Pavitra Bandham

This article is about the 1996 film. For the 1971 film, see Pavitra Bandham (1971 film).

Pavitra Bandham (transl. The Holy Bond) is a 1996 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film co-written and directed by Muthyala Subbaiah. It stars Venkatesh and Soundarya, with music composed by M. M. Keeravani. The film was produced by C. Venkataraju and G. Sivaraju under the Geeta Chitra International banner. The film was declared a blockbuster at the box office.^[1]

Pavitra Bandham
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Muthyala Subbaiah
Written by	Posani Krishna Murali (dialogues)
Screenplay by	Muthyala Subbaiah
Story by	Bhupathi Raja
Produced by	C. Venkataraju, G. Sivaraju
Starring	Venkatesh Soundarya
Cinematography	K. Ravindra Babu
Edited by	Gautham Raju
Music by	M. M. Keeravani
Production company	Geeta Chitra International
Release date	17 October 1996 (1996-10-17)
Running time	147 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu

The film won three Andhra Pradesh State Nandi Awards. Owing to its success, it was remade in six other languages - in Odia as Suhaag Sindura (1998), in Kannada as Mangalyam Tantunanena (1998), in Hindi as Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain (1999), in Tamil as Priyamaanavale (2000), in Bengali as Saat Paake Bandha (2009) and in Bangladeshi as E Badhon Jabena Chhire (2000).

Plot

Vijay is the son of rich industrialist Viswanath and is heavily westernised, having grown up in the US and has no interest in marriage; his goal is to enjoy his youth as much as possible. Viswanath would like his son to get married and become responsible; his insistence makes Vijay agree to a marriage, but with a unique condition — a kind of test drive. The marriage will be for a single year, initially, and at the end of the year he can choose to continue it, or not, depending on his attitude towards his wife, in that duration, the marriage will be annulled. Radha (Soundarya), Viswanath's personal secretary, is a hardworking young woman struggling to support her family. Viswanath asks Radha to quit her job and marry his son, but she refuses when she hears Vijay's strange condition. However, Radha's family is in dire financial straits, and so she has to reconsider this offer. In return for marrying Vijay, she asks for financial support for her family, which Viswanath readily provides.

Vijay and Radha are married. After the marriage, they become friendly with each other, and Radha goes out of her way to look after Vijay when he meets with an accident. At the end of the year, however, Vijay decides to annul the marriage, as had been agreed upon. Radha leaves Vijay and returns home. After the separation, Vijay starts to feel a longing for the presence of his devoted wife. Soon, though, he realizes her worth and wants her to come back, but she declines. Meanwhile, Radha finds out that she is pregnant. In order to support herself, she gets a job in a new company; to her surprise, when the company's managing director arrives, he turns out to be Vijay. He later confesses to her that he's a changed person and wants her back. But even after repeated persuasion, she disagrees because her faith in him has been shattered. Vijay continues to pursue her and leaves no stone unturned to show her that he cares for her. Later, Radha and her family hold a ceremony for the well-being of her to-be-born child. Viswanath and Vijay attend the ceremony as well, Radha reveals Vijay to be her husband and tells all the guests about the marriage-contract. An argument follows; Vijay and his father walk out, followed by all the guests.

Near the completion of her pregnancy, Radha learns that troublemakers Dileep (Prakash Raj) and Jayaram (Srihari), who had once attempted to kill Vijay, have escaped from prison. They are out looking for Vijay, who had fired them from his father's company for cheating and fraud. Radha gets anxious and tries to reach Vijay as soon as possible. On the way, she learns that the whole thing was a set-up by Vijay's friends to lure her back to her husband. But Dilip and Jayaram have attacked Vijay in reality and brutally stabbed him. Enraged, Radha goes to confront Vijay and as soon as she meets him, she accuses him of this shameless act. As she turns to leave, he staggers, and in a cry of pain, takes out the broken glass that Jayaram stabbed him with from the stomach. Radha, upon seeing his wound runs towards him, slips and falls down, and goes into labor. Vijay, summoning up all his strength, takes Radha to the hospital. On the way, Dileep and Jayaram attempt to kill them, but fail and die in a truck accident. While in the hospital, Vijay is treated for his injuries and Radha delivers a healthy baby boy. After the recovery, they are reconciled.

Cast

• Venkatesh as Vijay
• Soundarya as Radha Vijay
• S. P. Balasubrahmanyam as Viswanath, Vijay's father
• Prakash Raj as Dileep
• Srihari as Jayaram
• Brahmanandam as Brahmam, Vijay's driver
• Sudhakar as Prasad, Vijay's friend
• Subhalekha Sudhakar as Shankar, Radha's brother
• Annapoorna as Radha's mother
• Syelaja as Radha's sister
• Posani Krishna Murali as Radha's brother-in-law
• Suthi Velu as Ramaiyah, Vijay's house help
• Ragini as Padmini "Paddu", Brahmam's wife
• Juttu Narasimham as Brahmam's father-in-law, Paddu's father
• Kallu Chidambaram as Beggar
• Jenny
• Sherri as Anitha, Dileep's sister; Vijay's one-sided lover
• Annuja as Lalitha "Lalli", Prasad's wife; Paddu's sister
• Vani as Seeta, Radha's younger sister
• Kishore Rathi
• Ooma Sharma

Soundtrack

Pavithra Bandham
Film score by M. M. Keeravani
Released	1996
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	25:42
Label	T-Series
M. M. Keeravani chronology
Jabilamma Pelli (1996) Pavithra Bandham (1996) Priyaragalu (1996)

Music was composed by M. M. Keeravani. Music was released on T-Series Audio Company.^[2] The song "Aparupamainadamma" was reused in the film's Tamil and Hindi remakes.

Track list

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Maayadari Andama"	Sirivennela Sitaramasastri	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Sujatha Mohan	3:52
2.	"Chali Kodatandi"	Bhuvanachandra	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Chitra	4:37
3.	"Paatante Paata Kadu"	Bhuvanachandra	Suresh Peters, Anuradha Sriram	2:58
4.	"Isaalakidee"	Sirivennela Sitaramasastri	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Asha Bhosle	6:02
5.	"Oh My Daddy"	Sirivennela Sitaramasastri	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Mano, Chitra	4:48
6.	"Apurupamainadamma Aadajanma"	Sirivennela Sitaramasastri	K. J. Yesudas	4:45
Total length:				25:42

Remakes

Year	Film	Language	Cast	Director
1996	Suhaag Sindhura	Oriya	Siddhanta, Rachana Banerjee
1998	Mangalyam Tantunanena	Kannada	V. Ravichandran, Ramya Krishnan	V. S. Reddy
1999	Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain	Hindi	Anil Kapoor, Kajol	Satish Kaushik
2000	Priyamaanavale	Tamil	Vijay, Simran	K. Selva Bharathy
2009	Saat Paake Bandha	Bengali	Jeet, Koyel Mallick	Sujit Mondal

Reception

A critic from Andhra Today opined that "The movie 'Pavithra Bandham' has a good message for the present day youth obsessed by the western culture. The movie sends across a clear message that marriage is a unique relationship".^[3]

Awards

Nandi Awards - 1996^[4]

• Best Feature Film - Gold - C. Venkata Raju
• Best Actress - Soundarya
• Best Supporting Actor - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam