# Mallesham
**Mallesham** (మల్లేశం) is a 2019 Indian Telugu-language biographical drama film directed by Raj Rachakonda, based on the life of Chintakindi Mallesham, the [Padma Shri](https://www.edgepedia.org/padma-shri)-awarded weaver from [Telangana](https://www.edgepedia.org/telangana) who invented the Laxmi Asu machine for processing yarn mechanically.[1](https://www.sunnxt.com/telugu-movie-mallesham-2019/detail/194369) • [2](https://www.justwatch.com/in/movie/mallesham) It stars Priyadarshi Pullikonda in the title role, with Jhansi as his mother Lakshmi and Ananya Nagalla as his wife Padma.[1](https://www.sunnxt.com/telugu-movie-mallesham-2019/detail/194369) The film was released in Indian theaters on 21 June 2019, after a limited United States release on 14 June, and began streaming on 20 November 2019.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mallesham)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Subject | Biopic of Chintakindi Mallesham, the Pochampally weaver who invented the Laxmi Asu machine and received the Padma Shri in 2017[2](https://www.justwatch.com/in/movie/mallesham) • [4](https://telugucinema.com/reviews/mallesham-movie-review) |
| Director | Raj Rachakonda, a debutant director and US-based software programmer[5](https://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/rajr-mallesham.html) |
| Cast | Priyadarshi Pullikonda (Mallesham), Jhansi (Lakshmi), Ananya Nagalla (Padma)[1](https://www.sunnxt.com/telugu-movie-mallesham-2019/detail/194369) |
| Release | 21 June 2019 (India); limited US release 14 June 2019; streaming from 20 November 2019[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mallesham) |
| Runtime | About 2 hours 11 minutes (listed between 126 and 132 minutes across platforms)[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mallesham) • [6](https://moviegq.com/movie/mallesham-9927) |
| Budget | ₹20,000,000 (estimated)[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9742362/) |
| Reception | IMDb 8.2/10 from about 1,300 users; won the Telugu Film Award for Best Film at the 2020 Critics' Choice Film Awards[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9742362/ratings/) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9742362/awards/) |
## Spoilers
### The story and the Asu process
The film follows Mallesham, a class VI school dropout from a small hamlet in Telangana, who sets out to build a machine that can process yarn mechanically after seeing the suffering of his mother, Lakshmi, in the handloom weaving of Pochampally Ikat saris.[10](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/reviews/telugu/2019/Jun/21/mallesham-movie-review-a-heart-warming-and-inspiring-story-12432.html) In the traditional asu process, a silk thread is wound from a single peg to 40 pegs on either end of a four-foot wooden structure before the sari is woven; weavers move their arms continuously through this loop, and the work leaves them with aching shoulders and elbows.[11](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2019/jun/22/mallesham-movie-review-a-heart-warming-and-inspiring-story-1993768.html) [The Indian Express](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-indian-express) review puts the physical toll in numbers: winding meters of silk yarn onto a frame for one saree requires moving the hands up and down around 9,000 times.[12](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/mallesham-priyadarshi-shines-in-this-no-frills-biopic-drama-5799709/)
The film opens with the suicide of Mallesham's uncle, who killed his wife and two daughters before taking his own life because he could not repay his debts, and it shows families giving up the craft and migrating to cities for menial work.[12](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/mallesham-priyadarshi-shines-in-this-no-frills-biopic-drama-5799709/) Mallesham's wife Padma supports the project by giving her jewelry, and the protagonist, who has no engineering background, seeks help from a university professor and works odd jobs, including as an electrician, while developing the machine.[10](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/reviews/telugu/2019/Jun/21/mallesham-movie-review-a-heart-warming-and-inspiring-story-12432.html) He named his invention the Laxmi Asu, in honor of his mother; with it, weaving a Pochampally sari took only ninety minutes instead of the roughly six hours required by hand.[13](https://www.thenewsminute.com/telangana/weaver-engineer-meet-telangana-man-whose-invention-won-him-padma-shri-75044) The Telangana State Innovation Cell credits the Asu machine with decreasing weaving time by 75 percent.[14](https://www.teamtsic.telangana.gov.in/100-days-100-innovations/)
