Rangasthalam

In the 1980s, Chittibabu, a partially deaf and grumpy resident of Rangasthalam, irrigates fields using Kolli Rangamma’s electric motor. Phanindra Bhupathi, the feared and respected President of Rangasthalam’s Panchayat, controls the village’s cooperative society aka ‘Society’. The Society seizes Erra Srinu’s maize crops over a delayed loan repayment, leading to Srinu’s apparent suicide by drowning.

Chittibabu’s life changes when his elder brother Kumar Babu returns from working in the Persian Gulf. Kumar Babu is disturbed by the society’s high-interest loans and property seizures, which exploit the illiterate villagers. Chittibabu often escorts Kumar Babu to Rajahmundry so he can meet his love interest, Padma. Meanwhile, Chittibabu encounters Ramalakshmi and falls in love with her, though he conceals his hearing impairment.

Chittibabu clashes with Kasi’s brothers for misbehaving with Ramalakshmi. She proposes marriage, but he pretends not to hear and leaves immediately. Realizing her proposal later, he sneaks into her home at midnight but accidentally alerts her family due to his impairment. Ramalakshmi denies loving Chittibabu to her family and villagers, leading to misunderstandings and Chittibabu breaking ties with her. Eventually, after protecting a villager from suicide, Ramalakshmi understands Chittibabu’s disability and offers to reconcile, but he doesn’t relent.

Ramalakshmi, educated enough to grasp the society’s deception, protests with Kumar Babu. During a confrontation, Kumar Babu inadvertently assaults a Society employee, leading to a Panchayat hearing. Intimidated, Ramalakshmi’s father drags her away, and Bhupathi fines Kumar Babu heavily. Seshu Naidu, the society’s president, humiliates Chittibabu and Kumar Babu’s father, but everyone represses it from Chittibabu. Upon discovering it, an outraged Chittibabu smacks Naidu and is arrested, though he reconciles with Ramalakshmi before being taken away. Bhupathi refuses to help, prompting Kumar Babu to consult Dakshina Murthy, the local MLA. Kumar Babu decides to contest the Panchayat elections against Bhupathi, aiming to end his 30-year unopposed reign.

Kumar Babu exposes the society’s fraudulent deeds, gaining the villagers’ support and persuading them to nominate themselves as ward members, including Kasi and his brothers. However, Rangamma mysteriously denies support, upsetting Chittibabu. Upon confrontation, Rangamma reveals that Bhupathi had murdered several villagers, including her husband Ramprasad and Erra Srinu, for opposing him. Concerned for his brother, Chittibabu accepts a bribe from Bhupathi to undermine Kumar Babu’s campaign but repents and returns the bribe, confronting Bhupathi instead. Erra Srinu’s father, a loyal servant to Bhupathi despite his family’s exploitation, overhears Bhupathi admitting to his son’s murder. Bhupathi kills Seshu Naidu in a fit of rage after Naidu advises him to step down.

While returning home after meeting Padma, Kumar Babu is ambushed and fatally wounded by Bhupathi’s men. Chittibabu uncovers the conspiracy and rushes to protect him, subduing the assassins. However, Kumar Babu is killed by a veiled man while Chittibabu goes to procure first aid. Before dying, Kumar Babu tries to name the perpetrator, but Chittibabu fails to hear it.

Devastated, Chittibabu leads the villagers to Bhupathi’s house, but they find he has fled. With a hearing aid, Chittibabu, along with a gang including Kasi, hunts for Bhupathi following the directions of a soothsayer. After Kumar Babu’s cremation, Rangamma is unanimously elected as the President of Panchayat. Chittibabu deduces that his brother’s dying word was “Srimannarayana” and races to meet Dakshina Murthy, witnessing him being hit by a truck and hospitalizing him.

Chittibabu tends to a comatose Dakshina Murthy for two years, volunteering to care for him despite everyone else giving up on his recovery. Murthy finally recuperates, and Chittibabu goes to meet him at his residence, where celebrations are underway for Murthy’s upcoming minister position. Upon inquiry about Bhupathi, Chittibabu confesses to murdering him but reveals that Kumar Babu’s real killer was Dakshina Murthy, who had his henchman Srimannarayana kill Kumar Babu due to his relationship with Padma, Murthy’s youngest daughter. Murthy admits his contempt for the relationship, as Kumar Babu belonged to a lower caste. Chittibabu reveals he spared Murthy while he was in coma to murder him when he has aspiration to live. Chittibabu quietly eliminates him, and leaves with his wife Ramalakshmi, spotting Padma and her husband approaching.

Last Updated: September 20, 2025 at 11:49