Rewind to 2015. The S.S. Rajamouli epic action film Baahubali: The Beginning was released and took the entire Indian film industry by storm. The subsequent release of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion in 2017 kept the craze going. The release of the Baahubali movies made everyone sit up and take notice of the Telugu movie industry. While the franchise was epic, there’s more to Telugu movies than just Baahubali. Here are some of our favourite Telugu movies to watch.

1. Vedam (2010)

Vedam is an anthology film starring Allu Arjun, Anushka Shetty, Manoj Bajpayee, and Manchu Manoj among others. The movie follows five characters whose lives get entangled when they become victims of a terrorist attack in a hospital on New Year’s eve. The movie has a multi-narrative technique as it follows the lives of five characters — Vivek, Saroja, Raju, Ramulu, and Raheemuddin. Vedam won multiple Filmfare Awards for the actors’ performances as well as the direction.

Watch it on MX Player.

2. Manam (2014)

Manam is a coming together of the Akkineni family. The film is a fantasy drama starring Akkineni Nageshwara Rao, Naga Chaitanya, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Nagarjuna, and Shriya Saran. The movie is set over a period of hundred years with elements of rebirth and eternal love. Nageshwara Rao tries to bring together two people who resemble his deceased parents. At the same time, Chaitanya also attempts to bring Nageshwara and Dr Anjali together because they resemble his parents who died due to his mistakes.

Watch it on Disney+ Hotstar

3. Happy Days (2007)

Set in the backdrop of an engineering college, Happy Days is a musical coming-of-age film. The movie follows eight youngsters who experience love, heartbreak, friendship, happiness, and every possible emotion. They start as individuals and come together to form a tight circle of friendship. A nostalgic movie that’s reminiscent of college days. The movie stars Varun Sandesh, Rahul Haridas, Nikhil Siddharth, Vamsee Krishna, Tamannaah, Sonia Deepti, Gayatri Rao, and Monali Chowdhary in the lead roles.

Watch it now on Prime Video

4. Life is Beautiful (2012)

Set in the backdrop of a working middle-class world, Life is Beautiful is the coming-of-age story of six youngsters. The movie chronicles their life through love, heartbreak, societal pressures, and class differences. As they stand on the cusp of adulthood, these six youngsters are trying hard to find themselves and their paths in life. The movie is a story of how life is full of ups and downs and how those challenges make people who they are.

Watch it on Disney+ Hotstar

5. Mahanati (2018)

Starring Keerthy Suresh in the lead role, Mahanati is a biographical movie about actress Savitri. The movie follows the turbulent life of Savitri, from her rise to fame, her marriage to Gemini Ganesan, and her subsequent fall from grace. Her life is shown through the lens of journalist Madhuravani and photographer Vijay Anthony. Mahanati is a film with strong performances by the cast including Suresh, Dulquer Salman, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, and Vijay Deverakonda. The movie was screened at the International Film Festival of India, the Shanghai International Film Festival, and the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.

Watch it on Prime Video

6. Madha (2020)

A psychological thriller starring Trishna Mukherjee, the movie revolves around proofreader Nisha. Orphaned at a very young age, Nisha now works as a small-time proofreader at an ad agency. A charismatic Arjun pretends to be in love with her and traps her into a dangerous web.

Watch it on Prime Video

7. Evaru (2019)

Evaru is based on the Spanish movie The Invisible Guest. The movie stars Regina Cassandra and Adivi Sesh along with Naveen Chandra and Murali Sharma. When DSP Ashok Krishna is fatally shot and killed by Sameera Maha, the woman he raped, sub-inspector Vikram Vasudev investigates the case. Though it seems like an open and shut case, dark secrets are lurking behind the death of Ashok Krishna. As he delves deeper, Vikram finds surprising twists in the most unexpected of places. The Hindi version of this movie, Badla, features Taapsee Pannu.

Watch it on Prime Video

8. Jersey (2019)

A sports drama, the movie stars Nani and Shraddha Srinath. The movie follows Arjun, a talented cricketer who failed to make a mark. Arjun is determined to fulfil his wish for an Indian jersey. In his mid-30s, he desires to get into the Indian cricket team to make his son’s dream come true. With financial constraints putting a strain on his relationship with his wife Sarah, Arjun doesn’t know what to do. Soon, he gets back to putting in work to make his dream come true. The movie shows that it is never too late to dream or make that dream come true. Jersey has also been remade in Hindi with the same name starring Shahid Kapoor.

Watch it on Zee5

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