How Vyjayanthi Movies Brought Chiranjeevi and Sridevi's 'Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari' Back To Life in 3D

The Dutt sisters have been on a mission for the last couple of years: to revive one of Telugu cinema’s most celebrated hits and re-release it to a newer generation of audiences.

Chiranjeevi and Sridevi’s incredibly popular fantasy-adventure Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari (1990), produced by their father C Ashwini Dutt under the Vyjayanthi Movies banner, was re-released on May 9, marking its 35th anniversary. Behind this nostalgic re-release is a story of relentless film restoration.

“Jagadeka Veerudu…has been our favourite film since childhood. When we grew up and got into cinema, it was heartbreaking to realise that our print was damaged very badly,” says Swapna C Dutt in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India. “Since the time Nagi (Telugu filmmaker Nag Ashwin) and Priyanka have been married, he's been behind her to restore it,” she says, crediting her sister for being persistent in her pursuit.

When they found out that the original prints were decomposed and unusable, they decided to look for negatives. “When we started restoring all our films, we got to know that this one was not there,” Priyanka C Dutt says. “Prasad Labs in Hyderabad used to store all the prints. I went there a few years ago and realised it was completely gone. I posted a small social media post and started calling distributors and exhibitors to see if they had negatives.” Of all of their father’s films, JVAS was the most challenging to restore, she adds. “I think they shut down their air conditioning systems as well for a couple of years, which took a toll on the print. We called NFDC, and almost everybody who was restoring things.”

They eventually settled on ten different reels and used salvageable parts from each of them to stitch together the film. A print that they obtained from a theatre owner in Vijayawada was crucial in putting together the film. “People from that generation were a bit different, and they would like holding on to these memorable things, and thankfully, I got hold of it. But there is nothing like another good original print,” smiles Priyanka, hopeful that someone will call them with the news of a usable original print. Prasad Corporation took about a year to put this together, after which it was colour-corrected. But the team didn’t stop there. 

They decided to release the film in 3D too. “When we were thinking how we could make this more special, we decided to make it 3D,” says Swapna. “We put it to the test and realised the kids and the dog looked so cute in 3D. We wanted to give it our best shot and make a newer generation enjoy this film.” The makers also screened a special show of the film for kids ahead of the release. “The kids are so used to the CGI available right now, so we just wanted to test how they liked it, and they were hooked,” Swapna adds. The makers collaborated with Prime Focus World to convert the film into the 3D format.

The sisters collectively agree that they can never match the original magic of JVAC, no matter how much they try. But why? “The fantasy world was so earthly. There was also no major taboo in it. It was unreal but very real,” says Swapna, calling it a beautiful bedtime story.”

The film, directed by K Raghavendra Rao, explored an ethereal romance between Raju (Chiranjeevi), a caregiver of four young orphans and an adorable dog, and Indraja (Sridevi), the celestial daughter of Lord Indra. The film, despite having been released during a bout of floods in Andhra Pradesh, became the highest-grossing Telugu film at the time. 

The Dutt family watched the re-release at Sudarshan 35 MM, a popular single screen located in Hyderabad, Telangana. “As we were on our way, my mom was wondering why we were going so far to watch the film. The energy we get from watching something we made 35 years ago is something else. It was just a bunch of passionate people working day and night with the only goal of making a fantastic film.”