Gang Leader
| Gang Leader | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Vijaya Bapineedu |
| Produced by | Maganti Ravindranath Chowdary |
| Written by |
Vijaya Bapineedu(Story & screenplay) Paruchuri Brothers(dialogues) |
| Starring |
Chiranjeevi Vijayashanti Rao Gopal Rao Anandaraj Murali Mohan |
| Music by | Bappi Lahari |
| Cinematography | Lok Singh |
| Distributed by | Shyam Prasad Arts |
Release dates | 9 May 1991 |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
Gang Leader is a 1991 Telugu crime film starring Chiranjeevi and Vijayashanti. Directed by Vijaya Bapineedu, with soundtrack by Bappi Lahari, and dance choreography by Prabhu Deva, the film emerged as a musical blockbuster, cult classic. It surpassed the box office collections of the blockbuster and industry hit Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari. Later it was dubbed in Tamil with same title. The film was later remade in Hindi as Aaj Ka Goonda Raj with Chiranjeevi and Meenakshi Seshadri in lead roles, and in Kannada as Kutumba starring Upendra.[1][2]
Plot
Raghupathi (Murali Mohan), Raghava (Sarath Kumar) and Rajaram (Chiranjeevi) are brothers. Raghupathi is the only bread winner of the family. Raghava is preparing for Civil Services Examination and Rajaram is unemployed. Rajaram and his four friends are a gang and are searching for jobs daily. They roam in the city till mid-night. Rajaram comes home at mid-night and sleeps till afternoon, his grand mother (Nirmalamma) yells at his irresponsibility and carelessness. One day Rajaram makes Kanya Kumari (Vijayashanti) to vacate the house on a payment basis as she is not paying the rent to the house, Subsequently she changes her place to Rajaram's house. At one situation Rajaram goes to jail for money, because his brother requires money as he wants to go to Delhi for IAS preparation. Ekambaram (Raogopal Rao) and his brother Kanakambaram (Anandaraj) kill Raghupathi (Murali Mohan) when he gave a police complaint for a murder he witnessed. His brother (Raja Ram) was still in jail when this happened, but Rajarams` friends know how he died. Rajaram thinks his brother's death was an accident.
Raghava becomes an IAS officer, and marries Sumalatha, which was a scheme planned by the duo brothers Ekambaram and Kanakambaram. Sumalatha hates Raghava's family members. Kanya Kumari loves Rajaram and his family members. Meanwhile Rajaram comes to know about his brother's death and inquires who was responsible for his death. Even his friends were also murdered by Ekambaram and Kanakambaram at that time. Rajaram is framed by them for his friends murder and Raghava disowns him. With the help of Kanya Kumari, Rajaram escapes from jail and she reveals that she is Ekambaram's daughter. She ran away from home after her father killed her mother and began moving into other people's houses. After hearing this, Rajaram also falls for Kanya Kumari. The film ends with Rajaram taking revenge by killing the villains.
Cast
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Chiranjeevi | Rajaram |
| Vijayashanti | Kanyakumari |
| Raogopal Rao | Ekambaram |
| Kaikala Satyanarayana | Jailer |
| Allu Ramalingaiah | Sidhanthi |
| Nirmalamma | Sabari (Rajaram's grandmother) |
| Anandaraj | Kanakambaram |
| Murali Mohan | Raghupati |
| Sarath Kumar | Raghava |
| Sudha | Lakshmi (Raghupati's wife) |
| Sumalatha | Latha (Raghava's Wife) |
| Nutan Prasad | Home Minister Gali Subba Rao |
| Narayan Rao | Narayana |
| Hari Prasad | Hari |
| Maharshi Raghava | Raghava |
| Jayalalitha | Chukka |
Soundtrack
The Music and background score was provided by Bappi Lahari and the Lyrics were penned by Veturi Sundararama Murthy, Bhuvanachandra. The audio was an instant hit and "Papa Rita" and "Vaana Vaana Velluvaye" were a rage in the entire state that time. Later the Song "Vaana Vaana Velluvaye" was re-mixed by Mani Sharma in the 2012 film Rachcha.
| Song Title | Singers | Lyricist |
|---|---|---|
| "Papa Rita" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | Bhuvana chandra |
| "Paala Bugga" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Chitra | Veturi Sundararama Murthy |
| "Bhadrachalam" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Chitra | Bhuvana Chandra |
| "Vaana Vaana Velluvaye" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Chitra | Bhuvana chandra |
| "Vayasu Vayasu" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Chitra | Veturi Sundararama Murthy |
| "Panisaasasa" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Chitra | Bhuvana chandra |
Reception
The movie was a huge success. It is considered to be one of the top movies in Chiranjeevi's career. Gang Leader did a 162-day run at Sudharshan theater in Hyderabad. The movie successfully completed 100 days in more than 30 theaters. The movie was dubbed into Tamil and Kannada. It was a success in those areas also.