''Agent'' is an upcoming Indian Telugu-language espionage action thriller film directed by

Surender Reddy Surender Reddy is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Telugu cinema. He made his directorial debut with ''Athanokkade'' (2005), which won him Nandi Awards, Nandi Award for Nandi Award for Best First Film of a Director, Best Fi ...

from a story written by

Vakkantham Vamsi Vakkantham Vamsi is an Indian screenwriter and director in Telugu cinema. His notable screenwriting credits include ''Kick'' (2009), '' Yevadu'' (2014), ''Race Gurram'' (2014), and '' Temper'' (2015). Early life and career He was born in Arike ...

. It stars Mammootty,

Akhil Akkineni Akhil Akkineni (born 8 April 1994) is an American actor of Indian descent who works in Telugu films. Born into the Akkineni family, he is the son of actors Nagarjuna and Amala. In his film career, Akkineni has earned several accolades such as ...

, Sakshi Vaidya,

Dino Morea Dino Morea (born 9 December 1975) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. Early life Dino Morea was born in Bangalore to an Italian father and an Indian mother. His mother hails from Kalamassery in Kochi. He is the second of three broth ...

And

Vikramjeet Virk Vikramjeet Virk is an Indian actor who has worked in Telugu, Punjabi, Hindi and Malayalam language films. Early life Vikramjeet was born on 19 July 1984 to Sukhwant Singh Virk and Harjinder Kaur Virk in Tharwa Majra village, Karnal district, ...

. ''Agent'' was announced in September 2020. Filming took place in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museu ...

and Manali. Initially postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

and production delays, the film is now scheduled for a theatrical release in January 2023 during

Sankranthi Makar(a) Sankranti (), also referred to as Uttarayana, Maghi, or simply Sankranti, is a Hindu observance and a festival. Usually falling on the date of January 14 annually, this occasion marks the transition of the Sun from the zodiac of Sag ...

Premise

The

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

tasks

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Mahadev, the head of

NSC NSC may refer to: Sport and competition * NSC United, an American soccer team * National Scholastics Championship, an American quiz bowl competition * National Scrabble Championship, now known as the Scrabble Players Championship * National Sho ...

, to capture a rogue agent known to be ruthless and unpredictable.

Cast

* Mammootty as Colonel Mahadev *

* Sakshi Vaidya *

as God *

as Deva

Production

Development

The film was announced by

in September 2020, tentatively titled ''Akhil 5'', with

as the director. It was officially launched on Akkineni's birthday in April 2021, revealing the title and posters. A pooja ceremony was held on the launch day.

Casting

Akkineni's role as a spy was reportedly inspired by the character of

Jason Bourne Jason Bourne () is the title character and the protagonist in a series of novels and subsequent film adaptations. The character was created by novelist Robert Ludlum. He first appeared in the novel '' The Bourne Identity'' (1980), which was ...

from the American-German film series ''Bourne''. Akkineni bulked up his body for the role. In December 2020, model Sakshi Vaidya was confirmed as the female lead. In March 2021, Mammootty was approached for an extended Cameo role , which was confirmed he joined the set by June 21, marking the first collaboration between Mammootty, Akkineni and Reddy. His character is a military officer.

Filming

Filming began in July 2021 in

, India. Mammootty joined the production in October 2021 in

and completed filming his portions. In March 2022, sequences featuring Akkineni were shot in

Hyderabad Metro The Hyderabad Metro is a rapid transit system, serving the city of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is the second longest operational metro network in India after the Delhi Metro (285 stations) with 57 stations and the lines are arranged in a ...

. The following month, the production moved to

and shot a few actions episodes and a song at the

Visakhapatnam Port Visakhapatnam Port is one of 13 major ports in India and the only major port of Andhra Pradesh. It is India's third largest state-owned port by volume of cargo handled and largest on the Eastern Coast. It is located midway between the Chennai a ...

. In April 2022, the production moved to

Manali, Himachal Pradesh Manali is a town, near Kullu town in Kullu district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is situated in the northern end of the Kullu Valley, formed by the Beas River. The town is located in the Kullu district, approximately north o ...

to shoot action sequences featuring Akkineni and others, under the choreographer of Vijay Master. As of May 2022, about 50-60% of the production has been completed due to delays in production, thus missing the August 2022 release.

Music

The music rights of the film is owned by Lahari Music and T Series. Earlier

Thaman S Ghantasala Sai Srinivas Thaman (born 16 November 1983), known professionally as Thaman S, earlier as S S Thaman, is an Indian music composer, professional drummer, and playback singer who predominantly works in Telugu films and Tamil films. Th ...

was chosen as the composer of the film's score and soundtrack. Later, in September 2021, Thaman has been replaced by

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

musical duo A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, ...

Hiphop Tamizha.

Release

''Agent'' was scheduled to be released on 12 August 2022 but it was postponed indefinitely due to production delays and Akkineni's injuries. Initially, the film was initially scheduled for a release on 24 December 2021, but the production start was heavily postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 24 October 2022, the makers of the film announced that the film will release on summer 2023. It is planned to release in Telugu along with the dubbed versions in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada languages.

References

External links

* {{Surender Reddy Upcoming films Upcoming Telugu-language films Upcoming Indian films Indian spy thriller films Films directed by Surender Reddy Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films shot in Budapest Films scored by Hiphop Tamizha 2022 thriller films Film productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic