Ammoru

Ammoru is a 1995 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological fantasy film directed by Kodi Ramakrishna. The film is produced by Shyam Prasad Reddy, under M. S. Arts Unit. It stars Ramya Krishna in the title role and Soundarya, Suresh, Rami Reddy, Baby Sunaina, Vadivukkarasi, Kallu Chidambaram, and Babu Mohan in supporting roles. In the film, goddess Ammoru descents to Earth and protects her devotee Bhavani from evil forces.

The film's soundtrack was composed by Sri with cinematography by C. Vijay Kumar. Released on 23 November 1995, the film became blockbuster at the box office and received positive acclaim for visual effects. The film won two Nandi Awards. The film was dubbed and released in Tamil as Amman and in Hindi as Maa Ki Shakti. The film was remade in Bengali as Debi (2005) by Swapan Saha.

Plot
When the pandemic Cholera hunts the village, the people worship Goddess Ammoru to save them. That night, an old woman visits a kind woman's house in that village and asks her to sprinkle a potion along the village's boundary to rid the village of the epidemic. She also promises to stay in the house until the woman returns. The woman leaves but she forgot to provide food to the old woman. As she returns and sees through the window, where she understands that the Goddess has visited her house. She recollects the promise given to her and commits suicide by jumping into a well. The Goddess is now obliged to permanently stay in the house which is later converted into a temple.

Bhavani, an ardent devotee of Goddess Ammoru, informs the police about Ghorakh, who kills a young girl by burying her alive due to his sorcery and gets him arrested. As an act of revenge, Gorakh's sister Leelamma and her family torture Bhavani. In one of their attempts, Bhavani is married to Ghorakh's nephew Surya, a doctor. Surya leaves for the USA on a business trip, leaving his wife unprotected. When Leelamma tries to kill Bhavani, with the help of Leelamma's creditor, Goddess Ammoru descends to earth. She kills Leelamma's creditor and takes the form of a little girl (Papa) to protect her. She tortures Leelamma, her husband, and her daughter in retaliation. Leelamma's servant realizes that Papa is Ammoru and stays loyal to her. As Surya returns to India after his American business, Leelamma alleges that Bhavani is involved in an illicit relationship by framing her with another man in their bedroom. But Papa switches Leelama's daughter in the place of Bhavani. The daughter is married to that man by Ammoru.

Meanwhile, Ghorakh is released from jail due to his Epilepsy condition. But he remains unchanged and decides to take revenge against Bhavani who was responsible for his arrest. First, he tries to kill Bhavani by poisoning her food when she is pregnant. But Goddess Ammoru, who is in the form of the Papa saves her and helps Bhavani give birth to a baby daughter. Ghorakh realizes that some form of virtuous spirit is making his power useless. He finds out that the little girl is goddess Ammoru who is obstructing his evil plans. Ghorakh tricks Bhavani to dismiss Papa. Bhavani states that she must not return unless she puts Pottu on her head and asks her to come. Ghorakh then kills Bhavani's infant daughter and tortures Surya, with the help of an evil spirit, Chanda. Bhavani prays to Goddess Ammoru to save her but the Goddess cannot respond as Bhavani has not fulfilled the condition of her return. At last, Bhavani puts her hand on the Goddess's trident and she bleeds. Ghorakh pulls her in a bid to disrobe her, causing a few drops of Bhavani's blood to spill on the Goddess' forehead which allows her to return. The Goddess arrives in her fiercest form and kills Ghorakh. Surya and Bhavani realize that Papa was Ammoru all along. The Goddess returns Bhavani's baby daughter (whom she saved from Ghorakh) to Bhavani and blesses them.

Cast

 * Ramya Krishnan as Goddess Ammoru
 * Soundarya as Bhavani (Voice dubbed by actress Saritha)
 * Baby Sunaina as the Child Servant (Papa) / Ammoru
 * Suresh as Surya
 * Rami Reddy as Gopalakrishna "Gorakh"
 * Vadivukkarasi as Leelamma
 * Babu Mohan as Leelamma's Husband
 * Shruthi as Leelamma's daughter
 * Kallu Chidambaram as Chidambaram

Development and casting
Shyam Prasad Reddy, who was disappointed with the response of his previous production Aagraham (1991) decided to make a film in Telugu with extensive use of visual effects after watching Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). He chose Y. Rama Rao, who assisted Kodandarami Reddy as director and Chinna was cast as a sorcerer, however he was replaced by Rami Reddy. Eeswar Reddy who directed films like Mee Sreyobhilashi (2007) and Manorama (2009) worked in the camera department of the film. Ramya Krishna was selected to portray the role of the goddess and Soundarya was selected to portray her devotee after she was recommended by Babu Mohan. Baby Sunaina was cast as Ammoru's child avatar.

Filming
The filming began in July 1992 at Ayinavilli in the East Godavari district. Despite Y. Rama Rao being announced as director, Shyam Prasad Reddy replaced him with Kodi Ramakrishna after he was not satisfied with the film's outcome. Kodi Ramakrishna revealed that when he was offered to direct the film, he had to read books related to visual effects to improve his knowledge. Vijay C. Kumar, who handled cinematography said that he had to use blue matte for the graphics related shots and the graphics part was handled by Lin Wood. Despite not having a big star cast, the film was shot twice and took three years to complete with the budget of ₹1.8 crore.

Music
Chakravarthy was initially chosen to compose the music, but since he was unwell at that time his son Sri was selected to compose.

Reception
Reviewing the Tamil dubbed version Amman, D. S. Ramanujam of The Hindu wrote that "Soundarya puts her heart and soul into her performance as the hapless girl caught in the vicious circle of her  relatives  and  in  the scene where she loses her baby and in the  portion  trying to save her afflicted husband from Gorak's spell without inviting  the help of the Goddess, she sizzles".

Awards and honours
Filmfare Awards


 * Best Actress – Telugu - Soundarya


 * Nandi Awards
 * Special Jury Award - Shyam Prasad Reddy
 * Best Makeup Artist - M. Chandra Rao
 * Best Makeup Artist - M. Chandra Rao

Legacy
The film's success established the trend of mythological fantasy films with visual effects in Telugu cinema with Kodi Ramakrishna directing similar projects like Devi (1999) and Anji (2004) in his career. The film proved to be a launchpad for Soundarya, who went on to become a top most actress in Telugu cinema.