, though one that loses steam once the curse’s target is clear.

Awards and remakes

Murari won three Nandi Awards, including Second Best Feature Film. It was remade in Kannada as Gopi (2006) and inspired the Tamil film Pudhiya Geethai (2003), starring Vijay.

Where to watch Murari

Our OTT record lists Murari on Sun NXT, based on Wikipedia’s note that the film was made available there after Gemini TV acquired its satellite rights, not on a checked platform listing. Availability changes by country and over time, so confirm on the platform before subscribing.

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