Bro (2023 Film)

''Bro'' () is a 2023 Indian Telugu-language supernatural fantasy comedy film directed by Samuthirakani, from a screenplay by Trivikram Srinivas. Produced by People Media Factory and Zee Studios, the film stars Sai Dharam Tej and Pawan Kalyan. It is a remake of the 2021 Tamil film ''Vinodhaya Sitham''.

The film was announced in December 2021. Principal photography began in February 2023 and ended in June 2023 with filming proceeded in Hyderabad. The music is composed by Thaman S. Released on 28 July 2023, the film received mixed to negative reviews from critics.

Plot

Markandeyulu "Mark" is an IT worker in Hyderabad, Telangana, who wants to get married to his girlfriend, Ramya. He is a dominating individual who puts his own interests ahead of others, including that of his own family, consisting of his mother, sisters, Veena and Gayathri, brother, Arun, who is working in the United States, and Ramya. While coming back from a road trip from Vizag to Hyderabad, Mark meets with an accident and dies. When he wakes up, he finds himself in a strange dark place, where a man dressed in black approaches him and introduces himself as "Time" alias "Titan". Time informs Mark that his time on Earth is over.

On hearing this, Mark begs him that his company and family depend on his job for everything. He asks Time to send him back so that he can put his family and company on a much stable condition than previously, before departing the world for good. Time agrees but gives him only 3 months to get his personal life in order; based on secrecy about the agreement and on the condition that he is always accompanied by him. Thus, Mark survives the accident and returns home, with Time in tow.

Over the course of the next 3 months, Mark faces many hurdles in his personal life, all witnessed by Time. He is bypassed in favour of Venugopal, a young IIM graduate for the post of General Manager, causing him to resign from his job in protest and leave the office. Within minutes, he receives news that Easwari fell unconscious and was taken to the hospital. He is informed that Easwari has early stages of Parkinson's disease and is recommended to take her to US for further treatment. Time also makes Mark realize that all his savings will run out soon. Therefore, Mark resumes his job again. Mark's elder sister, Veena, for whom he was finalising an alliance with his father's best friend Krishnamoorthy's son, disagrees on the marriage. Before his eyes, she leaves home with her boyfriend.

Within minutes, Arun returns home, and tells him that he lost his job in the USA. Mark further finds out that Arun is in a live-in relationship with an Indian American girl named Andrea, who introduces herself as Mahalakshmi. Arun berates Mark for always interfering in his life decisions and gives him an ultimatum: to either accept his love or expel him from the house entirely. Based on Veena's decision, the next morning, Mark fixes the marriage between Krishnamoorthy's son and his youngest sister, Gayathri, who accepts in order to save her brother's reputation, despite wanting to study abroad.

Weeks later, Mark is insulted in the board meeting, for being absent during a discussion. He rants about it to Time in a bar and is overheard by his MD. Mark's idea works and the company makes a high profit. The MD moves to become Chairman and Mark becomes the Managing Director, thus reaching higher than his ambition. He brings Easwari home and is shocked that Easwari is aware about Veena's relationship and manages to convince Mark to accept them, which he does on realising (with Time's help) that Krishnamoorthy's son had a relationship with another woman, who was pregnant with their child, and he and Krishnamoorthy were forcing her to undergo an abortion. He then cancels Gayathri's wedding and allows her to study further. He carries out his responsibilities with humility and is no longer dominating as before. He also spends more time with his family and enjoys with them. He also pays the tuition ahead, in full, for Gayathri's graduate program in Switzerland.

10 days before the end of the 3 month period, Mark, realising that his death is near, pledges his organs. The same night, Mark confesses to Time that he had cheated somebody 7 years ago in the hopes of securing his current job and completely regrets what he had done. Time reveals that Venugopal was the brother of Madhanagopal, whom Mark cheated 7 years ago to get the job in an interview. Time says that Madhanagopal got the better life which was actually planned for Mark. That was also one of the reason why Venugopal superseded him to being General Manager.

Time realizes that Mark's reformation is genuine and offers to accompany him to heaven, which he accepts wholeheartedly. While he walks with Time to heaven, it is shown in parallel on Earth that he has died peacefully in his sleep.

