15 years of ‘Vasantham’: A look at the journey of the lead actors so far

Fifteen years ago, Vikraman went out to make a film starring Victory Venkatesh, Aarti Agarwal, Akash and Kalyani. The film was tilted ‘Vasantham’. The classic film went on to dazzle many generations of film buffs. From songs to dialogues to characters to the performances, everything about the movie left a mark on the minds and hearts of the viewers. And even after fifteen years after its release, all the memories remain fresh like it occurred just yesterday. From the memorable characters like Ashok to Julie’s tale of friendship, the solid love story to powerful dialogues, ‘Vasantham’ consisted of all the ingredients that made it one of the best Telugu films ever to screen in Tollywood.

Fifteen years after its release, we take a look at where few of the lead stars of ‘Vasantham’ are today.

In the fifteen years since ‘Vasantham’ was released, Victory Venkatesh, who starred as the protagonist Ashok, has continued playing exactly what he has done his entire career so far. Venky has released a number of movies since 2003, playing a wide variety of roles in every single one. ‘Malliswari’, ‘Gharshana’, ‘Sankranthi’, ‘Lakshmi’, ‘Adavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule’, ‘Tulasi’, ‘Drushyam’ and ‘Guru’ were biggest hits to his credit. Venkatesh is set to appear ‘Aata Naade Veta Naade’, Untitled Bhaskar film, Srikanth Addala film, ‘F2 - Fun & Frustration’, KS Ravindra movie, Trinadha Rao Nakkina film and Trivikram Srinivas film to be released in 2019 and 2020.

Aarti Agarwal, who played Venkatesh’s love interest and the wife in ‘Vasantham’, died at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 2015 due to the failure of liposuction surgery. After the surgery, she had faced severe breathing issues before she left for the heavenly abode. She has been married to Tasval Kumar, a US-based Indian software engineer in 2017, and the couple got divorced in 2009. Aarti Agarwal hadn’t been particularly active in the film industry after several months of marriage. She did make the cameo appearance in films such as ‘Deepavali’, ‘Posani Gentleman’, ‘Brahmalokam to Yamalokam via Bhulokam’, ‘Ranam 2’ and ‘Aame Evaru?’

Jai Akash made his entry into Tollywood with 2001 film ‘Ramma Chilakamma’ and got break with his next ‘Anandam’ in the same year. The movie was a runaway hit and filmmakers kept their eyes on the promising actor at that time. Later on, he has portrayed different roles in films such as ‘Netho Cheppalani’, ‘Manasutho’, ‘Pilisthe Palukutha’, and ‘Anandamanandamaye’. When he was not in the spotlight, he started doing cameo roles and one of the best roles he essayed was Michael in ‘Vasantham’. Since ‘Vasantham’, Akash has found success with ‘Andala Ramudu’, ‘Nava Vasantham’, ‘Gorintaku’, ‘Namo Venkatesa’, and ‘Dhee’. Currently, the actor is waiting to grab his spotlight yet again.

When Kalyani played Julie in ‘Vasantham’ fifteen years ago, her career was already a fruitful one, filled with a plethora of acting successes on screen. After this film, Kalyani made headlines with her stint films such as ‘Kabaddi Kabaddi’, ‘Dongodu’, ‘Pedababu’, and ‘Operation Duryodhana’. She got married to the director R Surya Kiran, best known for his Telugu films ‘Satyam’ and ‘Dhana 51’. After marriage, she found herself in the cameo roles in films like ‘Lakshyam’, ‘Munna’, ‘Chapter 6’, ‘Onamalu’, ‘Legend’, and ‘Ra Ra... Krishnayya’. ‘Winner’ was her recent release.

Don’t let the goofy and funny dialogues fool you. Sunil, who played the lovable Ramesh, is an incredibly successful and talented comedian and had been so for many years before appearing in ‘Vasantham’. In the past fifteen years, Sunil hasn’t slowed down one bit. He has films like ‘Kalyana Ramudu’, ‘Dongodu’, ‘Oka Radha Iddaru Krishnula Pelli’, ‘Tagore’, ‘Nee Manasu Naaku Telusu’, ‘Lakshmi Narasimha’, ‘Varsham’, ‘Malliswari’, ‘Kushi Kushiga’, ‘Pedababu’, and many others to his credit.