Telugu Movie Review Okkadu - Cast & Crew

Chithra is a worldwide known Indian soulful singer. Her original name is Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra. Born in July 1963, Chithra has grown into a versatile singer who can sing all variants. Though she is a born Malayali, she sang in more than 13 languages so far, and the number is still going on. She is fondly known as Chinna Kuyil and Keralathinte Vanambadi, which translates into English as Little Nightingale and Nightingale of Kerala. This is due to her exceptionally melodious singing which has never known any boundaries. She made the excellent contribution to the Music industry in languages like Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Odia, Assamese, Hindi, Bengali, Sanskrit, Badaga, Tulu, Punjabi, and Urdu. She has a record of being able to record more than 25,000 songs and the number is still increasing. In addition to these recorded songs, she also participated in countless concerts.

Shreya Ghoshal, one of the most famous singers in Bollywood today, was born on March 12th, 1984, in Berhampore, West Bengal. Her father Biswajit Ghoshal is an electrical engineer and mother Sharmistha Ghoshal is a postgraduate in literature. She started singing since the age of 4 when her mother taught her. She started her formal training in Hindustani classical Gharana of music when she was only six years old. She was trained for 18 months after which she continued her training in Mumbai with Late Mukta Bhideji. She completed her graduation in Arts with majors in English. Her first on-stage performance was at their club’s annual function. Her first studio album was in Bengali in 19998 and was named Bendhechhi Beena, and her first onscreen performance was in Awaz Nayi Andaaz Wohi. In 1995, she became the winner of All India Light Vocal Music Competition. Her fame and career began with her winning a television singing reality show named Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.

Sujatha Mohan (Sujatha or Baby Sujatha) is one of the most prolific singers after S. Janaki, P. Susheela, and K.S. Chitra. She has sung nearly 10,000 songs in many Indian languages and has performed over 5000 live concerts in her career. She came to spotlight while singing songs with K.J. Yesudas in musical concerts. This fetched her recognition, and she got her first break as a playback singer when she was in the sixth standard. 

Bhumika Chawla or Rachna Chawla is an Indian actress born on 21 August 1978 in New Delhi. Bhumika was born in a Punjabi family, and her father was in the army. Bhumika did her schooling from New Delhi and later moved to Mumbai with her family in 1997. She made her debut in the South film industry with Yuvakudu in 2000 where she played the role of Sindhu. Before her debut in the Telugu film industry, she used to do Ads and video albums. Bhumika won Filmfare Award for Best Actress- Telugu for her role as Madhumitha in Khushi (2001). Meanwhile, Bhumika also made her debut in the Tamil film industry with the movie Badri as the role of Janaki opposite actor Vijay. One of her films Okkadu in 2003 was one of the highest grosser of the year and made her popular among the film industry. After a numerous super hits in Tamil and Telugu, she was starred in the Hindi blockbuster Tere Naam opposite superstar Salman Khan. The movie gave her career a new heights and appreciation from every corner and was one of the top grosser of the year.

Gunasekhar is a literature enthusiast, a theatre artist and now an Indian film Director and Screenwriter. He was born on 2nd June 1964 in Narsipatnam, Visakhapatnam. Since he was a child he had an interest in literature and he also wrote short stories. As he developed an interest for theatre, he started taking part in different plays and writing plays. Keeping in mind his movie buff, he moved to Chennai to pursue a career in the same. He worked under various writers and directors.

Mani Sharma is a famous music Director in Tamil and TelughMovies. His full name is Mani Sharma Yanmandra. Mani Sharma was born in a small district of Andhra Pradesh. His Village name is Machillipatnam which is situated in Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh. He spent his childhood in Chennai.

Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry is an Indian Lyricist and Poet. He works in the Telugu Film Industry as a Lyricist. His actual name is Chembolu Seetharama Sastry. Sastry was born on the 20th of May in the year 1955. He was born in Anakapalli, Andhra Pradesh. He is currently staying in Hyderabad, Telangana. Seetharama Sastry had his debut with writing songs for the legendary director K. Vishwanath.

