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{{short description|1983 film by A. Kodandarami Reddy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Abhilasha
| image = Abhilasha.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[A. Kodandarami Reddy]]
| based_on = {{based on|''Abhilasha''|[[Yandamuri Veerendranath]]}}
| producer = [[K. S. Rama Rao]]
| starring = [[Chiranjeevi]]<br />[[Radhika Sarathkumar|Radhika]]<br />[[Rao Gopal Rao]]
| cinematography = [[Lok Singh]]
| editing = [[Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao]]
| music = [[Ilaiyaraaja]]
| studio = [[Creative Commercials]]
| distributor = Creative Commercials
| released = {{film date|df=y|1983|3|11}}
| runtime = 145 minutes{{sfn|Rajadhyaksha|Willemen|1998|p=457}}
| country = India
| language = Telugu
| budget = {{INR|16.5 [[lakh]]|link=yes}}<ref name="budget">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH7wAz1sFeI&t=12m53s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/DH7wAz1sFeI |archive-date=13 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Alitho Saradaga {{!}} 10 August 2020 {{!}} K. S. Rama Rao {{!}} ETV Telugu |publisher=[[ETV (India)|ETV Telugu]] |language=te}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
}}
'''''Abhilasha''''' ({{translation|Desire}}) is a 1983 Indian [[Telugu language|Telugu]]-language [[legal drama]] film directed by [[A. Kodandarami Reddy]] and produced by [[K. S. Rama Rao]]. The film stars [[Chiranjeevi]] and [[Radhika Sarathkumar|Radhika]] while [[Rao Gopal Rao]] and [[Gollapudi Maruti Rao]] play vital roles and the music is composed by [[Ilaiyaraaja]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 July 2013 |title=Chiru ready for a sequel to 'Abhilasha' |url=https://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Cinema/2013-07-26/Chiru-ready-for-a-sequel-to-Abhilasha/4023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217010601/https://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Cinema/2013-07-26/Chiru-ready-for-a-sequel-to-Abhilasha/4023 |archive-date=17 February 2022 |access-date=9 August 2020 |website=[[The Hans India]]}}</ref>

An adaptation of [[Yandamuri Veerendranath]]'s novel of the same name, it revolves around a young lawyer striving to end [[capital punishment]] in India, but getting himself entangled in a murder case.<ref name="indiatoday.in">{{Cite web |title=Happy Birthday Chiranjeevi: 5 best performances of Megastar you shouldn't miss |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/photo/happy-birthday-chiranjeevi-5-best-performances-989648-2017-08-22/3 |url-status=live |access-date=3 January 2021 |website=[[India Today]] |date=22 August 2017 |page=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103163602/https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/photo/happy-birthday-chiranjeevi-5-best-performances-989648-2017-08-22/3 |archive-date=3 January 2021 }}</ref> The film released theatrically on 11 March 1983<ref>{{Cite tweet |number=1105103089168601090 |user=baraju_SuperHit |title=Megastar #Chiranjeevi, Radhika starrer Superhit Novel based film #Abhilasha cmplts 36 yrs (11/03/1983) Directed by A Kodandarami Reddy Produced by KS Ramarao in @CCMediaEnt Music by Ilayaraja |first= |last=B. A. Raju |date=11 March 2019 |access-date=}}</ref> to positive response and was a commercial success.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tanmayi |first=Bhawana |date=18 May 2018 |title=From Telugu bestsellers to superhits |url=https://telanganatoday.com/from-telugu-bestsellers-to-superhits |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190824052643/https://telanganatoday.com/from-telugu-bestsellers-to-superhits |archive-date=24 August 2019 |access-date=9 August 2020 |website=[[Telangana Today]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Abhilasha – A Kodandarami Reddy-Chiranjeevi: 6 Blockbuster hit films of the ace director-actor duo |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/photo-features/a-kodandarami-reddy-chiranjeevi-6-blockbuster-hit-films-of-the-ace-director-actor-duo/Abhilasha/photostory/64825633.cms |access-date=9 August 2020 |website=[[The Times of India]] |archive-date=16 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216233851/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/photo-features/a-kodandarami-reddy-chiranjeevi-6-blockbuster-hit-films-of-the-ace-director-actor-duo/Abhilasha/photostory/64825633.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> The film was remade in [[Tamil language|Tamil]] as ''[[Sattathai Thiruthungal]]'' (1984).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-01-30 |title=சிலுக்கு ஸ்மிதா! (6) |url=https://www.dinamalar.com/malarkal/vara-malar-weekly-magazine/smitha-6/50739 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231025144024/https://m.dinamalar.com/weeklydetail.php?id=50739 |archive-date=2023-10-25 |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=[[Dinamalar]] |language=ta}}</ref> In spite of being an adaptation of a novel, the core plot was observed to be similar to two American films{{Em dash}}''[[The Man Who Dared (1946 film)|The Man Who Dared]]'' (1946) and ''[[Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956 film)|Beyond A Reasonable Doubt]]'' (1956).<ref name="indiatoday.in"/>

