Premabhishekam
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Dasari Narayana Rao
Written by	Inspired by the Hollywood movie 'Send me no flowers' by Norman Barasch and Carroll Moore and Dailogues by Dasari Narayana rao
Produced by	Venkat Akkineni Nagarjuna Akkineni
Starring	Akkineni Nageswara Rao Jayasudha Sridevi Murali Mohan Mohan Babu
Cinematography	P. S. Selvaraj
Edited by	B. Krishnam Raju
Music by	Chakravarthy
Production company	Annapurna Studios
Release date	18 February 1981 (1981-02-18)
Running time	147 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu
Box office	est. ₹4 crore[1]

Premabhishekam (transl. Anointing of Love) is a 1981 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film written and directed by Dasari Narayana Rao. Produced by Venkat Akkineni and Nagarjuna Akkineni under Annapurna Studios banner. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Jayasudha, Sridevi, Murali Mohan, Mohan Babu and music composed by Chakravarthy.^[2][3] This film is copied from "send me no flowers" 1964 hollywood movie. Released on 18 February 1981, Premabhishekam was a commercial success and industry hit grossing over ₹4crore at the box office.^[1] It had a theatrical run of 527 days and became the first film to complete a 75-week run in Andhra Pradesh.^[1] The film won four Nandi Awards and two Filmfare Awards South. It was later remade in Tamil as Vazhvey Maayam and in Hindi as Prem Tapasya

Plot

Rajesh (Akkineni Nageswara Rao) falls for Devi (Sridevi). Through a series of misunderstandings, they frequently quarrel. Devi rejects his proposal and humiliates him. She later changes her mind about him and they become a couple. Their respective families agree to this and arrange their marriage. A few days before the wedding, Devi's brother Dr. Chakravarthy (Mohan Babu) finds out that Rajesh is terminally ill with cancer. He attempts to stop the wedding. Rajesh and Devi plan to get married secretly. But before that can happen, Rajesh also learns of his illness from Dr. Venkateswarulu (Gummadi). He finds out that his close friend Prasad (Murali Mohan) also loves Devi. He decides to make her hate him by pretending to be indifferent to her. He associates with a prostitute Jayanthi (Jayasudha) to make Devi hate him. Devi tries to contact him but gets shocked by his behavior. Rajesh calls off the wedding and pretends that his marriage proposal was just a ploy to get revenge on Devi who had humiliated him many times. Devi gets angry and urges her brother to get her married to Prasad to humiliate the arrogant Rajesh. Jayanthi asks Rajesh to marry her as she wants to live as a wife, not a prostitute, even if for a short while. Rajesh marries her. Soon after her wedding, Devi learns the truth and rushes to meet Rajesh. Rajesh blesses the newly wedded couple and breathes his last, happily.

Cast

• Akkineni Nageswara Rao as Rajesh
• Sridevi as Devi
• Jayasudha as Jayanthi
• Murali Mohan as Prasad
• Mohan Babu as Dr. Chakravarthy
• Gummadi as Dr. Venkateswarulu
• Prabhakar Reddy as Satya Murthy
• Padmanabham
• Eeswara Rao
• Raja
• Pushpalata as Lakshmi
• Kavitha as Kalpana
• Nirmalamma
• Master Harish

Production

Dasari Narayana Rao wrote the story, screenplay, and dialogues in addition to lyrics. The film has editing by B. Krishnam Raju and cinematography by P. S. Selvaraj. Nageswara Rao's sons, Venkat Akkineni and Nagarjuna Akkineni produced the film under Annapurna Studios.

Soundtrack

Music composed by Chakravarthy. Lyrics were written by Dasari Narayana Rao. Music released on SEA Records Audio Company. The song "Nee Kallu" was reused in the film's Tamil remake Vaazhvey Maayam as "Mazhaikaala Megam".

Box office

The film has completed 100 days direct in 25 centres. The film has completed 175 days direct in 16 centres and also ran for 365 days in some theatres in Telugu states

Awards

Nandi Awards^[4]

• Best Actress - Jayasudha
• Best Male Playback Singer - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
• Best Art Director - Bhaskar Raju
• Special Jury Award - Dasari Narayana Rao

Filmfare Awards South

• Filmfare Award for Best Director - Telugu - Dasari Narayana Rao - Won
• Filmfare Special Jury Award - Jayasudha -Won
• Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu - Jayasudha - Nominated
• Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu - Sridevi - Nominated