Anandam (transl.Happiness) is a 2001 Indian Telugu-language romance film, directed by Srinu Vaitla and starring Akash and Rekha in the lead roles. The music of the film was composed by Devi Sri Prasad.[1] The film was sensational hit at box office and ran for 200 days in two centers, 175 days in two centers and 100 days in all major centers. It was a commercial and critical success of the time. This film made Akash an overnight star of the Telugu film industry.[2] The film was remade in Kannada as Ananda, in Tamil as Inidhu Inidhu Kaadhal Inidhu, both versions being produced by Ramoji Rao, and in Hindi as Thoda Tum Badlo Thoda Hum''.[3][4]

Anandam
Poster
Directed bySrinu Vaitla
Written byChintapalli Ramana (Dialogues)
Screenplay bySrinu Vaitla
Produced byRamoji Rao
StarringAkash
Rekha
Venkat
Tanu Roy
Brahmanandam
Tanikella Bharani
CinematographySameer Reddy
Edited byKola Bhaskar
Music byDevi Sri Prasad
Production
company
Distributed byMayuri
Release date
  • 28 September 2001 (2001-09-28)
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu

Plot

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Kiran (Akash) and Aishwarya (Rekha) are neighbours since childhood and always fight with each other on trivial things. Kiran hates her so much that he feels relieved when she moves to Ooty along with her parents. There, Aishwarya comes across an unopened greeting card addressed to Deepika (Tanu Roy). She learns that Deepika's family were the previous tenants in that home and tries to find out the whereabouts of Deepika to hand over the greeting card. But she finds out that Deepika committed suicide unwilling to marry the person chosen by her parents and as her plans of elopement failed as her boyfriend did not come to rescue her.

Aishwarya feels bad for Deepika and tries to leave the matter, but couldn't when she finds letters written by Vamsi, Deepika's boyfriend. She reads them and gets moved by the emotion in it. She decides to break the information of Deepika's suicide to Vamsi, but first, she writes a letter to him as Deepika to prepare him for the bad news. On the other hand, Vamsi was no more as he dies in an accident while coming to Deepika to marry her. Incidentally, Kiran was Vamsi's friend and receives the letter written by Aishwarya. He too wants to prepare Deepika slowly for bad news and write her back as Vamsi. They continue exchanging letters for some more time and at last decide to break the news and arrange a meeting.

When they see each other instead of Deepika and Vamsi, they get shocked and slowly reveal the truth to each other. They both get impressed with each other for the sympathetic and competent handling of the sensitive matter. They move back to their places but start to having feelings for each other. Slowly they express their emotions and become one.

Cast

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Production

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Uday Kiran and Shriya Saran were initially considered for the lead roles.[5] Newcomer Akash was cast as the lead despite not knowing Telugu at the time. He wrote down his dialogues in Tamil and English.[6] Rekha Vedavyas made her Telugu debut with this film.[7] Jayaprakash Reddy turned comedian with this film.[8]

Soundtrack

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The soundtrack is composed by Devi Sri Prasad. The soundtrack of the movie is released through Mayuri Audio.[9] The songs were well received.[10]

Anandam
Soundtrack album by
Released20 August 2001
Recorded2001
GenreFilm soundtrack
Length29:54
LabelMayuri Audio
ProducerDevi Sri Prasad
Devi Sri Prasad chronology
Navvuthu Bathakalira
(2001)
Anandam
(2001)
Kalusukovalani
(2002)
Tracklist
No.TitleLyricsArtist(s)Length
1."Anandam"Sirivennela Seetharama SastryTippu4:22
2."Kanulu Terichinna"Sirivennela Seetharama SastryMallikarjun, Sumangali4:41
3."Monalisa"BhuvanachandraDevi Sri Prasad, Kalpana5:01
4."Evarina Epudaina" (Male)Sirivennela Seetharama SastryPratap1:57
5."Evarina Epudaina" (Female)Sirivennela Seetharama SastryChitra1:58
6."Oka Merupu"Potula RavikiranSunita Rao5:08
7."Premante Emitante"Devi Sri PrasadDevi Sri Prasad, Mallikarjun, Sumangali5:19
8."Theme Music" (Instrumental)  1:28
Total length:29:54

Reception

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Gudipoodi Srihari of The Hindu noted, "Dialogues prove to be the basic strength of the film, particularly during the humorous scenes. Akash and Rekha make a good pair and their performances suit the characters they play".[11] E. M. Bhargava of Full Hyderabad opined, "credit should be given to the director for treating the story with a lot of care (pardoning him a few unnecessary scenes) and for creating the feel good factor. The film certainly becomes worth a watch".[12]

Dropped sequel

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In 2013, Jai Akash announced that he was working towards directing a sequel to the film titled Anandam Aarambam and had cast a completely new team from the original; however it was shelved.[13][14]

References

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  1. ^ "Anandam is the most memorable film of my career: Srinu Vaitla - Times of India". The Times of India. 28 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Anandam hero Akash: 'ఆనందం' హీరో ఆకాశ్ ఆస్తులు తెలుసా.. ఆ దేశంలో భారీగా పెట్టుబడులు..! [Anandam hero Akash: Do you know the assets of 'Anandam' hero Akash .. Huge investments in that country ..!]". News18 (in Telugu). 16 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Inidhu Inidhu Kadhal Inidhu". The Hindu. 16 May 2003. Archived from the original on 30 June 2003. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  4. ^ "Anand film review". Viggy.
  5. ^ Vamshikrishna (22 October 2021). "uday kiran_shriya saran : ఉదయ్ కిరణ్, శ్రియ మిస్ అయిన బ్లాక్ బస్టర్ మూవీ...! [uday kiran_shriya saran: Uday Kiran, Shriya Missed Blockbuster Movie ...!]". TV5 (in Telugu).
  6. ^ "என் படங்கள Release பண்ண விடாம சதி பண்ணாங்க! - Jai Akash Emotional | Neethane Enthan Ponvasantham". YouTube. 21 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Rekha's Anandam". Idlebrain.com. 5 September 2001.
  8. ^ Murali Krishna CH (9 September 2020). "Filmdom mourns Tollywood actor Jayaprakash Reddy's demise". New Indian Express.
  9. ^ "Anandam (2001)". Music India Online. Archived from the original on 20 August 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  10. ^ "Happy Birthday Sreenu Vaitla: 5 Successful Films of the Noted Filmmaker". The Times of India. 24 September 2020.
  11. ^ "Anandam - by Gudipoodi Srihari". The Hindu.
  12. ^ Bhargava, E. M. "Aanandam Review". Full Hyderabad.
  13. ^ "Jai Akash pinning hopes on Anandam sequel". The Times of India. 22 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  14. ^ "Hope to taste success with 'Anandam' sequel: Jai Akash". Sify. 22 November 2013. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
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