Aatmabalam

Aatmabalam
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tatineni Prasad
Produced by	J. M. Naidu K. Muthayala Rao
Written by	Ganesh Patro (dialogues)
Screenplay by	Tatineni Prasad
Story by	Subhash Ghai
Based on	Karz (1980)
Starring	Nandamuri Balakrishna Bhanupriya
Music by	Chakravarthy
Cinematography	Navakanth
Edited by	K. Satyam
Production company	Sri Valli Productions[1]
Release date	11 January 1985 (1985-01-11)
Running time	123 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu

Aatmabalam (English: Power of Soul) is a 1985 Telugu thriller film, directed by Tatineni Prasad, produced by J. M. Naidu and K. Muthayala Rao under the Sri Valli Productions banner. The film stars Nandamuri Balakrishna and Bhanupriya in the lead roles, with music composed by Chakravarthy. The film is a remake of the Hindi movie Karz (1980).^[2] The film was recorded as a flop at the box office.

Plot

Vairi Vijaya Venkata Lakshmi Narayana Bhupathi, father of Anand Kumar Bhupathi (Sarath Babu) was a rich man in Ooty, whose property was unjustly usurped by Puligaolla Varhavataram (M. N. Nambiar) after his death. Anand wins a legal battle against Varhavataram. Thereafter, Anand has fallen in love with Maya (Silk Smita), a gold-digger working covertly for Varhavataram. Here, Anand tells his mother Rani Vijaya Durga Devi (Anjali Devi) that he is going to get married and is coming back to get her blessings along with Maya. On their way to Ooty, Maya throws Anand off the cliff near a small temple of Goddess Kali. Two decades later, Durga Prasad (Nandamuri Balakrishna) famous pop singer, an orphan raised by P. J. Naidu (Mikkilineni), is the re-incarnation of Anand's soul. He falls in love with a girl Vaishali (Bhanupriya) in first sight at a party.

One day while performing a musical show, Durga Prasad plays a tune liked by Anand, which activates some of Anand's memories subconsciously present in him. While singing a song in his show, he suffers a nervous breakdown and is advised to take a vacation in some remote place. He chooses Ooty, partly because Vaishali lives there. There, his inherited memories become intense when he sees all the locations of these memories and also recognizes Maya. Vaishali tells him that she was brought up by her Rani Mayadevi at the behest of her uncle Kabir (Satyanarayana). In truth, Kabira was sentenced to life imprisonment and is about to be released, after which Durga Prasad wins his permission to court Vaishali. Kabir later reveals to him that Vaishali's father learned some deadly secret about the Kali temple, Maya, and Anand Kumar Bhupathi, for which Maya's brother killed him. In retaliation, Kabir killed Maya's brother and blackmailed her to raise Vaishali with a proper education, by pretending to know the secret. Durga Prasad has also learned previously that Anand's mother and his sister were ousted unjustly from their house by Maya and her brother. He tells the whole story to Kabir, who offers to find Anand's estranged family, with whom Durga Prasad is united. Realizing that Maya is a puppet of Varhavataram, Durga Prasad gradually convinces himself and slowly, a rift is caused between her and Varhavataram. Finally, in the local school opened by the Bhupathi family, an inauguration of a hall in the memory of Anand is planned by the school. Maya has to do the inauguration where Durga Prasad and Vaishali perform at the function, where they dramatize Anand's story.

Maya is horrified to see Anand's mother and sister, and flees, when Durga Prasad confronts her, Maya confesses to Anand's murder, which the police record; whereupon Varhavataram captures Vaishali and asks for Maya in exchange. Just as the exchange is about to take place, Varhavataram tries to burn down Durga Prasad's family, but Durga Prasad saves them and kills him in a fire. Maya escapes with a jeep. Pursued by Durga Prasad, she attacks him at the same Kali temple, but falls to her own death. In the end, Durga Prasad marries Vaishali.

Cast

• Nandamuri Balakrishna as Anand Kumar Bhupathi (second life) / Durga Prasad
• Bhanupriya as Vaishali
• Satyanarayana as Kabir
• Sarath Babu as Anand Kumar Bhupathi (first life)
• M. N. Nambiar as Puligaolla Varhavataraam
• Mikkilineni as P. J. Naidu
• Hari Prasad as Hari
• Telephone Satyanarayana
• Silk Smita as Mayadevi
• Anjali Devi as Rani Vijaya Durga Devi
• Deepa as Pankajavalli / Pinky

Soundtrack

Aatmabalam
Film score by Chakravarthy
Released	1985
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	21:39
Label	Saptaswar Audio
Producer	Chakravarthy
Chakravarthy chronology
Kathanayakudu (1985) Aatmabalam (1985) Babai – Abbai (1985)

Music was composed by Chakravarthy. Lyrics were written by Veturi Sundararama Murthy and music was released on Audio Company.

References