== Plot ==
Struggling lawyer Chiranjeevi (Chiranjeevi) lives with his roommate (Allu Aravind) and is determined to abolish Section 302 of the [[Indian Penal Code]], which mandates the death penalty for murder. His motivation stems from his father's wrongful execution for a crime he didn't commit.

Sarvothama Rao (Rao Gopal Rao), a renowned criminal lawyer, invites all the famous lawyers in the city to a party. By mistake, Chiranjeevi receives an invitation and seizes the opportunity to meet Sarvothama Rao. Nervous but resolute, he plans to discuss his proposal to repeal Section 302.

At the party, Chiranjeevi inadvertently drinks too much and ends up in an embarrassing situation, seeking refuge in a restroom. There, he accidentally meets Sarvothama Rao's niece, Archana (Radhika), and awkwardly explains his presence. This encounter leads to a blossoming romance between Chiranjeevi and Archana, who soon has to leave for a meeting abroad.

During her absence, Chiranjeevi devises a plan to fake a murder, implicate himself, and receive a death sentence. He hopes that Sarvothama Rao will reveal the truth at the last moment to the governor, thereby challenging Section 302 in the Supreme Court. They successfully frame Chiranjeevi with the body of a woman, leading to his death sentence. While in jail, guard Vishnu Sharma (Rallapalli) is puzzled by Chiranjeevi's calm demeanor.

Upon her return, Archana learns of Chiranjeevi's impending execution and visits him. Chiranjeevi, keeping his plan secret, pretends to have committed the crime out of lust, leaving Archana heartbroken. Meanwhile, Sarvothama Rao, en route to meet the governor, has an accident, jeopardizing the plan.

A desperate Chiranjeevi confides in Vishnu Sharma, who rushes to inform Archana. After a frantic night, they manage to contact Sarvothama Rao, who, though injured, provides the evidence needed to save Chiranjeevi.

To celebrate, Sarvothama Rao throws a party, announcing Chiranjeevi and Archana's engagement. However, a drunk Obulesu (Gollapudi Maruti Rao) pulls Chiranjeevi aside, arousing Archana's suspicion. She follows them, leading to the revelation that the woman whose corpse was used in the fake murder did not die naturally. The postmortem report shows she was killed by a man with four fingers on one hand. Archana remembers a four-fingered goon who attacked her previously, and Chiranjeevi recalls buying the body from this goon.

The investigation uncovers that the dead woman was Sarvothama Rao's daughter from an extramarital affair. Sarvothama Rao is arrested, and in court, the judge sentences him to death. Chiranjeevi objects, arguing that true punishment should involve suffering for one's actions, not death. The judge agrees, reducing Sarvothama Rao's sentence to seven years in prison.

