Clash of thought Or Rip-offs? Films With Similar Themes

We look at some Tollywood films which released around the same timeline and had similar plotlines

Ardhangi (1977)

Directed by Anne Mohan Gandhi, ‘Ardhangi’ had Murali Mohan, Jayasudha, Chandra Mohan and Mohan Babu in the lead. Unfortunately for ‘Ardhangi’, around this period, there were three other films which released with a similar plotline: Amara Deepam, Prema Lekhalu and Gorantha Deepam. Of these ‘Amaradeepam’ was a super hit, ‘Prema Lekhalu’ ended up as above average, ‘Ardhangi’ was termed average and ‘Gorantha Deepam’ was a flop. The plot of all these films more or less revolves around two men in love with the same woman and the machinations engineered to win her at any cost.

Alajadi (1990)

The Tammareddy Bharadwaj directorial focused on campus politics in Osmania University and had Bhanuchander essaying the lead role. The movie although still remembered today was a failure upon release as audiences found the plotline similar to Ram Gopal Varma’s Shiva (1989) which also focused on campus politics and student violence albeit in the Loyola College, Vijayawada. In fact, it was ‘Alajadi’ which had completed shooting a major part of its schedules even before ‘Shiva’ began and a fight sequence in both films were eerily similar as the same fight master ‘Raju Master’ had worked for both the films. 

Vedam (2010)

Although critically acclaimed, ‘Vedam’ was a box-office disaster. It had Allu Arjun and Manchu Manoj as the lead actors and deals with various people and their lives that come together against the backdrop of a terrorist threat. Prior to Vedam in the same year a few months earlier arrived Om Shanti which had Madhavan in one of the main roles. ‘Om Shanti’ also deals with the lives of multiple individuals that come together in a grand finale against the backdrop of a terrorist conspiracy in Hyderabad. Om Shanti also failed to impress the viewers. 

Sukumarudu (2013)

This Aadi Sai Kumar starrer directed by G Ashok is the story of a rich egoistical man who comes back to his hometown in India and rediscovers the magic of human relations. Sadly for Aadi Sai Kumar, this was preceded by a week in theatres by the Nagarjuna-Dasaradh film Greeku Veerudu which also had a similar plot. Both the movies flopped. 

Temper (2015)

A corrupt cop (Jr NTR) decides to get himself transferred to Visakhapatnam and misuse his power for monetary benefits. He later has a change of heart and decides to go straight and the complications that follow form the core of the story. Two weeks prior to ‘Temper’ released Pataas that had Kalyan Ram in the lead role with a similar plot except that the hero gets himself transferred to Hyderabad in this particular film. Interestingly, both films did well in theatres probably because ‘Temper’ was a serious film whereas ‘Pataas’ was designed as an action-comedy. 

Jawaan (2017)

Directed by BVS Ravi, ‘Jawaan’ is the story of Jai (Sai Dharam Tej) a patriotic man who takes on an evil mastermind to save the nation. BVS Ravi had conceived of this idea for ‘Jawaan’ way back in 2015 and even got Sai Dharam Tej’s approval for it. However, in the meantime, came the Tamil movie ‘Thani Oruvan’ with a similar story of an IPS officer who takes on an evil genius for the safety of the country. Ram Charan acquired the remake rights to the film and made it as Dhruva. Sai Dharam decided to postpone the release of ‘Jawaan’ as he did not want to compete with his own cousin Ram Charan. While Dhruva prospered in theatres, Jawaan ended up as a flop.

Sreekaram (2021)

This Sharwanand starrer directed by B Kishor is the story of a software engineer who returns from abroad to take up farming as a vocation and the hurdles involved in pursuing his passion. ‘Sreekaram’ could have fared far better at the ticket window but for super star Mahesh Babu’s Maharshi which released in 2019 and was  also about a successful CEO who decides to give up his insecurities and success to come to a rural village dependent on farming and help out his friend in need. 

Krishna Vrinda Vihari (2022)

Naga Shaurya played the role of Krishna Chari, an orthodox Brahmin boy who falls in love with his colleague. He lies to his parents to get married to her and finds himself in big trouble. Prior to this film released Nani-Nazariya Nazim's Ante Sundaraniki which also dealt with a Brahmin boy from an orthodox family in love with his childhood crush Leela, a Christian. The lovers lie to get their parents' approval and the chaos that ensue because of this forms the plot. Neither ‘Krishna Vrinda Vihari’ nor ‘Ante Sundaraniki’ fared well at the box-office.