Pelli SandaD

Pelli SandaD is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language musical romantic comedy film directed by debutant Gowri Ronanki under the supervision of K. Raghavendra Rao. Produced by Madhavi Kovelamudi, Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni, the film features Roshan Meka, Sreeleela, and Shivani Rajashekar.
The film is a spiritual sequel of the 1996 film of the same name. It marks the acting debut of Raghavendra Rao and the Telugu debut of Sreeleela. The music was composed by M. M. Keeravani with cinematography by Sunil Kumar Nama and editing by Tammiraju. It was released on 15 October 2021.

Plot

Maya is an aspirant filmmaker, who expresses interest to helm the biopic of Dronacharya awardee Vasishta. She threatens her father to commit suicide in case Vasishta does not authorize the project and tell his story. After several comical pleadings of her father, the reluctant Vashshta budges and goes down the memory to narrate his story of how he won over his love interest Sahasra. In 1996, Vasishta and Sahasra met at a wedding, and it is love at first sight for both of them. The main obstacle to their union is Sahasra's father Pattabhi Ramayya, the strict family patriarch who is completely against love marriage. How Vasishta convinces the headstrong father and proves that he is a worthy match for his daughter forms the rest of the story.

Cast

Roshan Meka in a double role as
* Ravipati Vasishta
* Arjun Ravipati Vasishta
** K. Raghavendra Rao as old Vasishta
Sreeleela as Kondaveeti Sahasra
* Deepti Bhatnagar as old Sahasra
Shivani Rajashekar as Maya
Rajendra Prasad as Maya's father
Prakash Raj as Kondaveeti Veera Venkata Pattabhi Seetharamayya, Sahasra's father
Rao Ramesh as Vashishta's father
Vithika Sheru as Janaki, Sahasra's sister
Posani Krishna Murali as Kanchukatla Anjaneyulu
Vennela Kishore as Chintu, Sahasra's fiancée
Tanikella Bharani as Vashishta's uncle
Annapurna as Sahasra's grandmother
Satyam Rajesh as Priest Mangalam
Srinivasa Reddy as Maya's father's assistant
Raghu Babu
Jhansi as Vashishta's Mother
Fish Venkat as Ramayya's henchmen
Shakalaka Shankar as Vashishta's uncle
Pragathi as Vashishta's aunt
Kireeti Damaraju as Ram, Sahasra's brother-in-law
Babu Mohan as Subbayya Babai
Hema
Bharani
Production

The film was planned in October 2020 as sequel to 1996 film Pelli Sandadi that starred Srikanth, Ravali and Deepti Bhatnagar. K. Raghavendra Rao decided to supervise the direction of the sequel with Gowri Ronanki making her directorial debut. Incidentally Srikanth's elder son, Roshan Meka, was selected to play the male lead in the sequel.
Initially, it was reported that actor Sridevi's daughter Khushi Kapoor would be the female lead opposite Roshan, but it was not finalized. In October 2020, actress Malavika Nair was signed to pair opposite Meka, but she was later replaced by Sreeleela in January 2021. Filming was completed in July 2021, and post-production began in the same month.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is composed by M. M. Keeravani and lyrics are penned by Chandrabose. "Premante Enti" first track of the soundtrack was released on 27 April 2021 by Aditya Music. "Bujjulu Bujjulu" the second song was unveiled on 23 May. Title track "Pelli SandaD" was released on 12 August 2021, and fourth track "Madhura Nagarilo" was released on 29 September 2021, along with audio album.

Release

The film was initially planned for release in September 2021, but was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic in India. It was released on 15 October 2021. Later, it premiered on ZEE5 on 24 June 2022.

Reception

Thadhagath Pathi reviewing for The Times of India rated the film with 2.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Pelli SandaD remains a strictly watchable fare with the lead actors coming into their own. But don't expect anything fresh or remotely logical." Y Sunita Chowdhary of The Hindu felt that "the film is a Manmohan Desai style of ending with a battle between the divine and the evil where a young, small-built Roshan has a showdown with big-bodied men amidst spears, colour and a Hanuman idol. The film can be touted as a costly showreel for Roshan and Sree Leela". Eenadu stated that soundtrack and performance of lead actors are the positives, and, screenplay, story and first-half are the negatives of the film. A reviewer of NTV criticized film's screenplay and felt that it has an outdated story. They also stated that Raghavendra Rao's acting is a minus for the film.