Shankar Mahadevan, a well-renowned, talented and famous music composer, and singer. An accomplished musician in Tamil cinema, he is a part of the Shankar Ehsaan Loy trio team that provides music to Bollywood and other International films. He has won various Indian and multiple National Film Award. His most famous albums include, “Breathless“- Album that first gave him fame, including the song, "Breathless," in which he sings throughout the whole song without pausing to breathe and “Nine” - Nine is Shankar's most recent album. Each song is a representation of a "mood," including joy, sadness, love, etc. He was also invited by UNESCO and the US State Department to perform at the UN General Assembly Hall for the finale of the International Jazz Festival on 30 April 2012 which is a thing of pride. Shankar has always considered himself as a restless student wanting to learn more every time. He says he’s thirsty and want to learn every time and experiment with something new. He wants to be a perfectionist. Shanker also feels that Karnatak music is the most powerful form of music and he himself started with Karnataka classic which he says is the best to create a prominent base for music. Music is the thing which excites Shanker the most, and he would always be attached to it. Personal Life: Shanker Mahadevan was born in Chennai to a Tamil family but was later brought to Mumbai and was raised there. Being born into a Tamil family and later raised in Mumbai, he knows both Hindi and Tamil language but is not well versed with Tamil and Malayalam. He finished his schooling from OLPS High School in Chembur and his engineering in computer science from R.A.I.T (D Y Patil, Navi Mumbai). His wife, Sangeeta is Maharashtrian and oldest son Siddharth Mahadevan. Also, a singer, made his debut on the 2013 Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’s song, Zinda. Shankar’s youngest son, Shivam Mahadevan, also a singer made his debut in 2013 in the movie Dhoom 3’s song, Bande Hain Hum Uske. Mahadevan is fluent in Marathi, Tamil, Hindi, Urdu and English.

Ashok Kumar hails from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. His mother tongue is Telugu. He has pursued a Law degree and has practiced as a lawyer for some time. 

Akkineni Sreekar Prasad, also called Sreekar Prasad, is an Indian film developing capable, known for his works in the Indian film industry. He works unpreventably on Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and English movies. His received National Film Award for Best Editing, for his exceptional work on the part motion picture Firaaq (2008), composed by Nandita Das.

Born on 9 August 1975 in Chennai, Mahesh Ghattamaneni is a South-Indian actor and philanthropist. He was born and brought up in Chennai. His father is Krishna Ghattamaneni, a yesteryear superstar of the Telugu film industry. Mahesh Babu completed his schooling at St. Bede's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School and graduated from Loyola College with a bachelor’s degree in commerce. He further underwent training in acting from director L. Satyanand. Mahesh first faced the cameras when he was just four. His debut was in ‘Needa’ and did nine films in total as a child artist. In 1999, he debuted opposite Preity Zinta in ‘Rajakumarudu,’ a rom-com Telugu film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. The film got him his first Nandi award as well. He is best known for his work in films like ‘Okkadu,’ which won him a Filmfare Award and a CineMAA Award.

Chandra Mohan was born on 23rd May 1945 in Pammidimukala village, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh. Chandra Mohan’s original name is Mallampalli Chandrasekhara Rao. He has done his graduation at the Agriculture College, Bapatla. His brother’s name is Chinnayya. 

Chandra Mohan is a versatile and popular Telugu actor. He was introduced with the Telugu film Rangula Ratnam in 1966. He has acted in nearly 500 films. He has acted as a hero, as a supporting actor and as a comedian. Some of his Telugu films are- Sukhadukhalu, Kotha Neeru, Siri Siri Muvva, Shankarabharanam, Seetamalakshmi, Rendu Rella Aaru, Radha Kalyanam, Ram Robert Rahim, Chandamama Rave, Padaharella Vayasu etc. He has also acted in Tamil films. Naalai Namadhe is Chandra Mohan’s first Tamil film. Later, he has acted in some other Tamil films. Many actresses who worked with him in their first film have later on become big heroines. In September 2012, Chandra Mohan has announced that he will retire in 3 years time. 

Chandra Mohan has received many awards like- Filmfare Award for Best Actor in 1978 for Padaharella Vayasu, Nandi Award for Best Character Actor in 2005 for Athanokkade and Raghupathi Venkayya Award in 2005.

Chandra mohan has acted in some Telugu TV serials. He has acted in the serial Anubandhalu for Gemini TV and he is currently acting in the serial Gangatho Rambabu as Kameshwara Shastri for ZEE Telugu.

