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 Trisha Gopichand |
| 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 |
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 box office blockbuster, marking a breakthrough role for Prabhas and establishing Trisha in Telugu cinema. The film's success led to remakes in Tamil as Mazhai (2005) and in Hindi as Baaghi (2016).[1]
Plot
[edit]Venkat, an unemployed youngster, meets Sailaja, a middle-class girl, during a train journey in Warangal. They are immediately attracted to each other after dancing in a rain shower. At the same time, Sailaja catches the eye of Bhadranna, a dangerous and ruthless politician who also falls in love with her. Venkat and Sailaja keep encountering each other every time it rains, gradually falling in love.
Ranga Rao, Sailaja's father, is a selfish man with many bad habits. When Bhadranna approaches him with a marriage proposal, Ranga Rao instantly agrees. However, a film producer named Seenayya also approaches Ranga Rao, offering Sailaja an opportunity to act in movies. Seeing this as a more lucrative option than marrying her off to Bhadranna, Ranga Rao creates misunderstandings between Sailaja and Venkat, leading to their breakup. He then convinces Sailaja to pursue acting and leaves for the city with her, while Venkat moves to Vizag to stay with his uncle.
In Vizag, Sailaja becomes a successful actress, while Venkat starts working as a demolition expert at a quarry under his uncle’s guidance. Meanwhile, Bhadranna is cheated out of money by Ranga Rao and discovers Sailaja’s whereabouts. He kidnaps her and tries to force her into marrying him. As Sailaja's film shooting gets interrupted, a worried Seenayya seeks Venkat’s help on Ranga Rao’s advice, believing that Venkat still loves Sailaja. Venkat agrees and confronts Bhadranna, leading to a fierce battle to rescue Sailaja.
As the confrontation unfolds, Sailaja realizes her misunderstandings about Venkat and apologizes. They reconcile, rekindling their love. That night, Bhadranna, furious at his failure, kills his own brother Kaasi for not bringing Sailaja to him. Determined to destroy Venkat and forcibly marry Sailaja, Bhadranna returns from Hyderabad. During a festival, he stabs Venkat, but Venkat's uncle Sivayya intervenes. A fierce battle ensues, and Venkat ultimately defeats Bhadranna. As Venkat and Sailaja embrace, a burning statue of Ravana collapses on Bhadranna, killing him. The film ends with Venkat and Sailaja happily reuniting.
Cast
[edit]- Prabhas as Venkat
- Trisha as Kola Sailaja "Sailu"
- Gopichand as Bhadranna
- Prakash Raj as Kola Ranga Rao, Sailu's father
- Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao as Sivayya, Bhadranna's uncle
- Chandra Mohan as Chandram, Venkat's uncle
- Sumitra as Amrutham, Venkat's mother
- Nadhiya as Prabhavati, Bhadranna's aunt
- Sudha as Lakshmi, Venkat's aunt
- Mukesh Rishi as Gangi Reddy, Bhadranna's father
- Nassar as Suryanarayana, Venkat's father
- Geetha as Vasundhara Varma, Bhadranna's mother
- Sangeetha as Bharathi, Sailu's mother
- 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 Ramachandrayya, 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
[edit]| Varsham | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released |
| |||
| 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.[2] 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!"[3]
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Nuvvosthanante" | K. S. Chithra, Raqeeb Alam | 5:33 |
| 2. | "Mellaga" | 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
[edit]Reception
[edit]Jeevi of Idlebrain.com wrote, "It's a love story with good technical values. You may definitely watch this film".[4] 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".[5]
Box office
[edit]The film celebrated a 50-day run in 125 centers[6] and the film celebrated its silver jubilee (175 days) celebration with Chiranjeevi attending as the chief guest.[7]
Re-release
[edit]This movie was re-released on 11 November 2022 with a 4K resolution.[1]
Awards and nominations
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b 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.