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Bhairava Dweepam
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Wikipedia article
'Bhairava Dweepam' is a 1994 Indian Telugu-language high fantasy film directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao who co-wrote the film with Raavi Kondala Rao. It is produced by B. Venkatarama Reddy under the Chandamama Vijaya Pictures banner. The film stars Nandamuri Balakrishna, Roja with music composed by Madhavapeddi Suresh. The film was a box office success, and won nine state Nandi Awards. It was dubbed into Tamil as 'Vijaya Prathaban.'
Plot
Jayachandra Maharaja of the Chandraprabha Dynasty deserts a woman, Vasundhara, who gives birth to his son. Vasundhara loses the child in a cyclone while crossing a river. She is protected by a hermit named Jamadagni near the river. Vasundhara attempts suicide. Meanwhile, the child is found by tribals and taken to their village, Kotala Kona. The village chieftain and his wife adopt the child and name him Vijay.
Once Vijay and Kondanna go to a tree of water, which gives immortality. He happens to see princess Padma in a garden and falls for her beauty. The soldiers report this incident to Padma's father Brahmananda Bhupathi. Vijaya intrudes into the castle again to have a glimpse of Padmaja. He speaks to her and escapes from the king's castle successfully with his sword-fighting skills. Padma also falls in love with Vijay.
Brahmananda Bhupati invites the young warriors to a Swayamvara. Vijay and Kondanna arrive at the castle in disguise. At the same time, Uttar and Dakshin, sons of Jayachandra Maharaja's second wife arrive at the castle. Confused, Brahmananda Bhupathi allows both parties to stay in the castle for one day. After a song with Padma, Vijay's disguise is revealed.
On a faraway island, Bhairava, a wizard who aims at winning immortality, is performing cult worship for the giant sculpture of the dark goddess. Wanting to sacrifice a virgin's blood for the dark goddess, at night, with his magic, he brings Padma, along with the bed, to the island. In a trance, Padma gives a word to the dark goddess that she will come back on the next full moon day for her offering. The same night, Bhairava sends Padma back to her castle.
The next morning, Brahmananda Bhupati calls in court doctors to medicate Padma. The doctor reveals that she was affected by black magic. Brahmananda Bhupathi is made to mistake that a tribal man like Vijay could have performed such black magic. Vijay is secured with chains and brought into the castle by the soldiers. When Brahmananda Bhupathi reveals that Padma was taken ill, Vijay unchains himself and meets Padma in the castle. Padma reveals what happened on that full moon night. Vijay escapes from the chase of the soldiers but falls unconscious at a place near Jamadagni Ashram. Vasundhara and a few men see Vijay in unconsciousness. After the death of the Queen, Uttar and Dakshin grab the throne of the Chandraprabha Dynasty, by leaving their father alone in a desert.
In Jamadagni Ashram, Vijay comes out from unconsciousness. Vasundhara and Vijay do not recognize each other. Vijay reveals the princess Padma has a life threat on the coming full moon night. Vasundhara blesses Vijay, by tying a magical rope to his arm. A magic green fog comes into the castle to put all unconscious. Vijay sees Padma on the bed magically flying into the air. He jumps and hangs to the side of the bed. He is pulled down by some roots which come up from a cave near to the island of Bhairava. Vijay plays with the roots, which results in a hermit-cursed nymph regaining her form. In gratitude, the nymph blesses Vijay with a magical ring and reveals that Bhairava is about to sacrifice Padma on a full moon night.
Vijay enters the cave in which Bhairava is performing puja to the dark goddess. Bhairava advises Padma to have a bath and wear the sacrificial costume. At the pool in the cave, Vijay brings back Padma from the trance. With the help of the magical ring, Vijay takes Padma on the bed, whilst Bhairava is performing puja facing the dark goddess. Bhairava sends a two-headed dragon to stop Vijay from taking Padma on the bed. The dragon separates Vijay from the bed, but the bed reaches the castle. Vijay kills the dragon in the air by shoving a minaret from a building into its ass. The dragon bursts and Vijay is dropped down into the sea.
A couple of devils find Vijay unconscious on the shore. With magic, the devils bring Vijay to consciousness. Their story was that they were devils in the court of Bhairava. They stood against evil sorcery, which is why Bhairava put them in a bottle and threw the bottle at the shore, bordering the desert. They got out when a blind man kicked the bottle. To feed the hungry blind man, they take the fruits from Tuumburadeva's (God of music) temple. When the blind man is about to eat the plate of fruits, a white flying horse prevents him from eating by kicking the plate. Thence the devils are letting him eat, but the horse is preventing him by kicking the plate. The devils plead to Vijay to convince the horse and let the blind man eat so that they can take leave. Vijay with his art of music convinces the horse. With Vijay's plea to the horse, the blind man regains his previous form as the king.
