# Pandaga

Pandaga (transl. Festival) is a 1998 Telugu-language drama film directed by Sarath. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Srikanth, Raasi and music composed by M. M. Keeravani. It is produced under the Jayasri Art Pictures banner. It is a remake of the Malayalam film Katha Nayakan (1997).

## Plot

The film begins with Suryadevara Lakshmi Raghava Vara Prasad, a top-tier person who holds high esteem in society. He is also paterfamilias to a large extended joint family who is single, shoulders his 5 sisters and their respective families. However, they usurp his wealth under the guise of serving him. Once, a valiant Anand rescues Vara Prasad from a few burglars. Just after, he is impressed by Anand's virtue and appoints him as his house manager. For now, Anand wins Vara Prasad's credence and obtains household authority. Besides, Prameela, one of the nieces of Vara Prasad's piety, quarrels with Anand. After some time, Vara Prasad realizes Anand is a forge that trapped him with his excellence, so he boots him. Thereupon, he notices his ex-lover Vijayalakshmi's photograph with him. Here, as a flabbergast, it is revealed that Anand is Vara Prasad's son who walked in to pay back his father for deceiving his mother. Soon, Vara Prasad clarified that it was an error of fortune. So, Anand proclaims Vara Prasad to accept him as his son when he dichotomizes as his honor & family prestige obstruct him. But Anand challenges to divulge the reality. At that moment, Prameela overhears it and apologizes to Anand, and they fall in love. After that, Anand creates chaos in the family and brings out the true faces of his sly relatives. Meanwhile, Vara Prasad decides to declare his heir on his 60th birthday, and ultimately, he affirms the actuality. Learning it, Vara Prasad's sisters accuse him and their riffraff husbands of poisoning him, but on time, Anand saves his father. At last, Vara Prasad handovers his property to them and is ready to leave when they all plead pardon and change his intention. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the marriage of Anand & Prameela.

## Cast

* Akkineni Nageswara Rao as Vara Prasad
* Srikanth as Anand
* Raasi as Prameela
* Padmanabham as Vara Prasad's brother-in-law
* M. Balayya as Raghava
* Sudhakar as Military Officer
* Tanikella Bharani as Sai Babu
* Babu Mohan as Saidulu
* M. S. Narayana as Mallayya
* Venu Madhav as Venu
* Chalapathi Rao as Venkateswara Rao
* Rallapalli as Sambasiva Rao
* Costumes Krishna as Radha Krishna
* Chitti Babu
* Ananth as Prasad's nephew
* Gundu Hanumantha Rao
* Bandla Ganesh as Ganesh
* Tirupathi Prakash as Prasad's nephew
* Subbaraya Sharma as Lawyer
* K. K. Sarma
* Annapurna as Anasuya
* Rama Prabha as Prabhavati
* Srilakshmi as Rukmini
* Shanoor Sana
* Rajitha
* Kalpana Rai as Servant
* Nirmalamma as Koteshwaramma
* Y. Vijaya as Savitri

## Soundtrack

Music composed by M. M. Keeravani. Music released on Supreme Music Company.

## Reception

Griddaluru Gopalrao of Zamin Ryot gave a positive review for the film. He praised the performance of Nageswara Rao in particular in addition to Srikanth, Bharani and Babu Mohan. In a retrospective review, GVK of India Herald wrote that director Sarath has executed emotional scenes with heart.