Raghavendra (film)

Raghavendra is a 2003 Indian Telugu-language action film directed by Suresh Krishna and written by Posani Krishna Murali. It stars Prabhas, Anshu and Shweta Agarwal. The music was scored by Mani Sharma. It was also dubbed in Hindi as Sanyasi: The Warrior Saint (2008) and Malayalam as Sakthi in spite of being remade by Suresh himself in Hindi as Rocky: The Rebel.

Plot
Raghava is a hot-blooded, restless youth who cannot tolerate injustice that is being done in society. In the process, he picks up a fight with a local don named Ankineedu. Ankineedu stabs Raghava's ladylove Shirisha to death. He also issues an ultimatum to Raghava's parents to leave the city in a few hours. The vexed parents ask Raghava to accompany them only if he agrees to listen to their words. Hopeless Raghava accepts to give up fighting and live like a Saint. They take Raghava to Mantralayam, a relatives' place, and make him become a devotee of Raghavendra Swamy. This entire episode comes as a flashback. Raghava has a pretty fiancé called Maha Lakshmi in Mantralayam. He becomes a saint-like man and does not respond when some goons humiliate Maha Lakshmi and take off her clothes in public. Raghava's parents, who forcibly restricted his helping nature, ask him to get rid of his maala and go back to society to serve people. Raghava goes like a wounded tiger and fights with Ankineedu's goons. In the end, Raghavendra kills Ankineedu to save people and avenge Sirisha's Death.

Cast

 * Prabhas as "Raghava"
 * Anshu as Shirisha
 * Shweta Agarwal as Maha Lakshmi
 * Anandaraj as Ankineedu
 * Murali Mohan as Raghava's father
 * Prabha as Raghava's mother
 * Brahmanandam as Shirisha's brother
 * Rami Reddy as DSP
 * Kota Srinivasa Rao as Raghava's uncle
 * Bandla Ganesh as Raghava's friend
 * Mohan Raj
 * Gundu Hanumantha Rao
 * Vizag Prasad
 * Raghu Babu
 * Rama Prabha
 * Ram Charan
 * Simran in item number

Soundtrack
This movie has six songs composed by Mani Sharma. The song "Calcutta Pan Vesina" was based on the song "Aal Thotta Bhoopathi Nanada" from the Tamil film Youth, composed by Sharma. The song "Nee Styele" was based on the song "May Madham" from the Tamil film Shahjahan, composed by Sharma.

Reception
Jeevi of Idlebrain.com opined that " 'Raghavendra' is definitely worth a look to see Prabhas's performance!" A critic from Full Hyderabad wrote that "Raghavendra is a classic case of taking the Lord's name in vain".