Rakshasudu (1986 film)

Rakshasudu is a 1986 Telugu-language action crime film produced by K. S. Rama Rao under the Creative Commercials banner and directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy. It stars Chiranjeevi, Radha, Suhasini while Rajendra Prasad, Sumalatha in special appearances and music composed by Maestro Ilaiyaraaja. The film is based on Yandamuri Veerendranath's novel of the same name. The film is the debut of K. Naga Babu in the film industry. The film was recorded as a "superHit" at the box office.

Plot
The film opens with a widowed woman giving birth to a baby boy. The landlord disapproves of this and has the baby disposed of. A drunkard finds the baby and keeps him for a couple of years until he sells the boy to a labor camp in exchange for money. Twenty years later, that boy, Purusha, and his friend Simham escape from the labor camp to see Purusha's mother. However, when Purusha goes to the landlord's house, the landlord says that Purusha's mother left a long time ago, and for Purusha to get the details, the landlord must be bribed with Rs. 10,000. Purusha and Simham sneak into somebody's house and steal the necessary Rs. 10,000. At the moment, they are caught by J. Krishna Murthy alias JK. He tells them it is alright for them to take the money for their use. By the time Purusha and Simham got to the landlord, the landlord sold the information of Purusha's mother to JK for Rs. 50,000. Purusha, angered, goes to JK for an explanation. JK wants to use Purusha to stop his rival, who sells drugs. Pursha reluctantly refuses at first but is later convinced. While Purusha, Simham, and Inspector Vijay fight some bad guys, Purusha gets injured and jumps into a river. He is saved by a school teacher named Sumathi, an orphan. Sumathi also happens to be Vijay's sister. Purusha comes up with a plan to raid important documents to imprison Shailaja's father, who is JK's rival, but in the process, Vijay is killed. How Purusha gets his revenge and meets his mother forms the rest of the story.

Cast

 * Chiranjeevi as Purusha / Rakshasudu
 * Radha as Shailaja / Shailu
 * Suhasini as Sumathi
 * Tiger Prabhakar as Vankachakra Ram Murthy / VR
 * Rao Gopal Rao as J. Krishna Murthy / JK
 * Nagendra Babu as Simham
 * Rajendra Prasad as Inspector Vijay
 * Allu Ramalingaiah as Narasimham
 * Annapurna as Rakshasudu's mother
 * Sumalatha as Vani
 * Samyuktha as JK's daughter
 * Jayamala as Tarakeswari
 * M. V. S. Haranatha Rao as Narakasurudu
 * Narra Venkateswara Rao as Chief Commander
 * P. J. Sarma as SP Bhujanga Rao
 * Vankayala Satyanarayana as Sumathi's father
 * Bhimeswara Rao as Principal
 * Vasudeva Rao as Rajan
 * Jagga Rao
 * Master Suresh as Young Rakshasudu

Soundtrack
The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja. All the songs were chartbusters. Music released on Echo Audio Company. The following is the track listing.

Reception
This is the 3rd movie made by K. S. Rama Rao in the Chiranjeevi-Yandamuri Veerendranath-Ilaiyaraaja-A. Kodandarami Reddy combination under Creative Commercials after Abhilasha and Challenge. It was also dubbed into Tamil as Raatshashan and did well in Tamil Nadu as well. The Telugu version did well in reruns too.