''Express Raja'' is a 2016 Indian
Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
-language
romantic comedy thriller
Comedy thrillers are a hybrid genre that draw subject matter generally from comedy and thrillers.
Criteria
They often include a darker tone, relative to other genres, of humor.
List of comedy thriller films
* '' The Big Fix'' (1978)
* ''Charad ...
film written and directed by
Merlapaka Gandhi
Merlapaka Gandhi (born Merlapaka Che Guevara) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works primarily in Telugu cinema. In 2013, he made his directorial debut with ''Venkatadri Express (film), Venkatadri Express''. He later directed ' ...
. Produced by V. Vamsi Krishna Reddy and Pramod Uppalapati under their production company UV Creations, the film features
Sharwanand
Sharwanand Myneni (born 6 March 1984) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu films alongside a few Tamil films. He made his acting debut in the year 2004 with the film ''Aidho Tareekhu.'' For ''Engeyum Eppodhum'' (2011), he received S ...
and
Surbhi
Surbhi Puranik (born 5 June), known professionally as Surbhi, is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu and Tamil films. She made her film debut with the Tamil film ''Ivan Veramathiri'' (2013), for which she received SIIMA Award for ...
in the lead roles with
Harish Uthaman
Harish Uthaman (born 5 April 1982) is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada films. He made his début portraying the lead role in '' Tha'' (2010), before playing villains in '' Gouravam'', ''Pandiya Naadu'', ''Mea ...
,
Prabhas Sreenu
Prabhas Sreenu is an Indian actor who has appeared in Telugu language films.
Career
Sreenu has attached the name "Prabhas" as a prefix to his stage name, owing to his friendship with actor Prabhas
Uppalapati Venkata Suryanarayana Prab ...
,
Sapthagiri
Sapthagiri which is also called Tirumala Hill is situated in hill town of Tirumala, near Tirupati in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, India. This hill is 853 m above sea level and is about in area. It comprises seven peaks, represent ...
,
Urvashi
Urvashi ( sa, उर्वशी, Urvaśī}) is the most prominent apsara (celestial nymph) in Hindu mythology, considered to be the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer. She is mentioned in both ''Vedic'' and ''Puranic'' s ...
,
Supreeth
Supreeth Reddy is an Indian actor who primarily acts in Telugu-language films. He is known for his roles in films like ''Chatrapati'' and ''Maryada Ramanna''. He played villain, and supporting roles.
He also acted in Bollywood in the film ''Ro ...
, and
Brahmaji
Brahmaji (born 25 April 1965) is an Indian actor best known for his work in Telugu cinema. He is a regular actor in director Krishna Vamsi's films. Brahmaji appeared in an important role in Krishna Vamsi's debut film as a director, '' Gulabi''. ...
in supporting roles. The music was composed by Praveen Lakkaraju with cinematography by
Karthik Ghattamaneni
Karthik Gattamneni is an Indian cinematographer and director known for his works in Telugu cinema. He made his debut as a cinematographer with ''Prema Ishq Kaadhal'' in 2013, and has worked in several films since his debut. He is also one of t ...
. The film was released worldwide on 14 January 2016 coinciding with the festival of
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 ...
.
Plot
The film begins with the introduction of Inumu, a peculiar thief who only steals items made out of iron. Then Raja, Sreenu and Giri are shown kidnapping a pet dog and escaping. The film then moves to a flashback where Raja and Sreenu are both jobless people and constant sources of irritation for their respective fathers. Raja's father is a teacher and social activist. He, along with his friend collect money for an NGO for treating children. Raja and Sreenu are rounded off by the local area inspector for being vagabonds as he feels that vagabonds are a nuisance to the society. He orders them to leave for Hyderabad to do the jobs that he arranged for them.
However, as they reach Hyderabad, Raja sees Amulya and falls for her immediately. He then presents himself as a salesman for the Oxford Dictionary to woo her. He finally wins her love when he saves her from being molested by some goons. Amulya loves pet dogs, while Raja hates them. As fate would have it, Amulya, who was about to propose her love for Raja, sees Raja hand over her pet dog to the local municipal corporation. An enraged Amulya breaks up with Raja. Raja, to win back her love, goes looking for the dog and finds it in a pet shop, whose owner insists on paying money in exchange. Raja and Seenu, short of money, sell a record number of dictionaries to impress Bill Gates and take the required money from him. On reaching the pet shop, their bag is exchanged during bedlam at a pet shop with Giri's bag. After a belated realization, they search for Giri and find out that Giri has burned the bag, thinking that the bag had contained the love letters that his sister received. Giri apologizes and promises to do whatever Raja and Seenu ask him to. All of them then go to the pet shop only to realize that the dog had already been purchased. They then begin searching for the dog, and After few attempts in vain, they find the dog in Binami British's home. The film is taken back to the kidnapping scene where they flee the place after kidnapping the dog.
