Govindudu Andarivadele (), also known by the acronym GAV, is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language romantic action comedy film written and directed by Krishna Vamsi. Produced by Bandla Ganesh for Parameswara Art Productions, the film stars Ram Charan, Kajal Aggarwal, Srikanth, Kamalinee Mukherjee, Prakash Raj, Jayasudha, Rahman and Adarsh Balakrishna. Yuvan Shankar Raja composed the film's soundtrack and score while Sameer Reddy was the cinematographer, and Naveen Nooli the film's editor.
The film is partially inspired by the 1991 Telugu film Seetharamayya Gari Manavaralu directed by Kranthi Kumar. The film follows Abhiram an NRI who visits his ancestral village posing as an agricultural student while he secretly aims to reconcile his estranged father with his grandfather.
The film was officially announced in Hyderabad on 6 February 2014. Principal photography commenced from the same day and ended on 22 September 2014. A large portion of the film was shot in Hyderabad, Rameswaram, Nagercoil, Konaseema, Kanyakumari, Pollachi and Karaikudi in India while significant portions were shot in London and Jordan. The film was released worldwide on 1 October 2014 to positive reviews from critics. The film ended up as an average grosser at the box office. The film became one of the highest-grossing Telugu films of 2014.
Plot Balaraju, the head of his village, lives with his wife Baby, their two sons; Chandrasekhar Rao and Bangari, and their two daughters. He helps Chandrasekhar become a doctor and builds a local hospital. On the day it opens, Chandrasekhar comes back home with his lover Kausalya, also a doctor. Both express their wish to marry and settle abroad, which upsets Balaraju, leading to their separation.
25 years later, Chandrasekhar, a successful doctor in London, tells the story to his son Abhiram and daughter Indu. Abhiram decides to go home to Balaraju and attempt a reconciliation. He meets his friend, Bunny, at the airport and goes to the village on Bunny's bike the next day. On the way, he witnesses a cockfight organised by Bangari and Baachi; he gets the help of Balaraju to pardon Bangari and get Baachi arrested. Abhiram then introduces himself as a student from London who came here to learn agricultural practices and martial arts. He particularly impresses Balaraju's family when he saves a child's life and so is allowed to stay with them.
Balaraju's granddaughter Satya comes back from Hyderabad. Abhiram is surprised to see Satya's cultured behaviour and traditional attire, as Bunny and Abhiram previously met her in a pub in Hyderabad. She is equally surprised to see him; his cell phone contains photos showing how she spent her time at the pub. Abhiram blackmails Satya with the photos, but she then asks Bangari to get Abhiram's cell phone by telling him that Abhiram is blackmailing her. Their collective efforts fail, and Baachi is also dragged into the affair.
A fight happens between Abhiram and Baachi, deepening their rivalry. To get rid of Bangari, Balaraju arranges Chitra's marriage. Satya tells Bangari about this who then kidnaps Chitra. Abhiram chases him, saves Chitra and gets Bangari arrested. Satya finds Abhiram's phone and finds out his true identity. Abhiram offers to help Balaraju renovate the hospital he built with his father's assistance; Balaraju accepts the offer. Abhiram finds out that Satya has his phone when he goes to call his father. She deletes the photos of her. After learning that she knows the truth, Abhiram does a deal with her. They fall in love with each other. The old same they started an intimate relationship mentally and physically .
Later, Chitra, now Abhiram's friend at the house, tells him why Bangari was expelled from the house. Bangari and Chitra love one another and Balaraju does not approve of it, as Bangari is rather spoilt and drinks too much. Frustrated and intoxicated, Bangari enters Chitra's room and tells her of his attempt to rape her so as to marry her. However, Balaraju expels him from the house after catching him. Balaraju's brother-in-law and his son, Rajendra, who plan to set up a special economic zone manufacturing beer, release Bangari from jail. Abhiram's father sends the advanced equipment to Hyderabad, which Bunny and Bangari receive. Bangari attacks Bunny and seizes the equipment. Abhiram stops Bangari and his men and reveals his identity. Bangari realises what he has done and reconciles with Balaraju. The equipment is unloaded at the hospital.
Indu too visits Balaraju's house. Satya gets engaged to an American NRI doctor. However, she tells Abhiram that she would die if she doesn't marry him. He decides to break up with her and upon hearing this, Bangari reveals Abhiram and Indu's identity to Balaraju, who orders Abhiram's and Indu to leave the house.
Later, Abhiram gets a phone call from his father who plans to return to the village. Suddenly, Baachi kidnaps Indu. An injured Abhiram manages to save her, but gets shot by Baachi. Bangari arrives and Abhiram prevents Baachi from being harmed by saying that Baachi too is a family member. Chandrasekhar comes to the hospital and operates on Abhiram. When Abhiram regains consciousness, Balaraju welcomes him, Indu and Chandrasekhar back into the family. The film ends with Abhiram marrying Satya and Bangari marrying Chitra, also coinciding with Balaraju and Baby's anniversary.
Cast
Production
Development
Initially, the script was not yet complete and so the project was still put on hold.
The film was initially titled Vijetha after the 1985 Telugu film which featured Chiranjeevi and Bhanupriya in the lead roles. In March 2014, the supposed story of the film was leaked onto the internet. The story was that Ram Charan played the role of an NRI who visits his joint family to bridge a gap between his father and his father's younger brother.
