Geethanjali (2014 film)

Geethanjali is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language comedy horror film directed by debutant Raj Kiran. It stars Anjali and Srinivasa Reddy in lead roles. The film's soundtrack and background score were composed by Praveen Lakkaraju. The movie was remade in Kannada as Kathe Chitrakathe Nirdeshana Puttanna (2016). Anjali won the Nandi Award for Best Actress for her performance.

A sequel, Geethanjali Malli Vachindi, was released in 2024.

Plot
Srinivas "Sreenu" is a wannabe film director who aims to win a Nandi award for a story he has written. He faces ridicule from different producers, including one who tries to make him adulterate the story and another woman who tells him that everybody in her family and staff including cooks and cleaners have to like the story if she is to produce it. He meets a businessman, Ramesh Rao with whom at first he has a fight for being late for an appointment, but eventually gets along with. He narrates the story to him. Rao also wants to do a film which will win him a Nandi award as he wants to dedicate it to his father.

In the opening scene in an apartment in Hyderabad, a girl commits suicide. The death appears to be suspicious and is being investigated by inspector Shravan who at first suspects the security guard, who was the first one to find out about the suicide. The next day, the owner of the house comes with a babaji who takes the spirit of the girl into a lemon but dies in a car accident on the way back.

Sreenu tells Ramesh Rao to imagine himself in place of the hero. In a bus from Vijayawada to Hyderabad, the hero meets a girl Anjali. Both of them become friends during the journey but the next morning, Anjali leaves without Sreenu knowing. After getting down from the bus, Sreenu goes to his friend Madhunandan, and it is revealed that he had actually come to Hyderabad to meet producer Dil Raju and narrate to him a story he wrote. A broker gets them a flat in the same building where the suicide took place. After a lot of persuasion, Sreenu agrees to stay there. There he meets Athreya and Arudra who claim to be assistants of Dil Raju although they are not and began to stay with Sreenu and Madhu. That night, Anjali comes there as she thought her friends who used to stay there were still there. Sreenu manages to persuade her to come in with a cup of coffee as coffee is her weakness. Soon she becomes a regular guest at the house. One day, two policemen come there and give Sreenu a bundle and tell him to put it in the prohibited room which belongs to the owners of the flat. When he keeps them inside, he sees a picture of Anjali in the room. Sreenu asks Venkatesh, the watchman about the photo and he tells Sreenu that it is a photo of the girl who committed suicide. Sreenu, Athreya and Arudra are frightened out of their wits when Venkatesh tells them that he hasn't seen any girl enter the apartment at night since a week. That night, the doorbell rings again but Sreenu does not open the door. The next morning, he packs everything that belonged to him and runs away from the apartment.

It is now revealed that whatever Sreenu told Ramesh Rao is his real-life story. Sreenu tells Rao that he just wanted to tell the story to somebody and he doesn't want to actually make it into a movie. And saying so, he leaves from there. On the way back, Sreenu encounters a friend of Anjali whose photo he had seen in the room. When he inquires with the girl, he finds out that Anjali had a boyfriend, Madhunandan, who was in jail as people believed him to be the reason Anjali committed suicide. At first, Sreenu thinks it is his friend, Madhu but later finds out it is not. Madhu takes Sreenu, Athreya and Arudra to his uncle Shaitan Raj, a psychiatrist. Raj helps the three of them and they find out it is just a man who has been hiding there as he thought he will get a free house if they also run away. The 4 of them encourage the man to work for a living. That night, Anjali comes there to tell them the truth. She reveals to them that her name is Ushanjali and the one who died is her identical twin sister, Geethanjali. Geethanjali was in love with Madhu, but her boss, Ramesh Rao, raped her after she refuses to marry him. She commits suicide and Rao has Madhu framed for her death. The gang decides to take revenge on Rao. Sreenu tells Rao that he went back to the flat and the girl's spirit was coming that night to tell him who killed her. Rao tells Sreenu he too will come along and hear the spirit. Sreenu and the gang send Ushanjali to Shaitan Raj to train in the language and body language of devils so that she can act as Geethanjali's spirit.

That night, at Sreenu's house, Rao reveals he knows everything and that the spirit who has come now is not Geethanjali but Ushanjali. In a fit of rage, Ushanjali kills Ramesh Rao and then goes away. Just after she leaves, she returns and apologises for being late and that she is ready. It is then revealed that Ushanjali got locked inside her house and that the one who came was the real Geethanjali (who escaped from the lemon after it broke open). The ending scene shows all of them together celebrating Geethanjali's boyfriend, Madhunandan's birthday and after that a song.

Production
Debutant director Raj Kiran, announced his first film featuring Anjali and Srinivasa Reddy. He titled the horror comedy women-centric film as 'Geethanjali.The first look launch event of the movie was held in Hyderabad and V. V. Vinayak, who has attended as the chief guest, launched the first look.

Reception
The movie gained mixed reviews, and it was a box office hit with critics praising Anjali's performance.She received Nandi Award for Best Actress, SICA Award for Best Telugu Actress. Following the success of Geethanjali, she received many offers of women-centric films which she turned down all.

Critical response
A reviewer from Idlebrain.com wrote "The entertainment in the first half and a few moments in the second half are enjoyable. We have to wait and see how the movie lovers lap the Geethanjali up". A critic from 123 Telugu wrote "The presence of A list comedians, and some funny comedy in the first half makes Geetanjali definitely a one time watch". A critic from Sakshi.com says "Going into the story in the second half seems to slow down a bit. However, due to the positive aspects being in excess, some of the flaws do not stand out".