Manam () is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language fantasy comedy drama film written and directed by Vikram Kumar, and produced by the Akkineni Family under the Annapurna Studios banner. The film stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Nagarjuna, Naga Chaitanya, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Shriya Saran. The film is set in various time periods, over the course of a hundred years up until 2013, and deals with the concepts of rebirth and eternal love. The plot features a wealthy businessman, Nageswara Rao (Nagarjuna), attempting to bring a young couple who resembles his deceased parents together and the elderly Chaitanya's (Nageswara Rao) attempts to bring the businessman and a doctor together. They resemble Chaitanya's deceased parents, who died because of a mistake committed by him in his childhood.
The film was made with a budget of 28 crore ($4.6 million). Harsha Vardhan wrote the film's dialogues, while Anup Rubens composed the film's music. P. S. Vinod handled the film's cinematography and Prawin Pudi edited the film. Production began on 3 June 2013. Principal photography began on 7 June 2013 and was shot in and around Hyderabad, Coorg and Mysore till mid April 2014.
Manam was the last film of Nageswara Rao, who died on 22 January 2014 during the film's production phase and was promoted as a "befitting send off" and a tribute from his son, Nagarjuna. The film released worldwide on 23 May 2014 to positive reviews from critics and was commercially successful, collecting 62 crore ($10.2 million) in its lifetime. Over the years, the film has garnered a cult following and is considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made in Telugu cinema.
It was featured at the 45th IFFI in the Homage to ANR section on 29 November 2014. The film garnered several accolades. It won five Filmfare Awards South including the Best Film and Best Director in Telugu films category.
Plot Radha Mohan and Krishna Veni are a married couple whose initial romance has dissolved into a strained relationship. Against the wishes of their six-year-old son, Nageswara Rao aka Bittu, they decide to file for divorce. On February 14, 1983, at 10:20 AM, while en route to their lawyer's office, they die in a car accident near a clock tower.
Thirty years later, Nageswara Rao has grown into a wealthy and influential businessman. By chance, he encounters two adults Nagarjuna and Priya, who are the exact lookalikes of his deceased parents. Desperate to give them a happy ending his parents never had, he secretly befriends the two and plots to unite them as a couple. However, Nageswara Rao grows disappointed after Nagarjuna introduces his girlfriend, Prema. With the help of his assistant, Girish Karnad, Nageswara Rao successfully orchestrates the breakup of Nagarjuna and Prema. Devastated and unaware of Nageswara Rao's interference, Nagarjuna vows never to fall in love again.
Meanwhile, near the same clock tower, Nageswara Rao meets Dr. Anjali and falls in love with her at first sight. They transport an injured elderly man named Chaitanya to a hospital, and Nageswara Rao donates his blood for the treatment. Upon waking, Chaitanya is astonished to see Nageswara Rao and Anjali together, recognizing them as the exact lookalikes of his own deceased parents, Seetharamudu and Ramalakshmi.
In a flashback, Seetharamudu is an affluent, car enthusiast barrister who returns from London to manage his family's Zamindari estate after his father's demise. He chooses to marry Ramalakshmi, a poor farmer, who requests a six-month delay to earn enough money to buy traditional clothes for the groom. Intrigued, he visits her village disguised as a reformed thief and helps her cultivate her fields, allowing her to raise the funds in just three months. Ramalakshmi discovers the truth about his identity on their wedding day and they enjoy a blissful married life. A few years later, an eight-year-old Chaitanya fakes a stomach ache to cut his parents' trip short. Rushing home to their son, the couple dies in a high-speed car crash on February 14, 1924 at 10:20 AM near the same clock tower.
In the present, the elderly Chaitanya resolves to unite Nageswara Rao and Anjali without triggering their past-life memories. To facilitate his plan, Chaitanya moves in with Nageswara Rao under the guise of medical care, necessitating Anjali's frequent visits. Soon after, Nagarjuna also moves in, having been expelled from his college hostel after a drunken stupor and embarrassing incident involving his college principal. One night, Priya remembers her past life as Krishna after she narrowly escapes an accident at the clock tower. She rushes to Nageswara Rao's house, only to see Nagarjuna sleeping beside him, and leaves in tears. Unaware of her awakening, Nagarjuna and Priya enroll in Salsa dancing classes together, where Priya constantly takes her frustration out on him.
On Nageswara Rao's birthday, 13th February, 2014, Anjali proposes to Nageswara Rao, delighting Chaitanya. That evening, Priya confronts Nagarjuna, who surprises her by dressing like Radha. He reveals that he, too, regained his past-life memories on the night she visited Nageswara Rao. He apologizes for their past fallout, and proposes to her, leading to a reconciliation.
The following morning, on February 14, Nagarjuna and Priya drive to a temple, unaware that their car's brakes have failed. Realizing the danger, Nageswara Rao and Anjali follow the couple, while a frantic Chaitanya hitches a ride on the back of a motorcycle driven by a young man named Akhil. At the clock tower, as 10:20 AM approaches, Rao and Anjali manage to safely intercept and stop Nagarjuna and Priya's runaway car. Suddenly, a heavy lorry driven by a drunk driver deviates towards the four of them. Before they could be hit, Chaitanya and Akhil leap off the motorcycle, sending it crashing into the lorry's front tire and deflecting the vehicle away from the group.