## Production
**Origin of the project.** Director Raj Rachakonda is a software programmer based in the United States who had earlier written and produced a Tamil film that failed financially. About two and a half years before release he saw Mallesham's TEDx talk and could not get the story out of his mind; within a couple of months he had a screenplay draft, and after no one came forward to produce it, he bought the rights from Mallesham and produced the film himself.[5](https://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/rajr-mallesham.html) The film covers Mallesham's life between 1992 and 1999.[5](https://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/rajr-mallesham.html)
**Authenticity on location.** Raj Rachakonda and his team camped in Revanapally village for more than a year, working on background details and pre-production.[15](https://www.yovizag.com/mallesham-director-raj-rachakonda/) Cinematographer Balu Sandilyasa, an FTII graduate for whom this was a debut feature, has said the crew stayed in the shooting village for almost a year, used sync sound, and auditioned actors in rural areas and smaller towns; the team studied Mallesham's old photographs and wedding album for character references.[16](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/telugu/2019/jul/25/the-making-of-mallesham-2009048.html) Raj wanted the look and feel to resemble [Shyam Benegal](https://www.edgepedia.org/shyam-benegal)'s *Susman*, also about handloom weavers making Pochampally saris, so the film was shot on a Canon EOS C200 with [Carl Zeiss](https://www.edgepedia.org/carl-zeiss) super-speed lenses.[16](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/telugu/2019/jul/25/the-making-of-mallesham-2009048.html)
**Language and crew.** Peddinti Ashok Kumar wrote dialogues that reviewers singled out for capturing the Telangana dialect, a mix of Telugu, Hindi, and Urdu.[12](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/mallesham-priyadarshi-shines-in-this-no-frills-biopic-drama-5799709/) Mark K Robin composed the music, and the film was produced by Raj Rachakonda and Sri Adhikari under the Studio 99 banner, with Suresh Productions also credited.[1](https://www.sunnxt.com/telugu-movie-mallesham-2019/detail/194369) • [7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9742362/)
## Reception and awards
Critics rated the film around three stars out of five. The Indian Express called it a no-frills biopic in which Priyadarshi inhabits the role with conviction, while noting the film loses steam when the story moves to [Hyderabad](https://www.edgepedia.org/hyderabad).[12](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/mallesham-priyadarshi-shines-in-this-no-frills-biopic-drama-5799709/) The New Indian Express praised the on-location shooting across Pochampally, the sync sound, and Mark K Robin's music, and observed that the film arrived when about 50,000 weavers from the region were still demanding justice for their community.[11](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2019/jun/22/mallesham-movie-review-a-heart-warming-and-inspiring-story-1993768.html) The Times of India gave it 4 out of 5, calling the script by Raj and Peddinti Ashok Kumar the true hero of the film.[17](https://teluguswag.com/mallesham/) Audience response on IMDb has been strong, at 8.2/10 from about 1,300 users.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9742362/ratings/)
The film won the Telugu Film Award for Best Film at the 2020 Critics' Choice Film Awards, with nominations for Best Actor (Priyadarshi), Best Actress (Jhansi), and Best Director (Raj Rachakonda), and a SIIMA nomination for Jhansi as Best Actress in a Supporting Role.[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9742362/awards/) In the Telangana state Gaddar Film Awards, it was selected as third Best Film for 2019, behind *Maharshi* and *Jersey*.[18](https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/entertainment/entertainment-news/2025/May/30/gaddar-film-awards-for-the-years-2014-2023-announced) Its United States gross was $44.2K.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mallesham)
