Vinayakudu

Vinayakudu is a 2008 Telugu romantic drama written and directed by Sai Kiran Adivi in his debut, about an overweight, ever-cheerful young man who falls for an arrogant colleague. Krishnudu and Sonia Deepti, both known from Happy Days, play the leads, with Poonam Kaur as the heroine’s friend and music by Sam Prasan. Released on 21 November 2008, it was well received and won two Nandi Awards.

What the story is about

Karthik, a soft-spoken, perpetually happy young man, comes to Hyderabad for an interview at an ad agency, Hi-Rise, and gets the job. On his first day he notices Kalpana and likes her, but like most people she does not take him seriously because of his gentle manner and his size, and she finds fault with him at every turn. Slowly the two start to talk, just as her parents arrange a match for her with Rajeev, who seems to share all her tastes. Meanwhile Karthik’s friend Altaf and Kalpana’s friend Sandy start a romance of their own, and a petty quarrel between them threatens everything. How their love story finally takes shape is the rest of the film.

Cast and crew

• Krishnudu as Karthik
• Sonia Deepti as Kalpana
• Poonam Kaur as Sandhya “Sandy”
• Samrat Reddy as Rajeev and Suryatej as Altaf
• Ankitha as Shalini
• Satya Krishnan as Aparna and Adarsh Balakrishna as Ananth Naidu
• Prem Kumar Patra as Karthik’s boss and Tulasi as his wife

Writer and director: Sai Kiran Adivi, who also appears as a doctor. Music: Sam Prasan.

Making the film

Adivi had worked as an assistant director on Happy Days (2007), where he was impressed by Sonia Deepti and got to know Krishnudu; Krishnudu was signed for his first lead role on the recommendation of Adivi’s assistant Sekhar.

Reception and awards

Radhika Rajamani of Rediff called the film “an okay watch” and praised the lead pair. It won the Nandi Award for Second Best Feature Film (Silver), received by Prem Patra, and Sai Kiran Adivi won the Nandi for Best Debut Director.

The film had an afterlife: it was partly reshot in Tamil by Balasekaran as Vinayaga, with extra scenes featuring Santhanam, and released in January 2012; it was followed by a sequel, Village Lo Vinayakudu, again with Krishnudu; and in 2020 Adivi said he was interested in remaking it in Hindi.

Where to watch Vinayakudu

We do not have a confirmed streaming listing for Vinayakudu on file. If we verify one with a platform, it will appear on this page.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Vinayakudu; our own cast and crew records.