Having cheated the 10:20 AM curse at the clock tower, Nageswara Rao and Nagarjuna express their gratitude to Akhil and Chaitanya.
Cast
Akkineni Nageswara Rao as Chaitanya Pawan Bolisetty as Young Chaitanya Nagarjuna in a dual role as Sitaramudu, Chaitanya's father Nageswara "Bittu" Rao, Radha and Krishna's son Yashvardhan Singh as Young Bittu Naga Chaitanya in a dual role as Radha Mohan, Nageswara "Bittu" Rao's father Nagarjuna Samantha Ruth Prabhu in a dual role as Krishnaveni, Nageswara "Bittu" Rao's mother Priya Shriya Saran in a dual role as Ramalaxmi, Chaitanya's mother Dr. Anjali Brahmanandam as Girish Karnad Ali as Leonardo DiCaprio M. S. Narayana as Father Francis Jaya Prakash Reddy as Home Minister J.P. Chalapathi Rao as merchant Posani Krishna Murali as Inspector Dharma Shankar Melkote as Yashwanth Rayudu, Prema's father Srinivasa Reddy as car broker Krishnudu as Doctor Ramchandra as Dr. Babu Rao Chitram Srinu as Constable Sreenu Saptagiri as Nagarjuna's friend Gundu Sudharshan as marriage broker Ambati Srininivas as Home Minister's assistant Duvvasi Mohan as Home Minister's assistant Saranya as Sitaramudu's mother Tejaswi Madivada as Divya Satya Krishnan as lecturer Kaushal Sharma Swetha Varma as Announcer
Special appearances: Amitabh Bachchan as Pratapji Amala Akkineni as a Dance teacher Akhil Akkineni as Akhil (Himself) Lavanya Tripathi as Radha Mohan's friend Raashii Khanna as Prema Nitu Chandra as Airhostess
Production Development After the release of 100% Love (2011), Nagarjuna decided to act and produce in an all-star film along with his father, actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao and elder son Naga Chaitanya. Nageswara Rao suggested Nagarjuna to begin the film as early as possible, because of his age. After examining and rejecting many scripts due to a perceived lack of novelty, Nagarjuna was advised by actor Nithin's father and distributor Sudhakar Reddy to listen to a script by Vikram Kumar, who was directing Nithin and Nithya Menen in Ishq (2012). Although he liked the script after the first narration, he agreed to act in the film only after watching Ishq before its theatrical release.
Kumar requested Nagarjuna a year's time to complete and provide the finishing touches to the script. The latter read the script to director K. Raghavendra Rao, who suggested Kumar develop a simpler version, as the original was too complicated. The rewritten version was read to Nagarjuna in two and a half hours and to Nageswara Rao over six hours, as the latter wanted every detail to be clear. Due to the complex nature of the second half, the latter suggested Kumar to add a comedy plotline between grandfather and grandson. After its incorporation into the script, and after considering the titles Hum and Trayam, Manam was chosen as the film's title on Nageswara Rao's suggestion.
The film was officially launched on 3 June 2013 at Annapurna Studios office by conducting a small pooja ceremony. Nageswara Rao died in late January 2014, making this film his last project as an actor. The promotion material featured the "Akkineni Family" as the film's producer. Nagarjuna revealed in an interview that he did so because Nageswara Rao taught his family the importance of it in his last days. Reliance Entertainment co-produced and distributed the film.
Casting
Nagarjuna engaged Samantha Ruth Prabhu as the second female lead, to be paired with Chaitanya in the film. This was her third collaboration with Chaitanya after Ye Maaya Chesave (2010) and Autonagar Surya (2014). Her inclusion was confirmed in mid-October 2012 by Nagarjuna in an interview with The Times of India.
Ileana D'Cruz was approached for the main female lead role to be paired with Nagarjuna in early February 2013. She was impressed with her role and the film's script and quoted a fee of 20 million, which was denied by sources close to her. However, Shriya Saran was signed as the main female lead as her fourth collaboration with Nagarjuna. Nagarjuna announced in mid September 2013 that Kaushal Sharma, Srikar Chittarbu and Krishna Yadav, who graduated from the Annapurna International School of Film and Media, would make their debut with this film.
Nagarjuna's younger son Akhil Akkineni was rumoured to be making a cameo appearance following Nageswara Rao's request. Sources close to the film's unit initially denied those reports. Samantha later tweeted that Akhil appeared for shooting his portions in the film. When his health conditions worsened, Nageswara Rao asked Nagarjuna to bring the dubbing equipment to dub for his role fifteen days before his surgery as he did not want any other artist to do it if his voice worsened. He completed those activities just before he died on 22 January 2014. Only an appearance in a song remained incomplete.
Neetu Chandra, who worked with Kumar on Yavarum Nalam (2009), made a cameo appearance in the film. Nagarjuna's sister Supriya told the media that a few other actors also made cameo appearances in the film. Raashii Khanna confirmed in early April 2014 that she too would make such an appearance. Kumar convinced Nagarjuna to let Akhil make a cameo appearance towards the end of the film or in a special song. However an official confirmation was originally unavailable. Amitabh Bachchan posted in his official blogging site on 27 April 2014 that he would make a quick cameo appearance in the film which would be his debut in Telugu cinema. Lavanya Tripathi also made a cameo appearance on Kumar's request. Akhil made a cameo towards the film's end, as he did not want to miss a chance of sharing the screen with his grandfather.
Crew