| Vennela | |
|---|---|
 Movie poster | |
| Directed by | Deva Katta |
| Written by | Deva Katta |
| Produced by | Ravi Vallabhaneni Sachi Pinagapani Chalapathi Mannuru |
| Starring | Raja Parvati Melton Sharvanand Ravi Varma |
| Cinematography | Raja Rathnam |
| Edited by | Kola Bhaskar |
| Music by | Mahesh Shankar |
Production company | Paramjyothi Films |
| Distributed by | Paramjyothi Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 133 mins |
| Country | Indian |
| Language | Telugu |
Vennela (English: Moonlight) is a 2005 Telugu romantic comedy film written and directed by Deva Katta in his directorial debut. The film stars Raja and Parvati Melton, while Sharwanand and Ravi Varma play supporting roles.[1][2] The music was composed by Mahesh Shankar with cinematography by Raja Rathnam and editing by Kola Bhaskar.
The film released on 26 November 2005 and was well-received among the young, urban audiences and south Indian students in USA, mostly from Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, India. The film grossed ₹ 5.3 crore at the box office.[3][4] The film has a sequel Vennela 1½ (2012) made by Vennela Kishore.[5]
Plot
Pavani (Parvati Melton) is an independent woman who wants to pursue higher education in USA. She has been in a committed relationship with Ritesh (Sharvanand), the son of a millionaire and her classmate. Ritesh was an intelligent and popular guy in college. He draws hostility, jealousy, and enmity with his college mate Sayeed (Ravi Varma), who was also interested in Pavani, albeit secretly. Sayeed introduces Ritesh to smoking, drinking and college politics. Ritesh loses himself in those activities, which disappoints Pavani. She tries to make him responsible but fails. She decides to break up with him several times, but he convinces her to change her mind. At last, she decides to finally break up with him, and she moves to the US to keep away from him.
While celebrating her upcoming departure to the USA with her friends, Pavani meets Naveen (Raja) and his friends, who happen to get admitted to the same college as hers. Naveen and his friends go through culture shock and the troubles faced in studying in the US and trying for a part-time job, including an Indian restaurant owner, Pachadlla Paramanandam (Brahmanandam). Sayeed, also a student of the same university, is aware of Pavani’s strained relationship with Ritesh.
Sayeed tries to mess up with Pavani and Ritesh's life to satisfy his ego and provokes Ritesh by lying about Pavani's relationship with Naveen. As Naveen and Pavani become closer, Sayeed brings Ritesh to the USA on a student visa to sabotage their relationship. On the other hand, Ritesh's father tries to woo Pavani with the property that will be inherited by Ritesh upon her marriage to him, but Pavani rejects his father's offer. Ritesh becomes hostile towards Pavani: he believes he was used and cheated on and that he is innocent.
Ritesh's father advises him not to get involved with a woman like Pavani, who does not want anything to do with Ritesh. His father reminds him that he is lucky to be born in a wealthy family, get a good education, and can settle down with his father's inherited property. However, Ritesh ignores his father's advice.
The rest of the plot depicts situations that deal with Ritesh's agony at being rejected by Pavani and also on realizing that he is a victim of Sayeed's scheme when he chances upon morphed images of Pavani. Subsequently, Ritesh becomes psychotic. He kills Sayeed at the university campus and attacks Pavani and Naveen by hiding in their car while they return from work. Just as Ritesh shoots Naveen in the neck, the cops arrive with an ambulance and rescue Naveen and Pavani by shooting Ritesh to death.
The film highlights situations that leads people like Ritesh to dig their own graves by getting into bad company.
Cast
- Raja as Naveen
- Parvati Melton as Pavani
- Sharwanand as Ritesh
- Ravi Varma as Sayeed
- Brahmanandam as Pachadla Paramanandam / Paper Check
- Kishore as Khader Bhasha
- Madhu Reddiboina as Sunil
- Mohit as Pavan
- Paul Iafelice as Paul
Production
90% of the film was shot in Michigan. The American university setting was shot at Wayne State University's main campus in Detroit and Oakland University in Rochester. Only 10% of the film was shot at City College Hyderabad.
Soundtrack
| Vennela | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 29 October 2005 | |||
| Recorded | 2005 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 31:50 | |||
| Language | Telugu | |||
| Label | Aalaap Music | |||
| Producer | Mahesh Shankar | |||
| Mahesh Shankar chronology | ||||
| ||||
The soundtrack album was composed by Mahesh Shankar and released by Aalaap Music. The rights are now owned by Lahari Music. The lyrics were written by Deva Katta, with Ravi Varma collaborating on a single song, "Ningi Nela".
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Preyasikaavu" | Shudip, Saindhavi, Rajani, Devan | 4:14 |
| 2. | "Bhagyam Podduna" | Devan, Aravind, Shudip | 4:34 |
| 3. | "Super Model" | Tippu | 4:49 |
| 4. | "Ningi Nela" | Shudip, Saindhavi | 2:16 |
| 5. | "Nela Thakani" | Mahesh | 3:43 |
| 6. | "Chesthara Love" | Ravi Verma, Devakoushik | 4:34 |
| 7. | "Busy Life" | Karthik, Saindhavi | 3:42 |
| 8. | "East West" | Shudip, Saindhavi | 3:58 |
| Total length: | 31:50 | ||
References
- ↑ "Archive News". The Hindu. 22 October 2010. Archived from the original on 15 November 2010.
- ↑ "Vennela Telugu Movie Preview cinema review stills gallery trailer video clips showtimes". IndiaGlitz. Archived from the original on 3 December 2005.
- ↑ "Page 6 of Vennela Stills, Vennela Movie Pictures, Vennela Photos, Vennela Wallpapers & Images". movies.sulekha.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
- ↑ "Vennela - Telugu cinema Review - Raja, Parvati Melton". idlebrain.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
- ↑ "Vennela 1 and Half releasing in Sept". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.