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Kondaveeti Donga
Film poster
Directed by	A. Kodandarami Reddy
Written by	Paruchuri Brothers (story and dialogue)
Screenplay by	Yandamuri Veerendranath
Produced by	T. Trivikrama Rao
Starring	Chiranjeevi Vijayashanti Sharada Radha Mohan Babu Rao Gopal Rao Amrish Puri
Cinematography	V. S. R. Swamy
Edited by	Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Production company	Prasad Studios
Distributed by	Vijayalakshmi Art Movies
Release date	9 March 1990 (1990-03-09)
Running time	151 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu

Kondaveeti Donga (transl. The thief of Kondaveedu) is a 1990 Indian Telugu-language vigilante film directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy starring Chiranjeevi, Vijayashanti and Radha in main lead roles. Upon release on 9 April 1990, the film received positive reviews, and emerged as a Blockbuster at the box office.

Subsequently, the film was dubbed into Tamil as Thangamalai Thirudan and it was dubbed into Malayalam as Kodanadu Kallan. It was the first Telugu film to be released on a 70 mm with 6-Track Stereophonic sound. The production design by Bhaskar Raju, with background score, and music by Ilaiyaraaja received positive reviews. The film had collected a distributors share of ₹74 lakh on its opening weekend.

Plot

An orphan Kondaveeti Raja M.A., L.L.B., I.A.S. (Chiranjeevi) is raised through the support of people living in the tribal village of Kondaveedu. Upon his return from Hyderabad, he witnesses the failed legal system and the village being engulfed in political corruption, forgery, smuggling, money laundering, drug trafficking, land grabbing and alcohol abuse carried out by the local mafia and landlords - Sarabhoji (Rao Gopal Rao), Narasimham (Mohan Babu) and Khaadra (Amrish Puri), who impose taxes on farmers. Instead of being in the system and taking the direct route as an administrator himself, he transforms into a Robin Hood for the village and indulges in swashbuckling heists of money and paddy worth several crores from the landlords while being in disguise, much to the frustration of corrupt officials. He funds the tribals into self-sustaining farmers, while providing food, irrigation, healthcare, shelter and education to the poor and transforms the village.

Cast

• Chiranjeevi as Kondaveeti Raja, a man raised by the tribals. He becomes Kondaveeti Donga (ala Robin Hood) to fight the evil.
• Vijayashanti as Sri Lekha, an undercover police officer appointed to capture Kondaveeti Donga, who later becomes Raja's love interest.
• Radha as Sri Kanya, a home surgeon serving in the tribal area of Kondaveedu. She is the first person to find out the truth about Kondaveeti Donga.
• Rao Gopal Rao as Sarabhoji, landlord
• Mohan Babu as Narasimham, landlord
• Amrish Puri as Khaadra and Yugandhar
• Sarada as Sambhavi
• Kaikala Satyanarayana as Das
• Nagendra Babu as Seetababu
• Prasad Babu
• Brahmanandam
• Allu Rama Lingaiah
• Nirmalamma
• Sreedhar as Raja's father
• Kallu Chidambaram
• Chalapathi Rao
• Ranganath
• Manik Irani
• Srividya as Justice Sandya
• Divyavani
• Master Suresh

Soundtrack

The soundtrack composed by Ilaiyaraaja was an instant chart buster. All songs remain popular to date. Except “Chamaku Cham” all songs written by Veturi. The song "Subalekha" was remixed in Naayak (2013) while the song "Chamak Chamak" was remixed in Inttelligent (2018).

Telugu (original soundtrack)

All music is composed by Ilaiyaraaja

Reception

Giddaluri Gopalrao of Zamin Ryot, writing his review on 23 March 1990, gave a positive review for the film. Gopalrao praised the screenplay by Yandamuri and Chiranjeevi's performance.

References

1. "Indiaglitz". Indiaglitz. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
2. Connolly, Temple (28 August 2012). "Kondaveeti Donga". Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
3. "Kondaveeti Donga". 12 September 2009. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
4. Jha, Lata (17 July 2023). "Chiranjeevi's next film set for Independence Day clash". Mint. Retrieved 24 August 2024. Some experimental works at this time include Kondaveeti Donga, the first Telugu film to be released on a 70mm 6-Track Stereophonic sound, .....
5. "Kondaveeti Donga". 9 March 1990. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2018 – via IMDb.
6. "TollySites - Kondaveeti Donga". Archived from the original on 15 June 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
7. "nonstopcinema.com". Archived from the original on 11 January 2004.
8. Staff Reporter (19 December 2015). "A multi-faceted actor". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
9. "Kondaveeti Donga (1990)". Indiancine.ma. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
10. "'Kondaveeti Donga' song in Charan's next". Sify. 19 July 2012. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
11. Kavirayani, Suresh (13 December 2012). "Tollywood stars dance to daddy's tunes". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 18 November 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
12. "Chamaku Chamaku Cham V2.0 is our way of thanking Chiru garu for entertaining us all these years". Times of India. 9 February 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
13. Giddaluri, Gopalrao (23 March 1990). "సర్వం తానై నటించిన చిరంజీవి చిత్రం కొండవీటి దొంగ" (PDF). Zamin Ryot (in Telugu). Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2020.

External links

• Kondaveeti Donga at IMDb

• 1990 films
• Indian action films
• Indian vigilante films
• Robin Hood films
• Films about communism
• Films about poverty in India
• Fictional portrayals of the Andhra Pradesh Police
• Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja
• 1990s Telugu-language films
• Films directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy
• Films about social issues in India
• Films about farmers' suicides in India
• Films about organised crime in India
• Films about corruption in India
• Indian swashbuckler films
• Films about landlords
• 1990 action films