Pelli (transl. Marriage) is a 1997 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Kodi Ramakrishna, starring Vadde Naveen, Maheswari, and Prithvi. The film marked Prithvi's debut as an adult in Telugu cinema. The story was written by Srinivasa Chakravarthy, and the dialogues were penned by G. Satyamurthy.[1] The music was composed by S. A. Rajkumar, marking his first Telugu film as a solo composer.
Naveen, a manager in UTI Bank sees Maheswari, a sales girl in a shopping mall and promptly falls in love and wants to marry her. Soon he goes in search of her, only to find her in a colony living with Janakamma, who he believes is her mother. Naveen, with the help of the colony residents, tries to win her love. Learning of his intention, Janakamma tries to convince Maheswari to marry Naveen to which Maheswari refuses. It is revealed that Janakamma is the mother-in-law of Maheswari to whom she married off her only son Pruthvi. After enduring physically and emotionally abusive marriage, Mahewsari fatally wounded Pruthvi, knocking him unconscious. Both Janakamma and Maheswari flee from the scene and start a fresh life as mother and daughter thinking that he is dead. Maheswari falls in love with Naveen and agrees to marry him.
Pruthvi finds them and shows up at the engagement party and blackmails Maheswari to get his ₹10 lakh loan sanctioned by Naveen, or else he would tell everyone the truth that they are still married. Meanwhile, Janakamma is convinced that the only way of stopping her son from ruining Naveen and Maheswari's wedding is to kill him. The wedding and Pruthvi's birthday fall on the same day. Janakamma makes payasam for Pruthvi as she always does on his birthday and puts poison in it. Pruthvi, suspicious of his mother being with him instead of at the wedding, asks her to drink the payasam first to which she obliges. He then drinks it and dies. Janakamma arrives at the wedding in time and dies just after the ceremony.
The story of Pelli was written by Srinivasa Chakravarthy, with dialogues by G. Satyamurthy.[1] The film is loosely based on the 1991 American film Sleeping With the Enemy.[2]
The lead actors' voices were dubbed by professional dubbing artists. Vadde Naveen’s voice was dubbed by Srinivasa Murthy, Maheswari’s by Shilpa, and Prithvi’s by Mano (credited as Nagoor Babu).[1]
The film was reviewed by Zamin Ryot.[5] A critic from Andhra Today said that "The movie, a good entertainer until the arrival of Prithvi on the scene takes on a serious turn. The director Kodi Ramakrishna proves an expert in combining humor and sentiment".[6]
