# Adhipathi

Adhipathi (transl. Ruler) is a 2001 Indian Telugu-language action drama film directed by Ravi Raja Pinisetty and produced by Mohan Babu under his Sree Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures banner. It stars Mohan Babu, Nagarjuna, Preeti Jhangiani and Soundarya, with music composed by Koti. The film is a remake of the Malayalam film Narasimham (2000).

## Plot

Yogendra is the son of Panduranga Rao, a High Court judge who got the first rank in civil services examinations. Dunnapothula Janardhan Rao, a politician, falsely implicates Yogi in a murder case to take revenge on Panduranga Rao, who had earlier given a jail sentence to him in a corruption case. Panduranga Rao gives the judgment for his son by jailing him for six years. After six years, Janardhan Rao dies on the same day when Yogi is released from jail. Dunnapothula Dharma Rao, Janardhan Rao's son, visits the shores of Godavari River to leave the ashes. Yogi foils the rites by resisting, then Dharma Rao challenges Yogi that he is going to mix the ashes of his father in the Godavari before Yogi mixes the ashes of his father, who is still alive, one day. Meanwhile, Yogi falls in love with Anuradha, the strong-willed and independent-minded daughter of Kaasi Visweswara Rao, Dharma Rao's henchman.
Suddenly, there is an appearance of a girl named Thulasi (Seema), who claims to be Panduranga Rao's daughter, but Panduranga Rao flatly refuses the claim and banishes her. Forced by circumstances and at the instigation help of Dharma Rao, she reluctantly comes out open with the parentage claim. Yogi at first thrashes the protesters, but upon knowing the truth from his uncle Gnaneswara Rao, he accepts the task of her protection in the capacity as her elder brother. Yogi decides to marry Thulasi to his good friend. He also confronts his father and prods him to accept his mistake and acknowledge his parentage to Thulasi. Panduranga Rao ultimately regrets and secretly goes on to confess to his daughter. The very next morning when Yogi returns home, Thulasi is found dead. Panduranga Rao is accused of murdering her, but the whole act was planned by Dharma Rao, who, after killing Thulasi, forces Satya Murthy, Panduranga Rao's longtime servant, to testify against Panduranga Rao in court. In court, Jagan, a close friend of Yogi and famous leading criminal lawyer, appears as the defense council by cancelling his marriage with his girlfriend for friendship and wins the case to lay bare the murder plot and the hidden intentions of the baddies.
Finally, Panduranga Rao is judged innocent of the crime by the court. After that, Yogi returns to his father, who now shows remorse for all his actions, including not believing in his son's innocence. He then dies at Yogi's feet. At Panduranga Rao's funeral, Dharma Rao arrives to poke fun at Yogi and also tries to carry out Janardhan Rao's postponed last rituals. Yogi interrupts the ritual and avenges for the deaths of his sister and father with Jagan's help.

## Cast

* Mohan Babu as Yogindra / Yogi
* Nagarjuna as Jagan
* Preeti Jhangiani as Anuradha
* Soundarya as Jagan's fiancé
* Mukesh Rishi as Dunnapothula Dharma Rao
* Vijayakumar as Justice Panduranga Rao
* Dasari Narayana Rao as Judge
* Kota Srinivasa Rao as Gnaneswara Rao
* Brahmanandam as S.I. Pathodi
* Ali
* Narra Venkateswara Rao as Dunnapothula Janardhan Rao
* Seema as Thulasi
* Raghunatha Reddy as Kaasi Visweswara Rao
* Suthi Velu as Satya Murthy
* Brahmaji as Yogi's friend
* Tanikella Bharani as Lawyer
* Banerjee as S.P. Ashok
* Venniradai Nirmala as Lakshmi
* Jayalalita as Mangala
* Jaya Prakash Reddyas Surya Prakash
* L. B. Sriram as Papa Rao
* Mohan Raj as Gajendra
* M. S. Narayana
* AVS
* Chitti Babu
* Kazan Khan as C.I. Shankar Narayan
* Navabharat Balaji as Krishna Murthy
* Gadiraju Subba Rao
* Y. Vijaya
* Devisri
* Shobha Rani
* Aruna Charlla
* Uma Chowdary
* Alphonsa as item number

## Music

Music for the film was composed by Koti. Audio soundtrack was released on TIPS Audio Company. Telugucinema wrote "The compositions in this movie cast a doubt on Koti's creativity! No tune gives a fresh feeling when heard. The "theme music" included makes one wonder how that can be called so! Koti could have done a lot better job than this. The songs are mostly based on beat, and are typically mass-oriented - the choice of lyricists proves that too!".

## Reception

Idlebrain wrote "The first half of the film is very ordinary and second half of it is OK. Touted as a multi-starrer, Adhipati fails to impress the viewers. The producer seems to have made this film keeping the success of Narasimha Naidu in mind. They have selected the same set of artists (Mukesh Rushi, Jaya Prakash Reddy as villains and Preethi as heroine) and dialogue writer and tried to emulate the formula of Narasimha Naidu. What this film lacks is powerful screenplay and pulsating direction". Telugucinema wrote "Basically this is the story with many unexpected twists and turns. It is of course different from today's flow of teenage love stories. It's a theme packed with action, loaded with sentiment thus giving a lot of scope for so-called action. But the problem arises when the director can not think beyond the formula, that they think has ruled and will rule the films. The routine trivial love track, the ill-mannered humor, and mannerism-oriented performance make the film shallow and unbearable despite the gripping thread in the story. And there is no clue why the film is titled as Adhipathi".