On 27 March 2014, when the film poster was released, the title was confirmed as Govindudu Andarivadele. In mid April 2014, Yuvan Shankar Raja was signed up as the film's composer after S. Thaman opted out because of conflicting projects. Sources reported that talks were also held with G. V. Prakash Kumar. It was the first time that Krishna Vamsi had collaborated with Yuvan Shankar Raja, with the director later informing that he had waited five years to work with the composer. Reports regarding Rajkiran being replaced by Prakash Raj because of Chiranjeevi and the altering of the original script, and that Prakash Raj was included to strengthen the Telugu cultural identity of the film were dismissed as rumours. The film's shoot was put on hold due to the climate at the shooting spot being unsuitable for children acting in the film rather than because of Chiranjeevi. Ram Charan, in an interview with The Hindu, said that Rajkiran was replaced with Prakash Raj as the sections involving the former ended up looking more like a Tamil film.
Casting
Vamsi wanted to cast a popular actor as the protagonist to widen the film's appeal, and approached Ram Charan because of his relationship with him since Charan's childhood. In September 2013, Kajal Aggarwal was signed to play opposite Charan. Actor Jagapati Babu turned down the role of Charan's father as he wanted to concentrate on antagonistic character roles.
In November 2013, Tamil actor Rajkiran was chosen to play the role of Charan's grandfather, previously earmarked for Krishna. The producers also began searching for a new actress in the lead role. Chandini Chowdary was rumoured to have been signed up as the female lead, but this proved not to be the case. Tamannaah was approached as well, but she had prior commitments in Aagadu and Baahubali. Kajal was finalised by the end of 2013 as Charan's heroine in this film, marking her return to Telugu cinema after a brief hiatus.
Kamalini Mukherjee was chosen by Krishna Vamsi in late January 2014 by Krishna Vamsi, mainly because of her appearance and her acting talent. A song from rock band "The Tapes" took seven to nine hours to film for a sequence in the film featuring Charan and Kajal. This was the band's first onscreen appearance. Vennela Kishore confirmed his presence in the film twice through his Twitter account.
In the end of May 2014, Prakash Raj replaced Rajkiran as Ram Charan's grandfather. Vamsi said "Raj Kiran was cast initially and I had doubts about this casting. After shooting a few scenes, I went to Chiranjeevi and he suggested, 'You can think of taking someone who can carry Telugu nativity.' He just made that suggestion, but that was when I replaced Raj Kiran with Prakash Raj". He added that Chiranjeevi did not interfere in this decision. However, Chiranjeevi helped Vamsi and Raj reconcile their differences. Jayasudha and Rahman were signed for key roles. M. S. Narayana was selected to play a supporting role. Adarsh Balakrishna was selected to portray the film's antagonist, recommended by Srikanth to Vamsi.
Characterisation
Ram Charan's character was Abhiram, an NRI who goes from London to India in search of his roots. He was depicted as the star player of a professional rugby league footballer at Hemel Hempstead. Charan grew a ponytail, and he also learnt stick fighting skills for the film.
Vamsi showed Charan a lot of family dramas, drove him to villages to help him understand the atmosphere and mindset of the people. According to Vamsi, Charan "comes across as a shy and reserved guy but has a fun and family loving side to him", which he tried to show onscreen. Srikanth played the role of Charan's younger paternal uncle and wore his hair long for the role. His costume was rustic in appearance. A still of him in costume was shown in the end of July 2014. His "crucial role" in the film was aggressive and rebellious.
Kajal Aggarwal revealed one of her outfits in the film on 27 July 2014 would be a black half-sari. Jayasudha was selected to play the role of Prakash Raj's wife in the film while Rahman was signed in to play the role of Ram Charan's father. Kamalini Mukherjee's character was named Chitra, a rural girl quite unlike the urbane roles she had played in the past. Adarsh Balakrishna, cast as a flashy M. P.'s son living in the same village, wore jewellery with Indian costume, again with long hair.
Filming
Principal photography began on 6 February 2014 in Hyderabad and continued for 3 days there before a long pre-planned schedule started in Rameswaram, Nagercoil and Pollachi. Kajal and Charan participated in the film's shoot at Nagercoil near Kanyakumari in mid February 2014 after the completion of the schedule at Rameswaram. Some song sequences were shot in Malaysia from 2 June 2014.
The film's shoot continued in Hyderabad from 5 June 2014 and the team planned to go to London after filming some family scenes at the special house set constructed earlier in Ramanaidu Cine Village in Hyderabad. 30 scenes and 2 songs were shot in that house set in Hyderabad over a period of 45 days. Prakash Raj allotted bulk dates and the reshoot took 8 days only and not 20 days as earlier reported. After completing the shoot of few scenes and a montage song, the first part of the film's Hyderabad schedule ended on 18 June 2014. The next part commenced on 21 June 2014. At the end of June 2014, another song was shot on a special set featuring mirrors, in which the lead pair participated. Due to incessant rain at Pollachi, the shooting continued at Hyderabad, delaying the planned schedule. The Pollachi schedule therefore began on 23 July 2014. A fresh schedule began in Karaikudi on whose completion, filming continued in Hyderabad from 4 August 2014. The film's shoot was temporarily halted on 19 August 2014 because of the statewide survey in Telangana.