== Cast ==
{{colbegin}}
*[[Chiranjeevi]] as Chiranjeevi
*[[Radhika Sarathkumar|Radhika]] as Archana
*[[Rao Gopal Rao]] as Sarvothama Rao
*[[Rallapalli (actor)|Rallapalli]] as Vishnu Sarma
*[[Gollapudi Maruthi Rao]] as Obulesu
*[[Rajyalakshmi]] as Sarvothama Rao's daughter
*Bheema Raju as Bheema Raju
*[[Mada Venkateswara Rao]]
*Uyyuru Ramakrishna
*[[C. S. Rao]]
*Satyendra Kumar
*[[P. J. Sarma]]
*Vijayaram
*Krishna Chaitanya
*Dham
*K. L. N. Rao
*[[Mallikarjuna Rao (actor)|Mallikarjuna Rao]]
*G. Murthy
*M. Jagadeesh Babu
{{colend}}

== Production ==
[[K. S. Rama Rao]], who founded [[Creative Commercials]] as a radio advertising business, later expanded into the film industry. His first foray into filmmaking involved acquiring the dubbing rights of successful Tamil films and releasing them in Telugu. His passion for literature inspired his transition to film production.<ref name=":04">{{Cite web |date=11 March 2013 |title=Interview - KS Rama Rao about Abhilasha and Creative Commercials |url=https://idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/ksramarao-creativecommercials.html |access-date=2024-09-14 |website=[[Idlebrain.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Sri |date=12 January 2006 |title=TC Exclusive: K.S. Rama Rao - Interview |url=http://www.telugucinema.com/tc/stars/interview_ksramarao_2006.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061119100756/http://www.telugucinema.com/tc/stars/interview_ksramarao_2006.php |archive-date=19 November 2006 |access-date=9 August 2023 |work=[[Telugucinema.com]]}}</ref>

In the early 1980s, Rama Rao sought the rights to adapt [[Yandamuri Veerendranath]]'s novel ''[[Tulasi Dalam]]''. Instead, Veerendranath introduced Rama Rao to his unpublished novel ''Abhilasha'', which explores the theme of [[capital punishment]]. Captivated by the story, Rama Rao secured the rights and decided to produce it as his first film.<ref name=":04"/> The novel itself was observed to be similar to two American films{{Em dash}}''[[The Man Who Dared (1946 film)|The Man Who Dared]]'' (1946) and ''[[Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956 film)|Beyond A Reasonable Doubt]]'' (1956).<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 August 2017 |title=Happy Birthday Chiranjeevi: 5 best performances of Megastar you shouldn't miss |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/photo/happy-birthday-chiranjeevi-5-best-performances-989648-2017-08-22/3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103163602/https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/photo/happy-birthday-chiranjeevi-5-best-performances-989648-2017-08-22/3 |archive-date=3 January 2021 |access-date=3 January 2021 |website=[[India Today]] |page=3}}</ref>

For the adaptation of ''Abhilasha'', Rama Rao assembled a distinguished team. He approached [[Chiranjeevi]] to play the lead. Chiranjeevi accepted the film immediately after his mother had previously recommended the novel to him based on its serialized publication in a magazine.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 May 2020 |title=Throwback to flashback: The story behind the making of Abhilasha! |url=https://www.telugubulletin.com/throwback-to-flashback-the-story-behind-the-making-of-abhilasha-80370 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230809100153/https://www.telugubulletin.com/throwback-to-flashback-the-story-behind-the-making-of-abhilasha-80370 |archive-date=9 August 2023 |access-date=9 August 2020 |website=TeluguBulletin.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Kavirayani |first=Suresh |date=12 June 2018 |title=Chiranjeevi's apology |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/tollywood/120618/chiranjeevis-apology.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618131804/https://deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/tollywood/120618/chiranjeevis-apology.html |archive-date=18 June 2018 |access-date=9 August 2020 |website=[[Deccan Chronicle]]}}</ref> [[A. Kodandarami Reddy]] was chosen as the director, and [[Ilaiyaraaja]] was brought on as the composer. Veerendranath, along with [[Satyanand (writer)|Satyanand]] and [[G. Satyamurthy|Satyamurthy]], adapted the novel into the screenplay. This collaboration of Chiranjeevi, K. S. Rama Rao, Kodandarami Reddy, Yandamuri Veerendranath and Ilaiyaraaja proved highly successful and led to a series of hit films in the 1980s, including ''[[Challenge (1984 film)|Challenge]]'' (1984) and [[Rakshasudu (1986 film)|''Rakshasudu'']] (1986).<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":04"/>

== Music ==
All songs were composed by [[Ilaiyaraaja]].