Raja delivers the dog to Amulya only to find out that she will marry Kesava Reddy, the son of an MLA in Nellore, Kokila. A crestfallen Raja is detained by the British to reveal the location of the dog. However, Raja and Seenu escape from the clutches of the British to Nellore. However, he is caught by Kesava Reddy's gang as soon as he reaches there. Kesava Reddy thinks Raja is the reason behind his mother losing her memory during a car crash that occurred in the melee created by the dog kidnapping. Raja is let off by Kesava Reddy as he was admonished by his mother to not to commit any crime until his marriage. Raja, with the help of Sreenu, reaches the place where Amulya is staying and elopes with her. Keshava Reddy learns this and chases Raja. Raja encounters a dance troupe on the way only to find that he was using the troupe's vehicle to escape from the British. They then reach a local fair where they were to perform in a dance program only to be caught by Kesava Reddy on stage. However, the stage where the troupe was dancing collapses due to a mischief by Inumu, and Amulya is taken hostage by the British and Giri, while Kesava Reddy is looking to avenge his mother's memory loss and his abandoned marriage. Raja and Sreenu manage to find the pet dog and hand it over to the British in exchange for Amulya. However, all of them are detained by Kesava Reddy only to be rescued by Raja when he knocks out Kesava Reddy using Oxford Dictionary.
Cast
*
Sharwanand
Sharwanand Myneni (born 6 March 1984) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu films alongside a few Tamil films. He made his acting debut in the year 2004 with the film ''Aidho Tareekhu.'' For ''Engeyum Eppodhum'' (2011), he received S ...
as Raja
*
Surbhi
Surbhi Puranik (born 5 June), known professionally as Surbhi, is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu and Tamil films. She made her film debut with the Tamil film ''Ivan Veramathiri'' (2013), for which she received SIIMA Award for ...
as Amulya
*
Harish Uthaman
Harish Uthaman (born 5 April 1982) is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada films. He made his début portraying the lead role in '' Tha'' (2010), before playing villains in '' Gouravam'', ''Pandiya Naadu'', ''Mea ...
as Keshav Reddy
*
Saptagiri
Sapthagiri which is also called Tirumala Hill is situated in hill town of Tirumala, near Tirupati in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, India. This hill is 853 m above sea level and is about in area. It comprises seven peaks, representi ...
as Giri
*
Prabhas Sreenu
Prabhas Sreenu is an Indian actor who has appeared in Telugu language films.
Career
Sreenu has attached the name "Prabhas" as a prefix to his stage name, owing to his friendship with actor Prabhas
Uppalapati Venkata Suryanarayana Prab ...
as Sreenu
*
Urvashi
Urvashi ( sa, उर्वशी, Urvaśī}) is the most prominent apsara (celestial nymph) in Hindu mythology, considered to be the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer. She is mentioned in both ''Vedic'' and ''Puranic'' s ...
as Kokila
*
Nagineedu
Vellanki Nagineedu is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu and Tamil films. He won Nandi Award for Best Villain for his role in ''Maryada Ramanna''. He played a similar role in G. S. Karthik's 2013 film '' Adda''.
Early life
He was a ...
as Raja's father
*
Dhanraj
Dhanaraj may refer to:
People
*Dhanraj (actor), Telugu actor and comedian
*Dhanraj Bhagat (1917–1988), Indian sculptor
*Dhanraj Giri (1811–1901), Indian abbot of Kailash Ashram
* Dhanraj Pillay (born 1968), Indian field hockey player
* Dhanr ...
as Inumu
*
Brahmaji
Brahmaji (born 25 April 1965) is an Indian actor best known for his work in Telugu cinema. He is a regular actor in director Krishna Vamsi's films. Brahmaji appeared in an important role in Krishna Vamsi's debut film as a director, '' Gulabi''. ...
as Bill Gates
*
Supreeth
Supreeth Reddy is an Indian actor who primarily acts in Telugu-language films. He is known for his roles in films like ''Chatrapati'' and ''Maryada Ramanna''. He played villain, and supporting roles.
He also acted in Bollywood in the film ''Ro ...
as Binami British
*
Posani Krishna Murali
Posani Krishna Murali (born 22 January 1958) is an Indian screenwriter, actor, director and producer who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He worked as a writer for over 150 Telugu films and directed a number of films. In 2009, he also conte ...
as Police
*
Ajay Ghosh
Ajay Ghosh is an Indian actor who primarily appears in Telugu and Tamil-language films in negative roles. He is known for his roles in ''Jyothi Lakshmi'' (2015) and ''Visaranai'' (2016), '' Mookuthi Amman'' (2020) and '' Pushpa: The Rise'' (2021 ...
as Ajay Ghosh
*
Duvvasi Mohan
Duvvasi Mohan is an Indian actor who is know for acting in comic roles, primarily in Telugu films.. He is from Jagityal. He entered Tollywood as a producer and financier, but later turned to acting with comedy roles in over 350 films.
Partial f ...