Cast

* Pawan Kalyan as God of Time "Titan"
* Sai Dharam Tej as Markandeyulu "Mark"/ also his father (in Potrait).
* Ketika Sharma as Ramya, Mark's girlfriend
* Rohini as Mark's mother
* Priya Prakash Varrier as Veena, Mark's younger sister
* Brahmanandam as Shastri
* Subbaraju as Ramya's brother
* Vennela Kishore as Mark's boss
* Yuva Lakshmi as Gayathri, Mark's youngest Sister
* Ali Reza in a dual role as Venugopal and Madhanagopal
* Tanikella Bharani as Krishnamoorthy "Singinaatham Mavayya"; Mark's father's friend.
* Prudhvi Raj in a cameo appearance as "Sambabu" in "My Dear Markandeya"
* Surya Sreenivas as Arun, Mark's younger brother
* Raja Chembolu as Ricky, Veena's boyfriend turned husband
* Devika Satheesh as Andrea/Mahalaskhmi, Arun’s girlfriend turned wife
* Pammi Sai as Cab driver
* Sanjay Swaroop as a Doctor
* Srinivasa Reddy as a Pathologist
* Rajashri Nair as Ricky’s mother
* Samuthirakani as in a cameo appearance as Shankaranna, Ricky’s father
* Urvashi Rautela in a cameo appearance as Sithra Manjari in "My Dear Markandeya"

Production

In December 2021, after the success of ''Vinodhaya Sitham'', Samuthirakani was invited to remake the film in Telugu. However, he did not want to return as an actor and intended to cast another star in it. In February 2023, the film was officially launched, with Pawan Kalyan alongside Sai Dharam Tej, who would essay the roles of Samuthirakani and Thambi Ramaiah respectively, from the original version.

The film was under the tentative title ''PKSDT'', as it featured Pawan Kalyan and Sai Dharam Tej in the titular roles. Shortly, the title was announced as ''Bro'' in May 2023. The principal photography of the film began the same month in Hyderabad.

Later that month, Tej's character was announced as Markandeyulu "Mark".

Music

The music for the film is composed by Thaman S in his third collaboration with Pawan Kalyan after '' Vakeel Saab'' and '' Bheemla Nayak'', and his sixth collaboration with Sai Tej after '' Thikka'', '' Winner'', '' Jawaan'', '' Prati Roju Pandage'', and '' Solo Brathuke So Better''. The first single "My Dear Markandeya" released on July 8, 2023. The song got mixed reviews. The second single "Jaanavule" was released on July 15, 2023. The third single, "Theme of BRO", was released on 25 July 2023.

Release

Theatrical

''Bro'' was theatrically released on 28 July 2023.

Home media

Satellite rights are owned by Zee Telugu and digital streaming rights by Netflix. The film premiered on Netflix from 25 August 2023 in Telugu and dubbed versions of Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages. It was premiered on television on Zee Telugu on 15 October 2023.

Reception

''Bro'' opened to mixed to negative reviews from critics.

Neeshita Nyayapati of '' The Times of India'' rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "BRO could’ve been the poignant tale of a man who had to grow up a little too fast and, in the process, forgets to make the most of his life. What you get instead is a film that loses steam as it progresses with the messaging lost in the chaos of it all. This one is a missed opportunity." Balakrishna Ganeshan of '' The News Minute'' rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "The biggest drawback of BRO is its stage-play-like treatment of the story. It is too artificial to be believable. The predictable narrative makes us want more than the fun exchanges between Time and Markandeya." Raghu Bandi of '' The Indian Express'' rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "Pawan Kalyan again plays god in a film that takes his political persona one step further." Janani K of '' India Today'' rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "What worked in the Tamil version failed to work in the Telugu reboot because of its commercialisation." Priyanka Sundar of '' Firstpost'' rated the film 1.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "A few good laughs in a movie that spans 2 hours 5 minutes is not enough. The film more often than not placed higher value on nostalgia than story telling." Subhash K Jha of ''Zoom TV'' rated the film 1.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Poor Sai Dharam Tej! His character is constantly grumpy and cranky as if the actor, more than the character, knows time is running out." Sowmya Rajendran of ''Moneycontrol'' reviewed the film and wrote "Bro could have been an interesting commentary on how patriarchy forces men into the provider role, and how pressuring that is."

References

External links

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{{Trivikram Srinivas

2023 films
Telugu remakes of Tamil films
Indian fantasy comedy films
Films about wish fulfillment
2020s Telugu-language films
Films directed by Samuthirakani
Films with screenplays by Trivikram Srinivas
Films scored by Thaman S
Heaven and hell films
Supernatural films
Films about the afterlife
Paranormal films