Maa Balaji

Balaji is a young and ambitious man. But he is unsuccessful in his trials to make money and ends up in debt of {{Indian Rupee}}10 lakh. Unable to repay the amount, he jumped off into the sea to commit suicide after insuring an amount of {{Indian Rupee}}10 lakh for his debtors with the LIC. However, he is saved and lands up in the house of a rich Punjabi man Balwinder Singh whose mute daughter Pooja falls in love with him.

{{cast listing|

• Vadde Naveen as Balaji
• Maheswari as Pooja
• Laya as Sujatha
• Sishwa
• Gollapudi Maruthi Rao
• Mallikarjuna Rao
• Sudhakar as Ramana
• Vinod Kumar Alva as Sikandar Singh
• Kaikala Satyanarayana as Balwinder Singh
• Brahmanandam as Penchalayya
• Dubbing Janaki

}}

Music was composed by Vandemataram Srinivas.{{Cite web |title=Maa Balaji |url=https://open.spotify.com/album/7Ic9QFwDssRM0ZrEHBBWG8 |access-date=2022-09-17 |website=Spotify}} The lyrics were written by Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry and Bhuvana Chandra.

{{tracklist

| headline = Track listing

| extra_column = Singer(s)

| title1 = Andaga Jathakalisindi

| length1 = 4:15

| extra1 = Mano, Swarnalatha

| title2 = Gappchiproy

| length2 = 4:01

| extra2 = Unnikrishnan

| title3 = Nedaina Repaina

| length3 = 4:27

| extra3 = Swarnalatha, Rajesh

| title4 = Niligaganam lo

| length4 = 4:39

| extra4 = Mano, Swanalatha

| title5 = Aayee Aayee

| length5 = 4:48

| extra5 = Sarada Malladi

| total_length = 22:10

}}

Jeevi of Idlebrain.com rated the film 4 out of 5 and noted, “First half is in a lighter vein and second half is very gripping. Climax is the heart and soul of the film”.{{Cite web |title=Maa Balaji - A review |url=http://www.idlebrain.com/movie/archive/mr-balaji.html |access-date=2022-09-17 |website=Idlebrain}} Griddaluru Gopala Rao of Zamin Ryot gave the film a negative review criticising the story, characterisations, dialogues, and direction as clichéd, and artificial.{{Cite web |last=Griddaluru Gopalrao |date=8 October 1999 |title=గజి, బిజి చిత్రం "మా బాలాజి" |url=http://www.zaminryot.com/pdf/1999/Oct/8-oct-1999.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913145921/http://www.zaminryot.com/pdf/1999/Oct/8-oct-1999.pdf |archive-date=13 September 2016 |access-date=11 November 2022 |website=Zamin Ryot |pages=13, 15 |language=te}} A critic from Sify wrote that "A remake of the Malayalam movie, 'Punjabi House', it is meant to be a rib-tickler but the Telugu version, 'Maa Balaji comes out a cropper as the theme has nothing much to boast by way of being a comedy".{{Cite web |date= |title=Review: Maa Balaji |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050130060904/http://sify.com/movies/telugu/review.php?id=6007215&ctid=5&cid=2430 |access-date= |website=Sify}} Andhra Today wrote "The powerful storyline, coupled with the competence of the director made the movie quite interesting and the climax scene is the highlight of the movie. Another point that needs mention is that the movie is not crammed with unnecessary roles in the name of comedy".{{cite web|url=http://andhratoday.com/movie/BALAJI.htm|title=Maa Balaji|website=Andhra Today|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010716110435/http://andhratoday.com/movie/BALAJI.htm|archive-date=16 July 2001|access-date=25 December 2024}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|1575622}}
• [https://www.jiocinema.com/movies/maa-balaji?type=0&id=f79018a0a3fd11e98c560fc46432af32 Maa Balaji] at JioCinema
• [https://www.primevideo.com/detail/Maa-Balaji/0TZZT6AZ1ORBX82GRJ7DONJVON Maa Balaji] at Amazon Prime Video

{{Kodi Ramakrishna}}

Category:1990s Telugu-language films

Category:1999 comedy-drama films

Category:1999 films

Category:Films directed by Kodi Ramakrishna

Category:Films scored by Vandemataram Srinivas

Category:Indian comedy-drama films

Category:Telugu remakes of Malayalam films