Released on 18 February 1981, Premabhishekam was a commercial success and an industry hit grossing over ₹4 croredistributor share at the box office.[1] It had a theatrical run of 527 days and became the first film to complete a 75-week run in Andhra Pradesh.[1] The film won four Nandi Awards and two Filmfare Awards South. It was later remade in Tamil as Vazhvey Maayam (1982) and in Hindi as Prem Tapasya (1983).
Plot
Rajesh, a naughty guy, falls for the charming Devi. Their acquaintance begins with squabbles. She misconstrues him as a flirt, denies his proposal, and mortifies him. Anyhow, Devi senses Rajesh's wholesome love with soul and reciprocates. Now, the elders decide to knit them when Devi's brother, Dr. Chakravarthy, detects that Rajesh is terminally ill with cancer, so he bars the nuptial. Knowing it, Rajesh & Devi plan to bond secretly. During that time, Rajesh also discovers his illness from Dr. Venkateswarulu and that his bestie, Prasad, loves Devi. Ergo affirms that he wants to estrange her by pretending to be debauchery to her. So, Rajesh makes a play with a prostitute, Jayanthi, to develop hatred. Devi is devastated, tries to contact him, and proclaims his intent to seek vengeance for her humiliation. Being mindful of it, furious Devi opts to splice Prasad in reply to Rajesh. Parallelly, Jayanthi adores Rajesh pleads with her to wedlock her since she desires to be his wife for a while. Rajesh accepts her requests and begins his last journey. Soon after the wedding, Devi collapses, aware of the fact, and rushes to meet. Finally, the movie ends with Rajesh blessing the newly wedded couple and breathing his last happily.
Dasari Narayana Rao wrote the story, screenplay, and dialogues in addition to lyrics. The film has editing by B. Krishnam Raju and cinematography by P. S. Selvaraj. Nageswara Rao's sons, Venkat Akkineni and Nagarjuna Akkineni produced the film under Annapurna Studios.
Music composed by Chakravarthy. Lyrics were written by Dasari Narayana Rao. Music released on SEA Records Audio Company. The song "Nee Kallu" was reused in the film's Tamil remake Vaazhvey Maayam as "Mazhaikaala Megam".
The film has completed 100 days direct in 25 centres. The film has completed 175 days direct in 16 centres and also ran for 365 days in some theatres in Telugu states
