Murari (2001 film)

Murari is a 2001 Indian Telugu-language supernatural romantic family drama film written and directed by Krishna Vamsi. It stars Mahesh Babu and Sonali Bendre in the lead roles, while Lakshmi, Sukumari, Satyanarayana and Gollapudi Maruthi Rao play supporting roles. The film features music composed by Mani Sharma and cinematography by Ram Prasad. It marks the Telugu debut of Sonali Bendre and action choreographer Peter Hein. Additionally, it serves as the final on-screen appearance of veteran actor Dhulipala.

The film follows Murari, a carefree young man from a zamindar family plagued by a generational curse from Goddess Durga since the mid-19th century. Every 48 years, the male heir succumbs to the curse in their early 30s despite numerous rituals to break it. Murari, the current heir, must confront and overcome the curse through his spiritual resolve.

Murari was released on 17 February 2001 to positive reviews and emerged as a commercial success, grossing over ₹21 crore at the box office in its original run, with a distributor's share of ₹13 crore. It was a comeback for Babu after the failures of his previous movies, Yuvaraju and Vamsi. The film won three Nandi Awards, including Second Best Feature Film. It was later remade in Kannada as Gopi (2006) and inspired the Tamil film Pudhiya Geethai (2003), starring Vijay. Murari was also dubbed into Hindi as Rowdy Cheetah. Murari was re released on the occasion of Mahesh Babu's 49th birthday on August 9, 2024 where it earned an additional ₹9 crore in its run.