Swetha Naagu
2004 film
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Swetha Naagu is a 2004 Indian devotional horror film directed by Sanjeevi starring Soundarya with Abbas and Sarath Babu playing supporting roles. The film was shot simultaneously in Telugu and Kannada with the latter version titled Shwetha Naagara. Both versions had a slightly different supporting cast. The Telugu version was partially reshot and dubbed in Tamil as Madhumathi. It is the last film for Soundarya before her death on 17 April 2004.
Cast
| Cast (Telugu) | Cast (Kannada) | Role (Telugu) | Role (Kannada) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soundarya | Madhumathi | ||
| Abbas | Praveen | ||
| Sarath Babu | Shankar Reddy | ||
| Jaya Prakash Reddy | Sarpararanya Dhora | Sarpa Kaadu Dhorey | |
| Abhinayashree | Naagini | ||
| Dharmavarapu Subramanyam | Dwarakish | Ashok Kumar | |
| Mallikarjuna Rao | Kunigal Nagabhushan | Madhumathi's guardian | |
| Sangeeta | Sridevi | Madhumathi's mother | |
| Raghunatha Reddy | Bank Janardhan | Praveen's father | |
| Brahmanandam | Sanketh Kashi | chief guest | |
| Karunas | Karibasavaiah | "Black" Baba | "Conductor" Kariyappa |
| Babloo Prithviraj | shapeshifting snake dancer (cameo) | ||
| Anand | tribal man | ||
| Cast (Telugu) | Role (Telugu) | ||
| Pattabhi Ram | tribal man | ||
| Kallu Chidambaram | |||
| Cast (Kannada) | Role (Kannada) | ||
| Meena | Praveen's mother | ||
Production
The film was originally planned to be made simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil.[2] Many resources state that this was Soundarya's 100th milestone film and also her last proper film while still alive; she died two months later during a helicopter crash. She had two posthumous releases in the later part of the year.[3] A white snake from Meghalaya was used in the film.[2] Abbas who garnered acclaim with his debut in the Tamil film, Kadhal Desam was signed to play one of the leads in the film.[4] The film began production in mid-2003.[4] The film was shot in Bangalore, Savanadurga alongside Yaana and Sirsi in Uttara Karnataka.[5]
Reception
Idlebrain gave the film a rating of two-and-three-quarters out of five and wrote that "Swetha Nagu is an average devotional film. And the USP (Unique Selling Point) is Soundarya".[3] A critic from Sify noted that "The first half of the film is interesting, but the film peters out in the second half. However the plus point of the film is Soundarya".[6]