Yamadonga (2007) Review

Yama donga (Telugu: యమదొంగ) is a 2007 socio-fantasy Telugu film directed by S.S. Rajamouli and produced by Urmila Gangaraju and P. Chiranjeevi. The film stars Mohan Babu, Jr. NTR, Priyamani and Mamta Mohandas in the lead roles. The film released worldwide on 15 August 2007. Upon release, the film was a critical and box office success.


Plot ::

Raja(Jr. NTR), an orphan, is a ruthless robber. He dreams of earning a fast buck so that he can settle down in life. And then, he stumbles on a fine opportunity. Mahi (Priyamani), a rich heiress, falls in love with him. The girl happens to be his childhood well-wisher and has always considered him her prince.

He plans to surrender the girl to a gang who wants to kill her for her riches. But the villains play foul, and kill him. Raja reaches Yamaloka. He creates confusion in Yamaloka by stealing Yamapasam since one in possession of Yamapasam will become Yama. The rest of the story is all about how Yama (Mohan Babu) and Raja try to outsmart each other. After regaining power, Yama sends Raja back to earth, but only to take away his life once again.

Cast ::

*Jr NTR as "Raja"

*Mohan Babu as "Yama Dhrama Raja"

*Priyamani as "Maheshwari"

*Mamta Mohandas as "Dhanalakshmi"

*Kushboo as "Yama's wife"

*Ali as "Sathi"

*Brahmanandam as "Chitra Gupta"

*Navneet Kaur as "Rambha" (Guest Appearance in Song)

*Preeti Jhangiani as "Urvasi" (Guest Appearance in Song)

*Archana as "Menaka" (Guest Appearance in Song)

*Rambha as Guest appearance in song Nachore

*MS Narayana

*Jaya Prakash Reddy

*Raghubabu

Release ::

=> Critical Responce

Oneindia.in described as "The film is a visual treat for all ages and classes. Rajamouli has done an excellent job molding NTR Jr's character in the film much like his grandfather's and also for bringing NTR back on the screen in an animated form. NTR Jr's overall performance and his dialogue delivery are a joy to watch. Mohanbabu playing 'Yama' once again proved to be the versatile actor that he is".

Sify gave an "average" verdict explained "This socio-fantasy film works, thanks to the new look of NTR and enigmatic performance of Mohan Babu. The songs and background score of MM Keeravani, the technical aspects and entertainer quotient in the first half make the film watchable".jeevi of idlebrain gave 3/5 stars said "First half of the film is entertaining. The second half should have been better. The plus points of the film are Mohan Babu, NTR, sets, cinematography and music. On the flip side, the screenplay of the film is not gripping in second half (after NTR returns to earth). The runtime of the film is pretty lengthy (3.05 hours)".

=> Box Office

The film crossed 50 Days in 225centres and 100 days in 78 centres. It also collected  56 Crore,. The film successfully completed 100 day run and went on to became one of the top five telugu films of the year 2007.

Awards ::

Nandi Awards 2008.

*Best Editor - Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao

*Best Makeup Artist - Nalla Seenu

*Best Costume Designer - Ramaa Rajamouli

*Nandi Award for Best Special Effects - Kamal Kannan

Filmfare Awards 2008

*Best Actor - Jr. NTR

CineMAA Awards 2008

*Best Actor - Jr. NTR

DVD ::

The DVD version of the film was released on 29 February 2008. This DVD release was distributed by Tolly2Holly all around the world, but for India. It is available in 16:9 Anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, progressive 24 FPS, widescreen and NTSC format.

Trivia ::

*Actress Priyamani slipped while walking on the stones and got her ankle sprained with minor bleeding injury during shooting.
*Late actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao plays a small role in the film through graphics.
*Kirat Bhattal and Meera Chopra rejected the role played by Priya Mani.
*This movie was also dubbed into Tamil.
*This movie was also dubbed into Hindi language as well, named Lok Parlok.
*This movie was dubbed into Oriya as Yamraja.

- Source 

Wikipedia