| Sathamanam Bhavati | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Satish Vegesna |
| Written by | Satish Vegesna |
| Screenplay by | Satish Vegesna |
| Story by | Satish Vegesna |
| Produced by | Dil Raju |
| Starring | Sharwanand Anupama Parameswaran Prakash Raj Jayasudha |
| Narrated by | Murali Mohan |
| Cinematography | Sameer Reddy |
| Edited by | Madhu |
| Music by | Mickey J. Meyer |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 133 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Budget | ₹8 crores[1] |
| Box office | |
Sathamanam Bhavati (transl. May you live long for 100 years) is a 2017 IndianTelugu-languagefamily drama written and directed bySatish Vegesna.[4][5] The film is produced byDil Raju underSri Venkateswara Creations and starsSharwanand,Anupama Parameswaran,Prakash Raj andJayasudha in key roles.[6][7] An ensemble cast includingNaresh,Indraja,Raja Ravindra,Shiju,Himaja, andSithara plays supporting roles.Sathamanam Bhavati deals with the themes of "tradition-technology conflict", "joint family vs nuclear family", and "midlife crisis".
Thescore andsoundtrack are composed byMickey J. Meyer, and cinematography is bySameer Reddy. The film released worldwide on 14 January 2017 with highly positive reviews and coinciding withSankranti.[8][9] The screenplay of the film was archived at theOscar Library.[10] The film has received theBest Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment at the64th National Film Awards "in appreciation of providing a feeling of jubilation by respecting family values in an unexplored manner".[11] The film has also garnered theAndhra Pradesh stateNandi Award forBest Direction, andBest Home Viewing Feature Film.[12]
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Raghavaraju is a farming landlord inAtreyapuram village ofAndhra Pradesh. He lives with his wife Janakamma, along with his nephew Bangararaju, his wife and their son Raju. Raghavaraju lives in his ancestral house built by his forefathers consisting of many generations living in the same household as ajoint family. However, with changing times, Ragahvaraju's two sons, Ravi and Kalyan and daughter Jhansi live in theUnited States,Canada, andAustralia respectively asnuclear families. After a gap of 10 years, all of his children arrive in the village during the holiday season ofMakara Sankranti, under mysterious circumstances after they receive an email from Raghavaraju, who expresses his wish todivorce his wife.
Nithya is the daughter of Jhansi. Soon Nithya and Raju fall in love but do not express it to each other. The siblings soon reunite. Raju and Nithya set up a meeting of their uncle with his old love interest. However, Jhansi asks Raju to not to keep up his hopes on Nithya's love, which he does but which leaves Nithya heartbroken.
Raghavaraju and Janakamma reveal that they are not going to divorce but getting separated from each other, while Janakamma wants to live with her children. Raghavaraju wants to see his wife happy, so he emails his children so that they can come home and take their mother with them. Raju sent the divorce papers to a lawyer to make them understand the value of family. After Raghavaraju's words, they felt sorry for avoiding their parents. Jhansi accepts Nithya and Raju's marriage and their marriage was accepted by the whole family. All of them celebrate Sankranti and promise to come back for celebrating Ugadi with their family, while Nithya expresses her wish to stay with her grandparents, Raju and his parents.
