Damarukam () is a 2012 Indian Telugu-language action fantasy film written and directed by Srinivasa Reddy, and produced by R. R. Venkat on the R. R. Movie Makers banner. It stars Nagarjuna, Anushka Shetty, Prakash Raj, and P. Ravishankar. The music is composed by Devi Sri Prasad with cinematography by Chota K. Naidu.
The film was released in 2012 and opened to positive reviews from critics who appreciated Nagarjuna's performance and Naidu won Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer – South. Damarakum went on to be a commercial success grossing over ₹71 crore at the box office with a distributor's share of ₹40.85 crore. It became the highest grossing film in Nagarjuna's career at the time of release and was the first time that a Telugu film featured graphics that lasted more than an hour.
Plot The protagonist of the movie is born with the divine grace of Lord Siva, and the boy's parents are advised to name him Mallikaarjuna as he is destined to accomplish a great work. During his childhood, Malli faces a great tragedy as his parents and grandparents are killed by a huge black panther as they return from Kaasi. This incident leaves his younger sister, Sailu, paralyzed from the waist down (Sailu had a talent for dancing before this incident). Malli then develops strong hatred toward Lord Siva.
Meanwhile, the scene shifts to a demon named Andhakaasura. We see him performing a severe penance to obtain a boon from Lord Siva. Lord Siva blesses the demon with the boon that he will not interfere in the latter's attempt to sacrifice a virgin girl to obtain complete rulership over the three worlds. The demon is advised by his aged friend Maayi that the sacrifice must be made a month having two solar eclipses, in such a way that he has to marry the girl and sacrifice her before the solar eclipse ends. This will render the demon peerless and a master over all the five elements.
The story then shifts to Malli, now an adult whose motive is to help people and take care of his bedridden sister. He falls in love with Dr. Maheswari on a visit to the hospital where his sister is being treated. There are many scenes where the atheist Malli forces the people of his colony, who include Rudraksha, Ringu Raja, the President, and others, not to worship, on account of his childhood tragedy. Then, one day, Sailu tells her brother that she wants to die because of unbearable pain. Malli questions Lord Siva about his condition and drives away in his car, only to meet with an accident. But Lord Siva intervenes and saves him. Lord Siva calls himself Saambayya, befriends Malli, and goes to his home.
The demon chooses Dr. Maheswari as his target for the sacrifice and prevents the aghoraas (who arrive at the temple) from having access to Mahi, on the first solar eclipse day. Malli rescues Mahi from the Aghoraas, and Mahi's parents entrust Malli to take care of Mahi. Mahi's parents decide to have Mahi marry a relative, Raahul, who is to arrive from the US. This advice is given by a saint known to Mahi's family. On his arrival at the airport, Andhakaasura kills Raahul in the washroom, and possesses his dead body. Andhakaasura enters Mahi's home and kills the three dogs who guard Mahi. The demon also paralyzes Mahi's father, when he learns the truth about him. He also tries to kill Malli and Mahi, on their way to a temple, but Lord Siva intervenes by sending his divine mount, Nandi, who saves Malli. This infuriates the demon, who feels that Lord Siva has not kept his promise. He challenges the Lord, to which he replies that it was his duty to protect his devotee. The demon then decides to oppose Lord Siva, so he kills the saint known to Mahi's family, impersonates him, and convinces Malli, Mahi and others that Saambayya is not a good person by faking his death at the hands to Saambayya. This makes Malli angry at Saambayya, and he returns the ring of friendship to Saambayya.
Finally, Malli convinces Mahi's family that Rahul is Andhakaasura. Then, the demon carries Mahi to the spot of sacrifice and prepares for the ritual. Meanwhile, Malli is advised by the Aghora chief to worship Lord Siva, and he tells Malli that the purpose of his birth is to destroy the demon and the means to do it, as he was the reason for the tragedy in Malli's childhood and Lord Siva saved him as Saambayya. Malli confronts the demon and is initially defeated, but he heads skyward to get a blessing from Lord Siva and finally destroys Andhakaasura by piercing him with the Trident given by Lord Siva.
Cast
Nagarjuna as Mallikarjuna / Malli / Bala Anushka Shetty as Maheswari / Mahi Prakash Raj as Lord Shiva / Sambhayya / Shankar bhai / Shankar ji / Maheshwara Ravi Sankar as Andhakaasura Rakshasa Ganesh Venkatraman as Rahul / Andhakasura Brahmanandam as Rudraksha M. S. Narayana as Vankara Satyam Devan as Vishwanath Avinash as Aghora's chief Brahmaji as Vishwanath's brother Priya as Parvati, Mallikarjuna's mother Sameer Hasan as Jaidev, Mallikarjuna's father Geetanjali as Vasavi, Mallikarjuna's grandmother Giri Babu as Rama Chandra Murthy, Mallikarjuna's grandfather Chandra Mohan as Chandram, Mallikarjuna's friend Raghu Babu as Goke Ring Raju Krishna Bhagavan as Colony President Thagubothu Ramesh as Full Bottle Vasu Pragati as Rajeshwari Abhinaya as Sailaja / Sailu as Mallikarjuna's younger sister Jeeva as Maayi / Billa / Billasura Pruthviraj as Ad Film Director Duvvasi Mohan as Duvvasi Ajay Kavitha Satya Krishnan Rajitha Sravan Kamal Prabhu Ramaraju Vijaya Rangaraju Apoorva Kalpana Lakshmi Aruna Amurtha Gowri Sruthi Archana Anitha Nandini Nancy Master Gaurav as Young Malli Charmy as Sakkubai (item number)
Production A film with Srinivasa Reddy as the director and R. R. Venkat as the producer was in talks since 2007. Nagarjuna had shown his six-pack abs for the first time in the movie..
This movie is the first Telugu film ever with over 70 minutes of special effects. A team of visual effects experts at Firefly Creative Studio have been working on the movie for over a year now. Firefly, the company which worked on special effects for films like Anji, Arundathi, Magadheera and Anaganaga O Dheerudu.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Devi Sri Prasad and was released on Aditya Music.
The audio release was held on 10 September 2012 at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad. Msn.com gave a moderate review stating "Devi Sri Prasad's 50th album is unique from his usual run-of-the-mill compositions, but not his best. As a fan of the composer, the listener will be satisfied, but as a music lover, one doubts if this album would live up to listeners' expectations." Musicperk.com rated the album 8.5/10 quoting "A must-listen album by DSP. Not a song to be left out".
Release and reception After much delays the film was released on 23 November 2012.
Critical reception idlebrain.com jeevi gave a rating of 3/5 stating "First half of the film is good, Plus points of the film are Nagarjuna and the grandeur". DNA India gave the film 2.5 and Times of India gave 3.5 ratings.. Dnaindia.com. Retrieved on 24 November 2012. Rediff also rated 3/5 and said "This socio-fantasy is one-of-its-kind in today's times and can be watched once for the stunning visuals".
Accolades Ceremony Category Nominee Result60th Filmfare Awards SouthBest ActorNagarjunaBest ActressAnushka ShettyBest Supporting ActorP. Ravi ShankarBest LyricistJonnavithula (for song "Shiva Shiva Shankara")Best Female Playback SingerGopika Poornima (for Song "Laali Laali")Best CinematographerChota K. Naidu2nd South Indian International Movie AwardsBest CinematographerChota K. NaiduBest Actor in a Supporting RolePrakash RajCineMAA AwardsBest EditorGautham RajuBest Costume DesignerPayalBest Fight MasterVijay
References
External links