Coolie No. 1

About the film

Coolie No. 1 is a 1991 Indian Telugu-language romantic action film produced by D. Suresh Babu under the Suresh Productions banner and directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. It starred Venkatesh and Tabu, the latter making her first movie as an actress. Rao Gopal Rao, Sharada, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao, Mohan Babu, and Brahmanandam play supporting roles. The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja with cinematography by S. Gopal Reddy and editing by K. A. Martand. The film was dubbed into Tamil under the same title and in Hindi as Coolie Raja.

Plot

Ranjani is the arrogant daughter of Koteswara Rao, a multimillionaire in Singapore. While travelling to Hyderabad on the train, she stops the train for her fallen lipstick, which leads to the death of Parvathamma. Raju is the Coolie at Secunderabad Railway Station. He and Ranjani always clash with each other. Rajani calls her father from Singapore, and both of them implicate Raju in a rape case and send him to jail.

However, Raju is successful in escaping from jail. Due to Raju's threat, Koteswara Rao and Ranjani return to Singapore. Raju also arrives there with the help of Ranjani's mother Gruhalakshmi. Raju changes himself as Bharat and showcases himself as a big shot before Ranjani and makes her fall in love with him. Everyone agrees to their wedding, but Buchi Babu, Koteswara Rao's business partner, and his son Gopal (Mohan Babu), who wants to marry Ranjani, find out that Bharat is none other than Raju. After the wedding, Raju reveals the truth. Everyone is shocked, and the stunned Ranjani throws away the holy Mangala sutra from her neck.

Everyone goes back to India, where Raju arranges their wedding reception. To rid his daughter of Raju, Koteswara Rao contacts local goon named Ranga Rao to stop the reception. He creates a big communal riot in Raju's colony, which leads to the deaths of many innocent people. In frustration and anger, Raju makes Ranjani pregnant after sedating her with her mother's help. She makes all possible attempts to terminate her pregnancy but fails. Finally, she decides to throw away the baby after giving birth.

Soundtrack

Music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja and lyrics written by Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry. Music released on LEO Audio company. The song "Kotha Kothaga" is based on "Pudhiya Poovithu", composed by Ilaiyaraaja for the Tamil film Thendrale Ennai Thodu (1985). The single "Attention Everybody" is reprised by Raja Kumari, in a tribute to Venkatesh by actor Rana Daggubati's South Bay channel in 2020. The songs particularly "Dandalayya" and "Kalaya Nijama" became popular. The latter song is regularly played during Ganesh Chaturthi.

Key details