Aahvaanam

1997 Indian film

2 May 1997 (1997-05-02)

CountryIndiaLanguageTelugu

Aahvanam (transl. Invitation) is a 1997 Indian Telugu language film directed by S. V. Krishna Reddy. The film stars Srikanth, Ramya Krishna, and Heera Rajgopal.^[1] The film was inspired by the Telugu film Pelli Naati Pramanalu (1959), produced and directed by K. V. Reddy. The director remade the movie in English in 2012 as Divorce Invitation.^[2]

Plot

The film centers on Ravi Kumar, a man who believes money is the only important thing in life, even more than family ties and affection. Once he goes to a village and plays a drama which results in his marriage with Rajeswari, a traditional woman from a wealthy family. They live happily for a while until Ravi runs into Sireesha, an even wealthier unmarried businesswoman. She falls in love with him, and Ravi, focused on her money, lies to her that he is married, but recently divorced. In order to marry Sireesha, Ravi files for divorce, devastating Rajeswari. Unwilling to lose her husband due to his greed, she tries in many different ways to change his mindset. When nothing works, Rajeswari accepts the divorce, but with the condition that her divorce be held as a grand ceremony, just as her marriage. At this event, Ravi realizes the importance and sanctity of marriage and apologizes to his wife.

Cast

Srikanth as Ravi Kumar
Ramya Krishna as Rajeswari
Heera Rajagopal as Sireesha
Ali as Cook
Kaikala Satyanarayana as Satyanarayana
Sakshi Ranga Rao as Shalabhayya
Giri Babu as Ravi's father
Shiva Parvathi as Ravi's mother
Gautam Raju
Bandla Ganesh as Ravi's brother
Nirmalamma as Erukala Subbi
Chalapathi Rao as Sireesha's uncle
Jhansi

Soundtrack

All songs were written by Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry, except for "Minsare Minsare" which was written by Bhuvana Chandra.^[3] The song "Minsare Minsare" was based on Johnny Wakelin's "In Zaire".^[4]

Track list
No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Devatalaaraa"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra	4:53
2.	"Pandiri Vesina"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra	4:12
3.	"Hai Hai Naayaka"	Hariharan, K. S. Chithra	4:16
4.	"Manasa"	K. S. Chithra	3:31
5.	"Yelaloye"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra, Chorus	3:46
6.	"Srirasthu Subhamasthu"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra	7:09
7.	"Nee Manasulo Maata"	K. S. Chithra, Kaikala Satyanarayana, Nirmalamma, Prasanna Kumar	4:06
8.	"Minsare Minsare"	Hariharan, K. S. Chithra	3:59
Total length:			35:57

Reception

Griddaluru Gopala Rao of Zamin Ryot gave the film a positive review praising the screenplay, music, and the performances of the cast.^[5] A critic from Andhra Today wrote, "If one glosses over the shortcomings of the climax, and enjoy the movie as an entertainer, 'Aahwanam' is a movie worth watching".^[6]

Awards

Nandi Awards

1997 - Nandi Special Jury Award - S. V. Krishna Reddy

References

^ "Happy Birthday Srikanth: Six films of the actor you can't miss". The Times of India. 23 March 2019. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
^ "SV Krishna Reddy's Divorce Invitation to premiere in LA". 12 May 2013.
^ "Aahwanam". Spotify. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ Srinivasan, Karthik (14 May 2019). "How Muhammad Ali Inspired 'Sachi Yeh Kahani Hai' From Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
^ "ఎస్ వి కృష్ణారెడ్డి విశ్వరూప సందర్శనం ఆహ్వానం" (PDF). Zamin Ryot (in Telugu). 16 May 1997. pp. 9, 11.
^ "Aahwanam". Andhra Today. Archived from the original on 13 February 1998.