{{Track listing
| extra_column = Singer(s)
| title1 = Navvindi Malle Chendu
| extra1 = [[S. P. Balasubrahmanyam]] & [[S. Janaki]]
| lyrics1 = [[Veturi]]
| length1 = 4:17
| title2 = Urakalai Godavari
| extra2 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam & S. Janaki
| lyrics2 = [[Acharya Aatreya]]
| length2 = 4:43
| title3 = Sande Poddula Kada
| extra3 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam & S. Janaki
| lyrics3 = Veturi
| length3 = 4:28
| title4 = Banthee Chamanthi
| extra4 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam & S. Janaki
| lyrics4 = Veturi
| length4 = 4:40
| title5 = Vela Pala Ledu
| extra5 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam & S. Janaki
| lyrics5 = Acharya Aatreya
| length5 = 4:39
}}

== Reception ==
Venkat Rao of ''[[Andhra Patrika]]'', writing his review on 18 March 1983, praised the film for screenplay, direction and performances of the lead cast. "Chiranjeevi has breath life into his character, its not an exaggeration to say the he would reach greater heights in terms of acting," he opined. The reviewer also wrote "Introducing songs in the films of such genre may affect the screenplay, Illayaraja's soundtrack however would be appealing to the youth."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rao |first=Venkat |date=18 March 1983 |title=చిత్ర సమీక్ష: అభిలాష |trans-title=Film review: Abhilasha |url=https://archive.org/details/ANDHRAPATRIKA18031983/page/n3/mode/2up |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230928165449/https://archive.org/details/ANDHRAPATRIKA18031983/page/n3/mode/2up |archive-date=28 September 2023 |access-date=28 September 2023 |work=[[Andhra Patrika]] |pages=5 |language=te |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

The film initially received negative feedback during its premier at [[Madras]]. Director Reddy and writer Yendamuri who were in [[Hyderabad]] that time, worried about their film career which was dependent on ''Abhilasha''<nowiki/>'s success.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=చిరంజీవి సినిమాకి ఫ్లాప్ టాక్.. ఇద్దరం ట్యాంక్ బండ్ దగ్గర ఏడ్చేశాం! |trans-title=We wept at Tank bund when we heard flop talk for Chiranjeevi's film |url=https://telugu.asianetnews.com/entertainment-news/director-kodanda-ramireddy-about-megastar-chiranjeevi-s-abhilasha-movie-q2nsdw |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218115144/https://telugu.asianetnews.com/entertainment-news/director-kodanda-ramireddy-about-megastar-chiranjeevi-s-abhilasha-movie-q2nsdw |archive-date=18 December 2019 |access-date=9 August 2020 |website=[[Asianet News]] |language=te}}</ref>

However, upon release, the film received a positive response from all areas and became a commercial success. Director Reddy opined that the film's success boosted the careers of the cast and crew.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |last1=Rajadhyaksha |first1=Ashish |url=https://indiancine.ma/texts/indiancine.ma%3AEncyclopedia_of_Indian_Cinema/text.pdf |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema |last2=Willemen |first2=Paul |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] and [[Oxford University Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=0-19-563579-5 |author-link=Ashish Rajadhyaksha |author-link2=Paul Willemen |orig-date=1994}}

== External links ==
*{{IMDb title}}

{{A. Kodandarami Reddy}}

[[Category:1983 Indian films]]
[[Category:1980s legal drama films]]
[[Category:1980s satirical films]]
[[Category:1983 Telugu-language films]]
[[Category:1983 black comedy films]]
[[Category:1983 crime drama films]]
[[Category:1983 films]]
[[Category:Fictional portrayals of the Andhra Pradesh Police]]
[[Category:Films about capital punishment]]
[[Category:Films about corruption in India]]
[[Category:Films about murder]]
[[Category:Films about social issues in India]]
[[Category:Films based on Telugu novels]]
[[Category:Films based on novels by Yandamuri Veerendranath]]
[[Category:Films directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja]]
[[Category:Indian black comedy films]]
[[Category:Indian courtroom films]]
[[Category:Indian crime drama films]]
[[Category:Indian satirical films]]
[[Category:Political controversies in film]]
[[Category:Political controversies in India]]
[[Category:Telugu films remade in other languages]]

Abhilasha 1983 film - Revision history

Arpan1314 at 19:00, 3 March 2026