20 Years of Murari: 5 Lesser-known Facts of Mahesh Babu’s maiden blockbuster

On numerous occasions, Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu credited ‘Murari’ as the game-changing film of his roller-coaster career spanning for over two decades. Released on this very day (February 19) in 2001, the supernatural drama directed by the versatile Krishna Vamsi completes 20 years of its theatrical release and the celebrations are in full-swing on social media with hashtags like #20YearsForMurari trending big-time. Starring Bollywood actress Sonali Bendre as the leading lady, Murari enjoyed both critical acclaim and commercial reception thanks to its riveting storyline, family emotions, Mani Sharma’s soothing music and the impeccable chemistry between the lead actors. According to Mahesh’s words, “Murari was a game changer for me. I had a couple of flops before that and I was in a do-or-die situation. Thankfully, people liked the film and I didn’t have to look back.”

During his visit to a temple in an undisclosed village, Krishna Vamsi got to know about a rich, famous person whose three sons died at regular intervals under suspicious circumstances. He came to know that the bigwig killed a worker belonging to a lower caste and the latter’s wife cursed that all sons of the famous person will die within the next six months. The versatile filmmaker added a spiritual touch to the incident and as part of research; he visited several temples and read books like Yogi Vemana’s biography.

While the basic plot was inspired by real-life incidents, the bonding between the family members and their intense emotions were inspired by the characters in Lord Krishna’s story during his childhood days. According to the grapevine, influenced by Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s 1971 film ‘Anand’, Krishna Vamsi wanted to kill Mahesh Babu’s character in the climax as he felt that except Anand, no other film has a protagonist who would breathe his last at a young age. However, none of his team accepted it during the story discussion.

Terming Murari as his best role till date, Mahesh Babu revealed a heart-touching moment which happened during the preview of the film with his father Krishna Ghattamaneni. “I watched that movie with my dad in a city theatre and once the film ended, he got emotional and tightly clasped my shoulders in reaction to my performance. That is one of my most cherished moments,” the 45-year-old said.

Murari was made on a budget of Rs 5 crore and it grossed way more than the trade pundits predicted. The supernatural drama won three Nandi Awards and was declared as the first blockbuster of Mahesh Babu’s protagonist career. It ran for 50 days in 50 centres, 100 days in 34 centres and 175 days in two centres which include Sudarshan 35mm at the famous RTC X Roads in Hyderabad.

Despite enjoying star status in Bollywood, Sonali Bendre made her debut in Telugu cinema with Murari. After portraying sizzling chemistry with Mahesh Babu, she went on to romance Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna and Nagarjuna in her next projects. National award-winning stunt choreographer Peter Hein forayed into Tollywood with Murari after making his debut with Gautham Menon’s Tamil film ‘Minnale.’

Murari marked the last on-screen appearance of veteran Telugu actor Dhulipala Seetarama Sastry. The legendary thespian played a cameo of a religious monk in the film.