Yamadonga

Yamadonga (meaning “Yama’s thief”) is a 2007 Telugu fantasy action comedy directed by S. S. Rajamouli, who co-wrote it with V. Vijayendra Prasad, and produced by Chiranjeevi Pedamallu and Gangaraju Gunnam under Visvamitra Creations. N. T. Rama Rao Jr. stars as a thief who ends up in Yama’s underworld, with Mohan Babu as Yama, Priyamani and Mamta Mohandas. Released on 15 August 2007, it was the highest-grossing Telugu film of the year and won Rama Rao Jr. the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. It was his third film with Rajamouli, after Student No: 1 and Simhadri.

What the story is about

Raja is a street-smart thief in Hyderabad, deep in debt to a violent moneylender. As a boy he met a wealthy orphan girl, Mahi, who gave him a sacred locket that keeps finding its way back to him however often he throws it away. Years later, Mahi is being abused by greedy relatives who want her inheritance. Raja stumbles into their scheme and sees a chance to make money from it, until he is murdered and his soul arrives in Yamalokam, the underworld. There he discovers that Yama himself cut his life short over a drunken insult, and the thief decides to take on the god of death. The comedy of a mortal running rings around Yama is the heart of the film.

Cast

• N. T. Rama Rao Jr. as Raja
• Mohan Babu as Yama Dharma Raja; Rajamouli called him the “perfect and only choice” for the role
• Priyamani as Mahi
• Mamta Mohandas as the moneylender Dhanalakshmi
• Brahmanandam as Chitragupta, Khushbu as Yama’s wife and Naresh as Narada
• Ali, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Raghu Babu and M. S. Narayana in supporting roles; archival footage of N. T. Rama Rao appears as a cameo

How it was made

Rajamouli told Telugucinema.com that the basic idea, a hero who dies, goes to Yamalokam and returns, was inspired by Devanthakudu (1960) and Yamagola (1977), both starring Rama Rao Jr.’s grandfather N. T. Rama Rao, but that the films have nothing else in common. As a tribute to Yamagola, the film includes a scene of Rama Rao Jr. alongside his grandfather. At Rajamouli’s suggestion the actor lost a great deal of weight for the role. Shooting began in January 2007, with Yamalokam built as a set at Ramoji Film City, scenes in the Talakona forest, and a song at Golconda Fort, where a waterfall was created for the shoot. K. K. Senthil Kumar was the cinematographer.

Music

M. M. Keeravani composed the soundtrack, released by Vel Records. Sify counted his songs and background score among the reasons the film works.

Release and box office

Originally planned for 9 July 2007, Yamadonga was released on 15 August 2007. News18 reports a distributors’ share of over ₹29 crore, and Rediff‘s list of the top Telugu films of 2007 records a 50-day run in 405 centres and 100 days in 32 centres, the year’s highest-grossing Telugu film. It was later dubbed into Tamil as Vijayan (released in 2019), into Hindi as Lok Parlok and into Odia, and released on Blu-ray in Japan on 3 April 2024.

What critics said

Oneindia called it “a visual treat for all ages and classes”, praising Rama Rao Jr.’s performance and dialogue delivery and Mohan Babu’s Yama. Sify gave an “average” verdict but said the film works thanks to “the new look of NTR and enigmatic performance of Mohan Babu”. Jeevi of Idlebrain.com (3 out of 5) enjoyed the first half but found the second half, after Raja returns to Earth, less gripping, and the 3-hour-plus runtime long.

Awards

Besides the Filmfare and CineMAA Best Actor awards for Rama Rao Jr., the film won four Nandi Awards: Best Editor (Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao), Best Makeup Artist, Best Costume Designer (Rama Rajamouli) and Best Special Effects.

Where to watch Yamadonga

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

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