Varsham (2004 film)
| Varsham | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Sobhan |
| Screenplay by | M.S. Raju |
| Dialogues by | Paruchuri Brothers |
| Story by | Veeru Potla |
| Produced by | M.S. Raju |
| Starring | Prabhas Gopichand Trisha |
| Cinematography | S. Gopal Reddy |
| Edited by | K. V. Krishna Reddy |
| Music by | Devi Sri Prasad |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 159 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Box office | ₹21 crore distributors' share[1] |
Varsham (transl. Rain) is a 2004 Indian Telugu-language romantic action film directed by Sobhan and produced by M.S. Raju under Sumanth Art Productions banner. The film stars Prabhas and Trisha in the lead roles while, Gopichand, Prakash Raj, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao, and Chandra Mohan appear in supporting roles. The music was composed by Devi Sri Prasad, while the cinematography was handled by S. Gopal Reddy.
Varsham emerged as a blockbuster, marking a breakthrough for Prabhas and established Trisha as a leading actress in Telugu cinema. It collected a distributor's share of ₹21 crore at the box office and became the second-highest Telugu grossing film of 2004.[2] The film was dubbed in Tamil as Singamagan.[3] The film's success led to remakes in Tamil as Mazhai (2005) and again in Hindi as Baaghi (2016).[4]
Plot
Venkat, an unemployed youth, meets Sailaja, a middle-class woman, on a train journey to Warangal. They bond instantly after dancing together in a sudden rainstorm. During the same time, Sailaja attracts the attention of Bhadranna, a ruthless and influential factionist leader who becomes obsessed with her. Venkat and Sailaja encounter each other repeatedly, each meeting marked by unexpected rainfall, and gradually fall in love.
Sailaja's selfish father, Ranga Rao, is approached by Bhadranna with a marriage proposal for Sailaja, and he readily accepts. However, when a film producer named Seenayya offers Sailaja an opportunity to act in his film, Ranga Rao realizes that acting is far more lucrative. To clear the path for her acting career, Ranga Rao creates misunderstandings between Venkat and Sailaja, causing them to break up. Ranga Rao then relocates to the city with Sailaja, while a heartbroken Venkat moves to Vizag to work with his uncle as a quarry demolition expert.
Meanwhile, Sailaja rises to stardom as a successful actress. Having been scammed by Ranga Rao, Bhadranna tracks Sailaja down, kidnaps her, and attempts to force her into marriage. With shooting brought to a halt, a desperate Seenayya seeks Venkat's help on Ranga Rao's suggestion, knowing Venkat's resourcefulness. Venkat agrees to rescue Sailaja and infiltrates Bhadranna's hideout, engaging his henchmen in a intense battle.
During the rescue, Sailaja learns the truth behind her father's deception, clears her misunderstandings with Venkat, and the two reconcile. Enraged by the escape, Bhadranna murders his own brother, Kasi, for failing to secure Sailaja. Seeking vengeance, Bhadranna tracks the couple to a local festival in Warangal and stabs Venkat during the celebrations. Despite his injuries, Venkat overpowers Bhadranna. As Venkat and Sailaja embrace, a burning effigy of Ravana collapses onto the defeated Bhadranna, killing him. With the threat eliminated, Venkat and Sailaja happily reunite as rain begins to fall once again.
