Mrugaraju

Mrugaraju
Poster
Directed by	Gunasekhar
Produced by	Devi Vara Prasad
Written by	Yandamoori Veerendranath (Script Assist.) Gunasekhar (Screenplay) Satyanand (Dialogues) Nagendra Babu (Adapted Story)
Based on	The Ghost and the Darkness
Starring	Chiranjeevi Simran Sanghavi Nagendra Babu
Music by	Mani Sharma
Cinematography	Sekhar V. Joseph
Edited by	Kotagiri Venkateshwara Rao
Distributed by	Devi Film Productions
Release date	11 January 2001 (2001-01-11)
Running time	147 minutes
Language	Telugu

Mrugaraju(Telugu:మృగరాజు) is a 2001 Tollywood action adventure film which was directed by Gunasekhar and based on the Hollywood film The Ghost and the Darkness. It stars Chiranjeevi, Simran, Sanghavi and Nagendra Babu. Mani Sharma composed music for this film. The film has been dubbed in Tamil with the title Vettaikkaaran. The Hindi version of this is named Rakshak, The Protector. The film was released along with Devi Putrudu and Narasimha Naidu on the same day.

Plot

In a jungle, there lives a man-eating lion. The latest victim of the lion's havoc is the death of the chief engineer, who is constructing the rail bridge. The Railway department asks Aishwarya (Simran) to go on the mission of constructing the bridge. Even after Aishwarya resumes the building, the Lion starts terrorizing the crew of the construction team. The ace hunter of Adavipalli, Raju (Chiranjeevi), is entrusted with the job of hunting the lion.

The rest of the first half is all about how Raju traps the lion and kills it at the cost of Appanna Dora (Nagendra babu). But, the other lion in the jungle becomes enraged at Raju for killing its companion. There is another trouble for the bridge project in the form of forest ranger (Surya) and a local smuggler (Ramireddy). Raju gets rid of these two goons by the interval.

Then it's revealed to the viewers that Aishwarya is the wife of Raju. In the second half, the flashback is revealed. Raju comes to city to participate in the crafts mela to sell his herbs from the jungle. There he meets Aishwarya, who has come to visit a fun stall along with her fiancée Vicky (Raja Ravindra). When Aishwarya tries to take a shot at shooting the balloon, Vicky disappoints her saying that she cannot do it. Raju, who is an onlooker, comes forwards and gives her confidence and tips to shoot. Then Aishwarya's bullet hits the bull's eye. Impressed with Raju's help, she invites him to come to her engagement party.

At the party, Raju spots Vicky flirting with another girl and tells him about the importance of being a good human being. Aishwarya watches the entire episode from behind, and she decides that Raju is a loyal man compared to the flirtatious Vicky. She seeks for Raju's hand and they get married. The father of Aishwarya cunningly separates the couple by creating misunderstandings. The rest of the film is about how the hunter Raju and engineer Aishwarya sort out the matters and complete the construction of the bridge.

Cast

• Chiranjeevi...... .... Raju
• Simran .... Aishwarya
• Sanghavi .... Sivangi
• Nagendra Babu .... Appanna Dora
• Brahmanandam .... Ibraheem
• M. S. Narayana
• Prakash Raj .... Valmiki Dora
• Tanikella Bharani
• Chalapathi Rao
• Gundu Hanumantha Rao
• L.B. Sriram
• Rambha .... Guest role in the song Ramaiah Padaletti
• Raja Ravindra
• Kovai Sarala
• Vijayakumar
• Surya
• {Niharika}

Crew

• Director: Gunasekhar
• Producer: Devi Vara Prasad
• Music: Mani Sharma
• Cinematography: Sekhar V. Joseph
• Editor: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
• Art: Ashok Kumar
• Assistant Director: Yadagiri
• Stunts: Vijayan
• Lyrics: Veturi Sundararama Murthy, Chandrabose & Bhuvana Chandra

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film was composed by Mani Sharma. The album consists of six songs. Lyrics for the three songs were penned by Veturi Sundararama Murthy and the remaining three songs were written by Chandrabose, Kulasekhara and Bhuvanachandra.

External links

• Mrigaraju on IMDb