Ankusam was one of the most hard hitting, gritty crime drama in Telugu cinema. Got somewhat overshadowed by Shiva releasing the same year, but a cult classic in it's own right.
The story is about a honest cop Vijay( Dr. Rajshekhar), takes on a notorious rowdy Neelakantham( Rami Reddy), who has the support of political bigwigs. And finds out there is a plot to assasinate the honest Chief Minister Ragavayya Master( M. S. Reddy) who was his teacher and mentor too. It is similiar to movies like Zanzeer, Ardh Satya where a honest cop tries to fight against a corrupt system.
What stands out is the narration, absolutely raw and realistic, with a very dark tone. Kodi Ramakrishna was more famous for his graphics movies like Ammoru, but he made equally good political, social dramas like this one, Bharat Bandh.
I believe it was based on a real life goonda Kotha Das in Hyderabad, even that famous scene of Dr. Rajshekhar dragging Rami Reddy along the roads, is supposed to have happened actually.
The movie is not an easy watch, some scenes are quite traumatic, like Jeevitha's brutal murder and death. Also the nexus between politicians, goondas, cops is well depicted in the movie.
The violence and action is more raw here, compared to the standard Telugu movies of those times. The scene where Jeevitha attempts to protect herself against the goondas is well depicted. As also the scene where Dr.Rajshekhar gets rid of Neelakantham's brother Chanti.
The movie sticks to it's narrative, not diverging much, even the love track between Dr. Rajshekhar and Jeevitha comes as part of the story, and plays an important role.
For Dr. Rajshekhar this movie was one of the biggest hits in his career, and also established his angry young man image, remains among his best performances. Jeevitha does well as his wife.
Rami Reddy who made his debut, created a massive impact as Neelakantham, one of the most iconic villians of Telugu cinema to date. A guy who scared the heck out of the audience, made them curse him.
The movie was also a break for Babu Mohan, till then mostly playing minor roles, got a good role as a corrupt politician, and his "Paaye" became quite popular.
M.S.Reddy who played the Chief Minister was more popularly known as Mallemalla, a lyricist of note, and also produced movies under his Kaumudi Arts Production banner. His Nellore accent and effortless performance was a highlight of this movie.
It was his son Shyam Prasad Reddy who had a long collaboration with Kodi Ramakrishna, and produced movies like Ammoru, Anji, Arundhati.
The movie was released in July 1989, and was a massive success, one of the year's biggest hits, the dialogues "Spot Pedatha", "Paaye" became widely popular. The raw, realistic violence, the writing attracted the audiences. However the success of Shiva released in October, same year, somewhat overshadowed this.
It still remains among the memorable movies of Telugu cinema, and a must watch, though the hard hitting dark tone, and the violence, can be a bit hard to bear.
Madam. Hyderabadi “biriyani” is about as authentic as Bananas on Pizza. Only Malabar, Dindigul, Lucknow Zaffrani Murgh, Dilli Achari & Dhakai Kacchi biriyanis are REAL BIRIYANIS.
I’m watching Indian accounts mock the UAE. Leave aside the cheapness of mocking a country under attack, the UAE is a close friend & both of us working out a mutual defence agreement. You worthless people are damaging a relationship that Modi has gone out of his way to solidify.
Criticize Judiciary? SUPREME COURT BAN.
Criticize Executive? POLICE ARREST.
Criticize Legislature? BREACH OF PRIVILEGE.
Ok then. Let's all stick to criticizing the public.