Prema (1989 film)

Prema is a 1989 Indian Telugu-language musical romance film, produced by D. Ramanaidu under the Rajeswari Films banner and directed by Suresh Krissna in his Telugu film debut. It stars Venkatesh and Revathi, with original soundtrack by Ilaiyaraaja. It was dubbed into Tamil as Anbu Chinnam (1990). Suresh remade the film in Hindi as Love (1991). The film won four Nandi Awards.

Plot
Pruthvi (Venkatesh) is an orphan who tries hard to become a great singer. One day he comes across a beautiful, naughty young girl Maggi (Revathi Menon), and they both fall in love. When he approaches Maggi's parents to ask her hand in marriage, his criminal background comes into the picture, and they disagree. In the past, Pruthvi has killed his father as he was the reason for his mother's suicide. Pruthvi tries hard to get Maggi's parents' consent, and at last, they agree. Unfortunately, when Maggi kisses Pruthvi on the altar, she loses her consciousness. In the hospital, the doctors tell Pruthvi that she has taken too many medicines for small problems, and now the medicines have poisoned her vital organs. Meanwhile, Pruthvi gets a chance to participate in a singing competition. Maggi, after regaining her consciousness, knows about this and sends Pruthvi to sing. Pruthvi sings and ends up winning the competition. He comes back to Maggi with the trophy. By that time, Maggi's condition becomes critical, and she dies in Pruthvi's hands, saying that she will always be alive in his heart.

Cast

 * Venkatesh as Pruthvi
 * Revathi as Maggie
 * S. P. Balasubrahmanyam as Satya Rao
 * Gollapudi Maruti Rao as Ananda Rao
 * Manjula as Stella
 * Vaishnavi as Lizzie
 * Kalpana as Geeta
 * Brahmanandam as Gambler
 * Rallapalli as House Owner
 * Pradeep Shakthi as Peter
 * P. L. Narayana as Geetha's Father
 * P. J. Sarma as Father
 * Chalapathi Rao as Minister
 * Bhimaraju as Neighbor
 * Gundu Hanumantha Rao as Gambler
 * Jenny as S.I. Paramahamsa

Soundtrack
Music composed by Ilaiyaraaja. Lyrics written by Acharya Aatreya.

Reception
N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express wrote, "A love story that is sometimes put across with a delicacy not found in the general run of films".

Accolades

 * Nandi Awards
 * Best Actor – Venkatesh
 * Special Jury Award – S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
 * Best Director – Suresh Krissna
 * Best Cinematographer – P. S. Prakash