The idea ofSathamanam Bhavati originated in the 1990s. Director Sathish Vegesna wrote a short storyPalle Payanam Etu?, which was written as part of a single-page short story competition conducted byAndhra Prabha. The story was then rejected and not published. Later, in early 2015, Vegesna decided to make a feature film based on the same story.[citation needed]
In September 2015,Sai Dharam Tej has signed two projects forDil Raju underSri Venkateswara Creations, which wereSupreme directed byAnil Ravipudi andSathamanam Bhavati bySatish Vegesna.[13] In February 2016, Sai Dharam Tej has opted out due to schedule conflicts and replaced byRaj Tarun[14] alongsideAnupama Parameswaran.[15] Later in May 2016, Raj Tarun was replaced bySharwanand as lead in the film.[16] After performing well in two Telugu filmsPremam (2016) andA Aa (2016), Anupama was cast to play the role Nithya, an NRI fromAustralia.[17]
The film was officially launched on 27 August 2016 andmuhurtam shot was also done. The principal photography of the film began inAmalapuram,Andhra Pradesh in September 2016. completed by.[18] Few scenes were filmed at Thalluru, nearbyRajahmundry.[19] Filming was wrapped up on 28 November 2016 within 49 days.[20]
| Shatamanam Bhavati | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Film score by | ||||
| Released | 18 December 2016 | |||
| Recorded | 2016 | |||
| Genre | Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 18:24 | |||
| Label | Aditya Music | |||
| Producer | Mickey J. Meyer | |||
| Mickey J. Meyer chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music is composed byMickey J. Meyer. The album was released byAditya Music company.[21]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mellaga Tellarindoi" | Sri Mani | Anurag Kulkarni,Ramya Behara,Mohana Bhogaraju | 4:12 |
| 2. | "Shatamanam Bhavati" | Ramajogayya Sastry | K. S. Chithra,Vijay Yesudas | 3:21 |
| 3. | "Naalo Nenu" | Ramajogayya Sastry | Sameera Bharadwaj | 3:46 |
| 4. | "Nilavade" | Ramajogayya Sastry | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 2:52 |
| 5. | "Hailo Hailessare" | Sri Mani | Aditya Iyengar, Rohith Paritala, Mohana Bhogaraju, Divya Divakar | 4:13 |
| Total length: | 18:24 | |||
The film was dubbed inHindi asS/O Krishnamurthy and released byAditya Movies in September 2019.[22] It was also dubbed in Tamil under the same name. The television broadcast rights of the film were acquired byZee Telugu. The film was premiered on 26 March 2017[23] and registered aTRP rating of 15.4.[24] Later it was made available onZEE5.
Made on budget of₹80 million (equivalent to₹110 million or US$1.3 million in 2023), the film collected a gross of₹107 million (equivalent to₹150 million or US$1.8 million in 2023) and distributor's share of₹60 million (equivalent to₹84 million or US$980,000 in 2023) in its opening week.Mint reported that the film collected a gross of $653,664 (₹44.5 million) in theUnited States in the first two weeks since its release.[25] The film was exhibited for 100 days in fewmovie theaters across theTelugu states.[26] In late April 2017, a success meet was held for the film's 100 days theatrical run.[27]
Upon release, the film received positive reviews from critics. Various critics praised Vegesna's screenplay.[28] Srividya Palaparthi ofThe Times of India gave the film three stars out of five and commented, "Sathamanam Bhavathi doesn't offer much as a film. However, this is the holiday season, and if you wanted watch a laid-back low-risk film with your family, there couldn't be a better choice."[29] and also praised cinematography done bySameer Reddy.The Hindu's Srivathsan Nadadhur quoted the film as "rightly peppered for the festive season" and "an ideal family watch".[30] He further added that the film gets its balance right predominantly due to the performances, humour and Mickey J. Meyer's music.
Writing forDeccan Chronicle, Pranita Jonnalagedda gave mixed review about the film and felt that the music compositions byMickey J. Meyer have similarities with other films likeBrahmotsavam,Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu andA Aa. She also criticized of the predictability of most of the scenes in the film.[31] Jeevi ofIdlebrain praised the dialogues written Vegesna's which explored morals and relationships. On a whole, he wrote that "Sathamanam Bhavati has elements and intent that attract family crowds this festival season."[32]
Following the success of the film, Vegesna further directed twofamily drama filmsSrinivasa Kalyanam(2018) andEntha Manchivaadavuraa(2020). Both films have similar plot, focusing more on "tradition-technology conflict", "joint family vs nuclear family" and "age-old wedding traditions".
Sangeetha Devi Dundoo ofThe Hindu listedSathamanam Bhavati among "Top 10 Telugu films of 2017".[33] It was also featured onThe Indian Express's "2017's best Telugu films" article, written by Manoj Kumar R.[34]