## Dispute over the invention
The film's release coincided with a public dispute over who invented the Asu machine. Y Srinivas, a weaver from Alair in Nalgonda, told The Times of India that he and his brother Y Satyanarayana invented a machine they called the Chaitanya Asu in 1992 after seeing women in their family struggle, that a vernacular daily had published a story on it, and that Mallesham had visited their house and seen it; he said their role was not acknowledged in the biopic.[19](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/mallesham-biopic-row-over-invention-of-asu-machine/articleshow/69795206.cms) Mallesham's account, as given to the same newspaper, is that he worked on the idea for seven years, developed the machine in 1999, patented it in 2006, and never saw the Srinivas brothers' machine; he said Y Satyanarayana took two machines Mallesham had made in 2002.[19](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/mallesham-biopic-row-over-invention-of-asu-machine/articleshow/69795206.cms) A Telugu news report on the film's trailer dates the patent differently, to 2011, and says Forbes added Mallesham to its list of innovators the same year.[20](https://www.v6velugu.com/mallesham-trailer-released-233907-2)
## Availability
The film streams on Sun NXT, and has also been listed on Netflix, where it is categorized among Indian independent dramas based on real life.[2](https://www.justwatch.com/in/movie/mallesham) • [21](https://www.netflix.com/title/81217739)
## References
1. [Watch Mallesham (Telugu) Full Movie Online, Sun NXT](https://www.sunnxt.com/telugu-movie-mallesham-2019/detail/194369)
2. [Mallesham streaming: where to watch movie online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/in/movie/mallesham)
3. [Mallesham, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mallesham)
4. [Mallesham – Movie Review, TeluguCinema.com](https://telugucinema.com/reviews/mallesham-movie-review)
5. [Interview with Raj R about Mallesham by Maya Nelluri, Idlebrain](https://www.idlebrain.com/celeb/interview/rajr-mallesham.html)
6. [Mallesham 2019 Telugu Movie Wiki, MovieGQ](https://moviegq.com/movie/mallesham-9927)
7. [Mallesham (2019), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9742362/)
8. [Mallesham (2019) – Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9742362/ratings/)
9. [Mallesham (2019) – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9742362/awards/)
10. [Mallesham Movie Review: A heart-warming and inspiring story, The New Indian Express (Cinema Express edition)](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/reviews/telugu/2019/Jun/21/mallesham-movie-review-a-heart-warming-and-inspiring-story-12432.html)
11. ['Mallesham' movie review: A heart-warming and inspiring story, The New Indian Express](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2019/jun/22/mallesham-movie-review-a-heart-warming-and-inspiring-story-1993768.html)
12. [Mallesham movie review: Priyadarshi shines in this no-frills biopic, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/mallesham-priyadarshi-shines-in-this-no-frills-biopic-drama-5799709/)
13. [From weaver to engineer: Meet the Telangana man whose invention won him a Padma Shri, The News Minute](https://www.thenewsminute.com/telangana/weaver-engineer-meet-telangana-man-whose-invention-won-him-padma-shri-75044)
14. [100 Days 100 Innovations, Telangana State Innovation Cell](https://www.teamtsic.telangana.gov.in/100-days-100-innovations/)
15. [The man behind Mallesham: Director Raj Rachakonda shares his journey, Yo! Vizag](https://www.yovizag.com/mallesham-director-raj-rachakonda/)
16. [The Making of Mallesham, The New Indian Express](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/telugu/2019/jul/25/the-making-of-mallesham-2009048.html)
17. [mallesham, Telugu Swag (review roundup)](https://teluguswag.com/mallesham/)
18. [Gaddar Film Awards for the years 2014-2023 announced, The New Indian Express](https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/entertainment/entertainment-news/2025/May/30/gaddar-film-awards-for-the-years-2014-2023-announced)
19. [Mallesham biopic: Row over invention of Asu machine, The Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/mallesham-biopic-row-over-invention-of-asu-machine/articleshow/69795206.cms)
20. [గుండెకు హత్తుకోవడం ఖాయం: చేనేత 'మల్లేశం' ట్రైలర్ విడుదల, V6 Velugu](https://www.v6velugu.com/mallesham-trailer-released-233907-2)
21. [Mallesham, Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/title/81217739)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Telugu films of the 2010s › Telugu films of 2017–2019*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license