Dongaata (1997 film)

Dongaata is a 1997 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Kodi Ramakrishna. It stars Jagapati Babu, Soundarya, Suresh, Ritu Shivpuri, with music composed by Bharadwaj. It is produced by Dr. K. L. Narayana under the Sri Durga Arts banner and presented by S. Gopal Reddy. The film was inspired by the English film French Kiss (1995), which was remade in Hindi later on as Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha (1998).

Plot
The film begins in a village where Subbalakshmi, a naive woman, endears her cousin Prakash Rao, and her father raises him to knit him with Subbalakshmi. Presently, he moves to the city for higher studies. After that, he didn't show up for her. Perturbed, Subbalakshmi proceeds to the town by lying to her father and saying she is going on a tour. On her train journey, a thief, Raju, acquaints her, who has stolen a diamond necklace that he hides in Subbalakshmi's bag to sneak from the Police.

ACP Vikram shadows Raju to recover the necklace. Besides, Raju follows Subbalakshmi as white on rice for the bag. Therein, he rescues her from several pitfalls and supports her in finding the whereabouts of Prakash Rao. During that time, Raju starts liking her but remains silent because of her sweetheart towards her cousin. Subbalakshmi finds Prakash Rao, where she gets blindsided and collapses, viewing Prakash Rao's close intimacy with a tycoon, Lavanya. Prakash Rao is a swindler who exploited Subbalakshmi to hit the top. Presently, he is behind Lavanya's wealth. At that point, Prakash Rao manipulates the situation, convinces Subbalakshmi, and sends her back when Raju again accompanies her. On the way, Subbalakshmi fortuitously meets Prakash Rao's friend Prasad, who reveals his friend's diabolic shade. Being conscious of it, Subbalakshmi tries to commit suicide when Raju bars her and words to rectify Prakash Rao.

Right now, Prakash Rao, Raju & Subbalakshmi have reached Jaipur. Herein, Raju turns her into a modern girl. At that juncture, he is stunned to find the necklace in Subbalakshmi's hands, which she has hidden to seek his help. Currently, they make a friendship with Lavanya that frightens Prakash Rao. Moreover, Raju develops a close bond with Lavanya. So, Prakash Rao warns Subbalakshmi, accuses her character, and tries to kill her. However, she is saved by ACP Vikram when she handovers the necklace to him, pleads to quit Raju, and expresses her present love towards Raju, which she hesitates to reveal. Meanwhile, Lavanya necks out Prakash Rao, aware of his true face. So, he reaches Subbalakshmi, trying to con her again, but she discards him and moves to her village. At last, Raju learns about Subbalakshmi's love through ACP Vikram, rushes to the railway station, and confesses that he loves her too. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the union of Raju & Subbalakshmi.

Cast

 * Jagapati Babu as Raju
 * Soundarya as Subbalakshmi
 * Suresh as Prakash Rao
 * Ritu Shivpuri as Lavanya
 * Kota Srinivasa Rao as Subbalakshmi's father
 * Brahmanandam as Constable
 * Sudhakar as Paropakari Papanna, a thief
 * Sarath Babu as ASP Vikram
 * Babu Mohan as a pimp
 * Mallikarjuna Rao as Ambothula Appa Rao
 * M. Balayya as Raju's father
 * Subhalekha Sudhakar as Prasad, Prakash's friend
 * Ananth Babu as Hotel owner
 * Gautam Raju as SI
 * Naamala Murthy
 * Gadiraju Subba Rao
 * Annuja
 * Alphonsa in a special appearance in the song "Lallaguda Mallesha"
 * Priya as Subbalakshmi's friend
 * Ragini as Radha
 * Neelima
 * Dubbing Janaki as Subbalakshmi's mother

Music
The music was composed by Bharadwaj and released on the Supreme Music Company.

Reception
The film was reviewed by Zamin Ryot. A critic from Andhra Today said that "The movie has many drawbacks and instead of covering them up, the director harped on them, and made the movie drag and boring".