Cast
- Prabhas as Venkat
- Gopichand as Bhadranna
- Trisha as Kola Sailaja "Sailu"
- Ramya Krishna as Raja Lakshmi, Venkat's mother
- Mukesh Rishi as Dhanraj, Venkat's father
- Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao as Sivayya, Bhadranna's uncle
- Chandra Mohan as Chandram, Venkat's uncle
- Nalini as Swarnakka, Bhadranna's aunt
- Sudha as Lakshmi, Venkat's aunt
- Geetha as Janaki, Bhadranna's mother
- Sayaji Shinde as Peddiraju, Bhadranna's father
- Prakash Raj as Kola Ranga Rao, Sailu's father
- Sangeetha as Bharathi, Sailu's mother
- Brahmanandam as Rama Chandra Murthy, Venkat's friend
- Sunil as Jagan
- Ajay as Ajay, Venkat's friend
- Shafi as Kaasi
- Satyam Rajesh as Salim, Venkat's friend
- Suma as Swapna, Venkat's sister
- Sivaji Raja as Srinivas, Venkat's brother-in-law
- Pavala Syamala as Mutyalu, Sailu's grandmother
- K. Viswanath as Ramachandraiah, Sailu's grandfather
- Venu Madhav as Director
- Jaya Prakash Reddy as Producer Seenayya
- M. S. Narayana as Priest Narayana
- Gundu Hanumantha Rao as Priest Hanumantha
- Narra Venkateswara Rao as Home Minister
- Mallikarjuna Rao as Bus Passenger from marriage
- AVS as Bus Passenger from marriage
- Raghu Babu as Raghu, Bhadranna's henchman
- Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as Gaali Gannaarao
- Narsing Yadav as Bus Driver
- Rajitha as Bus Passenger from marriage
- Vamshi Paidipally as Bus Passenger
Soundtrack
| Varsham | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 2003 | |||
| Recorded | 2003 | |||
| Genre | Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 30:18 | |||
| Language | Telugu | |||
| Label | Aditya Music | |||
| Producer | Devi Sri Prasad | |||
| Devi Sri Prasad chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music was composed by Devi Sri Prasad and all lyrics were penned by Sirivennela Seetaaraama Saastry. Music was released on Aditya Music. Soundtrack album was released on 18 December 2003 through Aditya Music at the film's audio launch event at Annapurna Studios, Hyderabad.[5] NaChaKi of Telugu Cinema wrote "DeviSri Prasad comes up with songs that can be elevated by visuals, but also can stand by themselves. Most numbers are mass-oriented and he uses his orchestra deftly to create the moods for the songs. Particular mention of the lyrics is surely necessary for this album. Seetarama Sastry penned all the lyrics and adds another 'single-card' to his credit. What is worth mentioning is his rendition of mass-oriented songs in a freely flowing, catchy manner using simple words and some words that are getting extinct, so to say!"[6]
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Nuvvosthanante" | K. S. Chithra, Raqeeb Alam | 5:33 |
| 2. | "Mellaga (Ee Varsham Saakshiga)" | S. P. B. Charan, Sumangali | 5:21 |
| 3. | "Nachave Nizam Pori" | Adnan Sami, Suneeta Rao | 4:12 |
| 4. | "Langa Voni" | Tippu, Usha | 3:54 |
| 5. | "Neeti Mullai" | Sagar, Sumangali | 1:22 |
| 6. | "Kopama" | Karthik, Shreya Ghoshal | 4:52 |
| 7. | "Joole Joole" | Mallikarjun, Kalpana | 5:04 |
| Total length: | 30:18 | ||
Release
Reception
Jeevi of Idlebrain.com wrote, "It's a love story with good technical values. You may definitely watch this film".[7] A critic for Sify wrote, "The major drawback of Varsham is the second half, which has an overdose of violence and narration is marred by two dream songs. The director Shobhan loses grip on the story after the fast paced first half. Still Varsham is worth a look".[8]
Box office
The film celebrated a 50-day run in 125 centers[9] and the film celebrated its silver jubilee (175 days) celebration with Chiranjeevi attending as the chief guest.[10]
Re-release
This movie was re-released on 11 November 2022 with a 4K resolution.[4]
Awards and nominations
References
- ↑ "Tollywood Top 10 Box Office Collection Movies In 2004". T2BLive. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ↑ "Tollywood Top 10 Box Office Collection Movies In 2004". T2BLive. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- ↑ "Friday Fury – April 27". Sify. 27 April 2012. Archived from the original on 29 April 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- 1 2 Menon, Thinkal (12 November 2022). "Trisha's elated at the re-release of her Telugu debut Varsham, says films are forever and thanks fans". OTT Play.
- ↑ "Telugu Cinema Functions – Varsham – Prabhas, Trisha – MS Raju – Devi Sri Prasad – Sobhan". idlebrain.com. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- ↑ NaChaKi. "Varsham". Telugucinema. Archived from the original on 25 December 2003. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
- ↑ Jeevi (14 January 2004). "Movie review - Varsham". Idlebrain.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
- ↑ "Varsham". Sify. 20 January 2004. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020.
- ↑ "Telugu Cinema 50 days function - Varsham at Bheemavaram - Prabhas, Krishnam raju, MS Raju". idlebrain.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ↑ "Telugu Cinema - function - silver jubilee function - Varsham - Prabhas, Trisha". idlebrain.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ↑ "Nandi Film Awards G.O and Results 2004". APFTVDC. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
- ↑ "Filmfare 2004 Awards for South Indian Films". Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ↑ "CineMAA Awards 2004". Idlebrain.com. 23 January 2006. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ↑ "Telugu Cinema function - Santosham Film Awards 2004". Idlebrain.com. 2 August 2005. Archived from the original on 20 March 2013.