* Revathi as Amulya's sister
*
Shakalaka Shankar
Seshu Shankar, better known by his stage name Shakalaka Shankar, is an Indian actor who works in Telugu-language films. Known for his comic roles, Shankar is one of the highest paid Telugu film comedians in 2017.
Career
Shankar dropped out o ...
* Kalpalatha
* Raghu
*
Sathyaraj
Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who has predominantly appeares in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema, Telugu Cinema. His 240 films also includ ...
as Amulya's grandfather (photo appearance)
Production
In January 2015, it was announced that Sharwanand was cast in a lead role,
and later
Adah Sharma
Adah Sharma (born 11 May 1992), is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Hindi and Telugu-language films. Sharma, after finishing her schooling, made her acting debut with a leading role in the 2008 Hindi language horror film ''1920'', a box ...
was announced as under consideration for the role of the film's lead female,
but Surabhi was the one eventually cast.
In September 2015, it was reported that the filming of a few key scenes with the lead cast were under way in areas of
Ameerpet,
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 (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Praveen Lakkaraju and Released on Aditya Music. The audio launch was held at
Shilpakala Vedika
Shilpakala Vedika is a terracotta auditorium and convention centre located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The auditorium is in area.
"Shilpa" means sculpture, ''kala'' means art, and ''vedika'' means platform. Hence it is an art sculpture pl ...
in Hyderabad on 19 December.
Prabhas
Uppalapati Venkata Suryanarayana Prabhas Raju (born 23 October 1979), known mononymously as Prabhas (), is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. One of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema, Prabhas has featured in ''Fo ...
,
Sharwanand
Sharwanand Myneni (born 6 March 1984) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu films alongside a few Tamil films. He made his acting debut in the year 2004 with the film ''Aidho Tareekhu.'' For ''Engeyum Eppodhum'' (2011), he received S ...
,
Surbhi
Surbhi Puranik (born 5 June), known professionally as Surbhi, is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu and Tamil films. She made her film debut with the Tamil film ''Ivan Veramathiri'' (2013), for which she received SIIMA Award for ...
, Vamsi, Pramod,
Merlapaka Gandhi
Merlapaka Gandhi (born Merlapaka Che Guevara) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works primarily in Telugu cinema. In 2013, he made his directorial debut with ''Venkatadri Express (film), Venkatadri Express''. He later directed ' ...
, Sujith, Radha Krishna,
Brahmaji
Brahmaji (born 25 April 1965) is an Indian actor best known for his work in Telugu cinema. He is a regular actor in director Krishna Vamsi's films. Brahmaji appeared in an important role in Krishna Vamsi's debut film as a director, '' Gulabi''. ...
,
Saptagiri
Sapthagiri which is also called Tirumala Hill is situated in hill town of Tirumala, near Tirupati in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, India. This hill is 853 m above sea level and is about in area. It comprises seven peaks, representi ...
,
Maruthi
Maruthi Dasari, known mononymously as Maruthi, is an Indian director, screenwriter, producer who works primarily in Telugu cinema. He is known for directing low budget films like ''Ee Rojullo'' and ''Bus Stop''. Maruthi is associated with Mar ...
, Bunny Vasu,
Dil Raju
Velamakucha Venkata Ramana Reddy (born 17 December 1970), known professionally as Dil Raju, is an Indian film producer and distributor known for his works in Telugu cinema. He has also financed some Tamil and Hindi films and owns the production ...
,
Supreeth
Supreeth Reddy is an Indian actor who primarily acts in Telugu-language films. He is known for his roles in films like ''Chatrapati'' and ''Maryada Ramanna''. He played villain, and supporting roles.
He also acted in Bollywood in the film ''Ro ...
, Satya, and some others graced the event. Prabhas launched the big CD and theatrical trailer and presented the first CD to Dil Raju.
Release
''Express Raja'' has been released in close to 500 screens worldwide alongside Balakrishna's ''
Dictator
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...
''.
Box office
Domestic
''Express Raja'' grossed ₹4 crore on opening day at AP/Telangana box office and has become the biggest opener for Sharwanand.
Overseas
''Express Raja'' collected US$170,312
1.15 crorein its extended weekend at the United States. It also done decent business in other parts of the globe, where it is estimated to have grossed ₹2 crore. The movie has collected approximately ₹8 crore at the worldwide box office in the first weekend. ''Express Raja'' collected $315,547 at the US box office in two weeks. According to trade analyst
Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh (born 13 June 1965) is an Indian film critic and trade analyst. He is best known for giving trade figures and box office updates on social media.
Career
Taran Adarsh started his journalism career at the age of 15 with ''Trade Gui ...
the film has collected $413,324 (₹ 2.81 crore) at the US box office in 3 weeks.
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 5340534
2016 action comedy films
2016 romantic comedy films
2010s comedy thriller films
2016 films
Indian action comedy films
Indian romantic comedy films
2010s Telugu-language films
Indian romantic action films
2016 masala films
Indian comedy thriller films
UV Creations films
Films directed by Merlapaka Gandhi