The devils reveal to Vijay that the Shata-Ratna (100 gem) necklace found in Yakshini Loka, would protect Padma from the threat of Bhairava. Vijay directs the king to Kotala Kona. Brahmananda Bhupathi announces that he would give half the dynasty along with his daughter in marriage to the one who saves his daughter. As directed by the devils, Vijay travels east and reaches Yakshini Loka, where he meets Lilliputians. In a comic incident, Vijay saves the Lilliputians. The Lilliputians help Vijay reach Yakshini Loka and show him where the necklace is locked. A Yakshini starts to club dance on seeing Vijay, whilst the Lilliputians try to find the key. In a dance, Vijay finds the key tied to the ankle of Yakshini. In a false romance with Yakshini, the Lilliputian steals the key. Vijay enters the room by facing hurdles and then enters a room with glasses. There, he fights with a dreadful monster, which has lived in the glasses. The necklace appears upon Vijay, killing the monster by breaking the glasses. Yakshini curses Vijay who is rushing out with the necklace. By the curse, Vijay turns into a very ugly man. Yakshini reveals that the necklace will lose its power if it either is thrown away onto the ground or if Vijay reveals to anyone who he is.
On a full moon night, Vijay enters the castle with the necklace and pleads to Padma to wear it. Padma and others could not tell who the ugly man is. In a panic, Padma wears the necklace, which drives off the death fog entering the castle. Brahmananda Bhupathi remembers his promise and arranges for the marriage between the ugly man and Padma. Bhairava sends a devil in the disguise of a priest, Mattepa Sastri to upset the marriage. Mattepa Sastri says that the necklace was stolen by the ugly man from Vijay. In anger, Padma throws the necklace down. As a result, the necklace loses its power and Mattepa Sastri vanishes from there along with Padma and appears at Bhairavudu. Brahmananda Bhupathi realizes that the ugly man was Vijay.
Vijay returns to Jamadagni Ashram to meet Vasundhara. The ugly man reveals his flashback. Vasundhara realizes that the ugly man is her son and that Chandraprabha Maharaja is his father. Vijay invokes the horse. Vasundhara prays to a goddess by singing the song Amba Sambhavi and takes all the ugliness from her son. Vijay regains his shape and goes to the Bhairava Dweepa on the white horse to save Padma from the sacrifice. In a fight, Vijay slays Bhairava with the sacrificial sword. Bhairava dies and it results in the collapse of the dark goddess along with the cave. Vijay escapes with Padma. The nymph appears again and regains the shape of his mother. Vijay reaches the castle with Padma. The movie ends with the happy marriage of Padma with Vijay and the union of the Chandraprabha Dynasty and the Kartikeya Dynasty.
Cast
*Nandamuri Balakrishna as Vijay
*Roja as Padmavathi
*Satyanarayana as Brahmananda Bhupati
*Vijayakumar as Jayachandra Maharaju
*Vijaya Rangaraju as Bhairavudu
*Subhalekha Sudhakar as Dakshin
*Giri Babu as Uttar
*Babu Mohan
*Mikkilineni as Jamadagni Maharshi
*Padmanabham as Mattepa Shastry
*Malladi
*Suthi Velu as Devil
*Kovai Sarala as Allari deyyam
*Vinod as Shoora Varma
*Bheemiswara Rao
*Chitti Babu as Lilliputian
*Garimalla Visweswara Rao as Lilliputian
*K. R. Vijaya as Vasundhara
*Manorama
*Sangeeta as Padma's mother
*Radhabai
*Rajitha as Madanika
*Kovai Sarala as Devil
*Attili Lakshmi
*Sailaja
*Rambha as Yakshini (Cameo appearance)
Production
Raavi Kondala Rao wrote the story of 'Bhariava Dweepam' on the lines of 'Pathala Bhairavi' (1951). Singeetam Srinivasa Rao took up the direction duties and Nandamuri Balakrishna immediately accepted the film as it closely resembled 'Pathala Bhairavi' in which his father N. T. Rama Rao played the lead role. The antagonist Bhariavudu was inspired from Nepali Matrikudu from 'Pathala Bhairavi.' Several actors including Nana Patekar and Amrish Puri were considered for the role. However, when the producer was convinced actor Malayalam actor Rajkumar was right for the role after watching him in 'Vietnam Colony' (1992). He was given screen name Vijaya Rangaraju (to resemble S. V. Ranga Rao who played Nepali Matrikudu) for his debut in Telugu cinema.
Principal photography of the film began on 23 June 1993 at the Vijaya Vauhini Studios in Madras. Balakrishna plays a prince who later becomes a hunchback in the film.
Soundtrack
Music composed by Madhavapeddi Suresh. Music released on Supreme Music Company.
Reception
K. Vijiyan of 'New Straits Times' while reviewing the Tamil dubbed version praised Balakrishna's performance, special effects, and production design calling it an "enjoyable 'raja-rani' film". Hemanth Kumar CR writing for 'Vogue India' in February 2020 stated: "['Bhairava Dweepam]' is a quintessential fantasy film that pays homage to several mythical elements in popular Telugu folklore." Karthik Keramulu of 'Film Companion' opined that its one of the better made fantasy films in Telugu cinema and wrote "The highlights of 'Bhairava Dweepam' are a flying bed and a swashbuckling hero."
Awards
;Nandi Awards(in Telugu)
* Third Best Feature Film - Bronze - B. Venkatarami Reddy
* Best Director Singeetam Srinivas Rao
* Best Male Playback Singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam for the song "Sri Thumabara Narada"
* Best Female Playback Singer S. Janaki for the song "Naruda O Naruda Yemi Korikaa"
* Best Makeup Artist M. Sathyam
* Best Costume Designer Kondala Reddy
* Best Audiographer Kolli Ramakrishna
* Best Art Director Peketi Ranga
* Special Jury Award Kabir Lal for Best Photography
References
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