Another Version

Mallampalli Chandrasekhara Rao is the full name of the actor Chandra Mohan. He was born on May 23^rd, 1945. He is 71 years old and was born in Pamidimukkala (Mandal and Village), Krishna District located in Andhra Pradesh, India. He is an Indian fim actor by profession, who majorly works for Telugu Film Industry and has also worked for few of Tamil films. He completed his graduation from Baptala’s Agricultural College (University). He has two siblings, a brother and an elder sister named Chinnayya and Satyavathi respectively. K. Viswanath, a veteran film maker is one of his first cousins.

 His debut film “Rangula Ratnam” was released in the year 1966. Then he starred in “Sukha Dukhau” which was released in the year 1968. In this movie, he played the role of a caring brother of the actress Vanisri for which he was well appreciated and received many awards. In his career, he has received two Filmfare Awards for his contribution to the industry and also awarded with Nandi Awards, that too 7. For the movie “Rangula Ratnam” he was awarded State “Nandi Award For The Best Actor.” His movie “Padaharella Vayasu” released in the year 1978, starring Sridevi opposite him won the prestigious “Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu).” His first Tamil film was “Naalai Namadhe” which was released in the year 1975 starring M.G. Ramachandran and Latha. He has also enacted the lead role in the movies like “Rendu Rella Aaru,” “Seetamalakshmi,” “Chandamama Rave,” “Radha Kalyanam” and “Ram Robert Rahim.” He also did a movie alongside the famous actress Jayaprada named “Siri Siri Muvva” which was released in the year 1978.

Dharmavarapu Subramanyam was a popular comedian cum character artist in the Andhra Pradesh film industry. He was not only a cinema star, but also a Serial artist. He was born in the year 1960 in Komminenivari Palem in Andhra Pradesh. He has acted in over 800 films right from Jayammu Nischayamurra.  Anando Bhrama, a popular serial in Doordarshan paved the way for him to enter the cinema industry. The serial was telecasted in the year 1980. He began his career as a government employee, but slowly moved to the acting field, due to his passion. He was popular for his humor sense as well as for his dialogues. He stood unique from other comedians and pronounced the language differently and got a huge name and fame from the audience. He also worked as a director in the movie, Thokaleni Pitta. This film had Naresh as the hero. Dharmavarapu Subramanyam has two sons, but he never let them to the limelight of the cinema industry. He has received lots of awards in his acting life. His latest films were Hum Tum, Dilunnodu and Rudrama Devi. Before the release of Rudrama Devi, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam lost his life due to cancer and liver failure in the year 2013. 

Mukesh Rishi is one of the best actors who has done negative roles in Hindi cinema. Mukesh is from Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir, from a Gujjar family. He completed his graduation from Chandigarh and worked in Mumbai for some time, he left India and moved to Fiji. In Fiji, he met his future wife of Fijian-Indian descent, Keshni Rishi and gave birth to two children, a son, and a daughter. They moved to New Zealand after marriage where he worked in an office job for some time and at the same time he started his career as a model. He worked in commercial jobs for seven years and despite the great efforts towards modeling he was not happy and finally moved back to Mumbai to start his acting career and enrolled himself at Roshan Taneja’s acting school.

Prakash Raj, born on 26th of March, 1965, as Prakash Rai, in Bangalore, is an actor, director, and producer. He is also a television presenter and has worked in films of many languages. He is best known for his work in the film industry of South India, and for playing roles of a villain in quite a few Bollywood films. He hails from a Tulu and Kannada-speaking household and is fluent in various other languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu. He also has an actor brother named Prasad Raj. He studied at St. Joseph’s Boy’s School, and subsequently, at St. Joseph’s College of Commerce. Both institutions are in Bangalore. Prakash has three children, Meghana, Pooja, and Sidhu, from his earlier marriage to the actress Lalitha Kumari. His son, unfortunately, passed away in the year 2004. He is currently married to the choreographer Pony Verma. In the first few years of his career, he worked in Kannada Doordarshan, doing serials like Guddada Bhootha, and he also acted in supporting roles in Kannada movies like Nishkarsha.

Rajan P Dev, a Malayalam stage and cinema actor bid adieu to film world, theatre, at the age of 58. His association with theatre gave a new lease of life to Kerala theatre, and he had been in the forefront in reviving the mainstream theatre in Kerala, which was in a bad shape then. When the performance style in theaters became stale, he brought back the audience again to the theater. This could happen just because as a theatre personality, Rajan P. Dev was confidence personified. Industry sources felt that his rude face of a villain was Dev’s plus point. Even at the age of 20, when he acted in plays, he could portray the character of 60-year old.