Varsham Directed by Sobhan Produced by M.S. Raju Paruchuri Brothers Written by Veeru Potla M.S. Raju Prabhas Raju Uppalapati, Trisha Krishnan, Starring Gopichand, Prakash Raj Music by Devi Sri Prasad Cinematography S. Gopal Reddy Distributed by Sumanth Arts Release date(s) 14 January 2004 Country India Language Telugu Budget 10 crores Varsham (Telugu: , English translation: Rain) is a Tollywood film produced by M.S. Raju and వరష ం directed by Sobhan. The film stars Prabhas, Trisha Krishnan, and Gopichand. The film's super hit music was composed by Devi Sri Prasad. This film turned out to be a big success. The film was remade in Tamil in the name Mazhai starring Jayam Ravi and Shriya Saran. Contents [hide] • 1 Plot • 2 Cast • 3 Allegory • 4 Shooting Spots • 5 Awards • 5.1 Santosham Film Awards • 5.2 Filmfare Awards • 6 Soundtrack • 7 Box-office performance • 8 References • 9 External links [edit]Plot The film was loosely based on the Ramayana. Venkat (Prabhas) and Sailaja (Trisha Krishnan) are youngsters who first meet on a train during a rain shower. Venkat keeps bumping into Sailaja coincidentally every time it rains. This makes them both feel that it is perhaps the rain that keeps bringing them together, and they start to fall in love. Venkat is mesmerized by Sailaja's beauty, charisma, and child-like behavior. Sailaja, also, is impressed by Venkat. Due to unfortunate circumstances the two are drawn apart. At the same time that the two meet, Sailaja catches the eye of antagonist Bhadranna (Gopichand) who also becomes infatuated with Sailaja. Venkat and Sailaja meet in Warangal again and believe that they are meant for each other because it rains every time they meet. Ranga Rao (Prakash Raj), Shailaja's dad, is a typical black sheep with all kinds of bad habits. In the process, he is ready to marry off his daughter to Bhadranna for money. Ranga Rao plants certain ego problems in the minds of Venkat and Sailaja in order to break them up. This causes Venkat to leave Warangal for Vizag. And Sailaja prepares to become an actress (her father convinces her). Later on, Bhadranna kidnaps Sailaja. The rest of the story is about how Venkat rescues Sailaja from the bastion of Bhadranna and how he clears up the misunderstanding with Sailaja in the process. [edit]Cast • Prabhas as Venkat. • Trisha Krishnan as Sailaja (Sailu). • Gopichand as Bhadranna. • Prakash Raj as Ranga Rao, Sailaja's father. • Sunil as Venkat's friend. • Raghu Babu as Bhadranna's henchman. • Chandra Mohan as Venkat's Uncle. [edit]Allegory Throughout the movie, there is strong allusion to the Hindu epic Ramayana. Indeed, the story parallels the Ramayana in many ways, Venkat being an analogous Rama, Sailaja his Sitaand Bhadranna being the Ravana analogue. Towards the beginning of the movie, as Ranga Rao enter's Bhadranna's residence for the first time, he proclaims - " " - "this looks just లంక లగ ఉననద like Lanka". Later, during a live play of the Ramayana at his house, upon seeing Rama take Sita back from Ravana, Bhadranna stops the actors from continuing the play and demands the script be changed immediately by having Ravana tie the mangalasutra around Sita's neck. Similarly, at the end of the movie, during another live play of the Ramayana, Rama shoots a large Ravana effigy with a burning arrow, and it is this burning collapsing Ravana that ultimately kills Bhadranna, leaving us with the final allegory of Rama killing Ravana and rescuing Sita. [edit]Shooting Spots Hero and Heroine confirm their love at a Temple while it's raining. This vital scene was shot at Nandi statue of Thousand Pillar Temple in Warangal city. ‘Mellaga’ song was shot at same temple. [edit]Awards [edit]Santosham Film Awards • Best Film - M.S. Raju • Best Actress - Trisha Krishnan • Best Young Performer - Prabhas • Best Music Director - Devi Sri Prasad • Best Cinematographer - S. Gopal Reddy • Best Choreography - Prabhu Deva • Best Screenplay - M.S. Raju • Best Dialogue - Paruchuri Brothers [edit]Filmfare Awards • Best Film - M.S. Raju • Best Actress - Trisha Krishnan • Best Music Director - Devi Sri Prasad • Best Female Playback Singer - K.S. Chitra • Best Cinematographer - S. Gopal Reddy [edit]Soundtrack The soundtrack was composed by Devi Sri Prasad. The lyrics to all the songs were written by Seetharama Shastry. Tracklist No.Title Singer(s) Length 1."Nuvvosthanante" Chitra, Raqeeb Alam 5:32 2."Mellagaa" S. P. B. Charan, Sumangali 5:19 3."Nizam Pori" Adnan Sami, Sunitha Rao 4:12 4."Langa Voni" Tippu, Usha 3:52 5."Neeti Mullai" Sagar 1:20 6."Kopama" Karthik, Shreya Ghoshal 4:50 7."Joole Joole" Mallikarjun, Kalpana 5:02 [edit]Box-office performance • The film had celebrated a 50-day run in 125 centres [1] and a 100-day run in 68 centres. [2] [edit]References 1. ^ `Varsham` celebrates 50th day - Sify.com 2. ^ Nonstopcinema Box Office - Varsham 100 days centers : Telugu movies, tollywood, cinema [edit]External links • Varsham at the Internet Movie Database Awards Succeeded by Preceded by Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) Nuvvostanante Okkadu 2004 Nenoddantana.