Prasthanam () is a 2010 Indian Telugu-language political action drama film written and directed by Deva Katta. The film was produced by Ravi Vallabhaneni under VRC Media & Entertainment banner. The film stars Sharwanand, Sai Kumar, Sundeep Kishan (in his career acting debut) and Ruby Parihar. The film received generally positive response upon release with praise for Sai Kumar's performance. The film won two Filmfare Awards South, two Nandi Awards and was also selected for screening in the Indian Panorama section at International Film Festival of India, Goa. The film was dubbed and released in Tamil as Padhavi. It was dubbed into hindi as "Asteen Ka Saanp".
Katta remade Prasthanam in Hindi with the same title in 2019. This film is the first film in the Deva Katta's Quadriology of society which shows the perspective of a Politician on society. The film is considered one of the "25 Greatest Telugu Films Of The Decade" by Film Companion.
Plot
Ketti Lokanatham Naidu alias Loki, takes over the reins of a rural political party from a dying Dasharatha Rama Naidu. On his deathbed, Rama Naidu requests Loki to marry his widowed daughter-in-law, Savitri, whose husband and his son, Keshava Naidu, was attacked and killed by a rival political group. Loki complies. 25 years later in Vijayawada, Loki is now the next potential Chief Minister candidate.
Loki's stepson is Mitranand, and his biological son is Chinna. While Mitra is a devoted and loving stepson to Loki, his stepdaughter, Valli, hates him for marrying their mother and severs ties with them. Loki wants to see Mitra as his heir because he is a thinking and sensible man, whereas Chinna is hot-blooded with a negligent lifestyle. Chinna loathes Mitra, because he receives lesser attention than Mitra, from Loki, and is constantly discouraged by his father from entering politics. Valli's sister-in-law, Latha, is Mitra's girlfriend. Chinna gets upset on learning that Mitra is now the new youth president of the party.
That same night, in the intoxication of drugs Chinna rapes Hameed Basha's daughter, Nadia and injures her. Upon waking up, she throws a beer bottle on Chinna's friends who tries defending herself. As they drive her to the hospital, the car gets overturned, due to driving at a high speed. Though Chinna and his friends get out of the car, unscathed, Nadia is injured and barely alive. Chinna's friends convince him to leave the spot, because even if they admit Nadia in the hospital, a police case will be filed, due to the extent of her injuries. Chinna and his friends leave, as the car catches on fire. The next day, Chinna hides in the hospital where Valli works. Upon finding him, he admits to her what had happened. In return, she chastises and threatens him, by calling the police. As news reporters telecast Chinna running away from the hospital, Basha tries to attack him, only to be stabbed by Chinna. All of this is caught on-live. The entire state gets to know about Chinna's actions, as a result.
Mitra wants to punish Chinna for this act, while Chinna tries to get Mitra killed. Chinna then kills Valli and her husband, for looking down on him. As a twist in the tale, Loki sacrifices his political goodwill to protect Chinna. By doing so, he and Mitra are forced to confront each other. Loki has Mitra beaten up, when Mitra chases after Chinna to avenge Valli. Mitra leaves the house, moves to his old home in the village, and tries to kill Chinna, but cannot bring himself to do it. That same moment, Basha shows up and finishes the deed. Loki orders both Mitra and Basha to be killed, in the village. Basha saves Mitra from the goons and reveals to him that Loki had killed Mitra's biological father, Keshava Naidu, out of jealousy and greed, as they were taking him to the hospital, after he got severely injured from the attack of the rival political party. Because he was next to the throne, in his grandfathers political party, Loki had to gain goodwill from Rama Naidu. Mitra confronts Loki and tells him that no amount of reading puranas will absolve him of his heinous character.