''Narappa'' is a 2021 Indian
Telugu-language
period
Period may refer to:
Common uses
* Era, a length or span of time
* Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Period (music), a concept in musical composition
* Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...
action drama film directed by
Srikanth Addala
Sreekanth Addala is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Telugu cinema. After working as an assistant director for several films, Addala made his directorial debut in 2008 with '' Kotha Bangaru Lokam''. He went onto write and d ...
. It is remake of
Vetrimaaran's
Tamil-language film ''
Asuran'' (2019) which is itself based on the novel ''Vekkai'' by
Poomani. The film is produced by
D. Suresh Babu and
Kalaipuli S. Thanu
Kalaipuli S. Thanu is an Indian film producer, director and distributor, known for his films in Tamil cinema. He has produced several films through his two companies, V Creations and Kalaipuli Films International. Many of his films have been co ...
under their respective banners
Suresh Productions and V Creations. The film stars
Venkatesh,
Priyamani
Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer (born 4 June 1984), known by her professional name Priyamani, is an Indian actress and former model, who works in the South Indian film industry. She is a recipient of Several Awards.
Priyamani made her acting debut ...
,
Karthik Rathnam
Karthik Rathnam is an Indian actor who works in Telugu theatre and Telugu cinema. Rathnam made his debut with the critical acclaimed film ''C/o Kancharapalem'' (2018), which was the first Telugu film to be screened in New York Film Festival. ...
, and Rakhi, while
Nassar,
Rao Ramesh
Raavu Ramesh Rao (born 25 May 1968) is an Indian actor known for his works primarily in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre, and television. He is the son of veteran actor Rao Gopal Rao. Rao Ramesh initially appeared in ''Seema Simham'' (2002), '' O ...
,
Rajeev Kanakala
Rajeev Kanakala (born 13 November 1968) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Telugu films and television. He started his career in television serials and short films, where he not only acted but also produced and directed. He is marrie ...
,
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''. ...
,
Ammu Abhirami
Abhirami Sundar better known by her stage name Ammu Abhirami is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil and Telugu films. She made her acting debut with 2017 Tamil film ''Bairavaa'', alongside Vijay. She is known for playing pivotal roles ...
, and
Karthik Rathnam
Karthik Rathnam is an Indian actor who works in Telugu theatre and Telugu cinema. Rathnam made his debut with the critical acclaimed film ''C/o Kancharapalem'' (2018), which was the first Telugu film to be screened in New York Film Festival. ...
plays the other important supporting roles.
Mani Sharma
Mani may refer to:
Geography
* Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia
* Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad
* Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece
* Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshina ...
composed the film's music while cinematography and editing are performed by
Shyam K. Naidu and
Marthand K. Venkatesh respectively. Principal photography of the film started in January 2020 and was shot in
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
and
Telangana
Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...
. ''Narappa'' premiered on 20 July 2021 on
Amazon Prime Video.
Plot
In the 1980s
Anantapur district, a man and a boy are trekking across a river, carrying homemade bombs. In another part of the village, a woman, a man, and a young girl are also hiding from the police.
The narrator reveals in a flashback that the man is Narappa and the boy is his son Seenappa. The woman, man, and child are Narappa's wife, Sundaramma, her brother Basavaiah and daughter Bujjamma. They also had an older son called Munikanna. They are a family of farmers living in Ramasagaram. Narappa has a close relationship with his older son but is distant, almost abusive with Seenappa. Narappa is from a family of farmers.
Panduswamy is a landlord from Vadakoor (lit. northern village), who plans a cement factory with his youngest son Doraswamy and they need Narappa's 3 acres of land, which the family is against selling, especially Munikanna. One day Sundaramma is attacked by Panduswamy's son Rangababu, to which Munikanna retaliates by severely injuring him and gets imprisoned. Consequently, Narappa pleads with Panduswamy to get Munikanna released, and he asks Narappa to prostrate before every male resident of the landlord's village as atonement. Being cognizant of it, Munikanna beats Panduswamy with a slipper. As revenge, Panduswamy's henchmen, led by a hunter Gampanna, behead Munikanna. Sundaramma is heartbroken, and after a year, Seenappa is compelled to kill Panduswamy in revenge. Narappa witnesses the attack and flees with his family.
The film returns to the present. Gampanna is ordered by Doraswamy & Rangababu to find the pair. He tracks them down and almost kills Seenappa. Narappa defeats them all and when they recover, Narappa explains why he spared their lives.
Twenty years earlier, he is a village-famous moonshine brewer and trusted servant to Shankaraiah, a landlord. One day, he convinces his employer to employ Seenu, Shankaraiah's distant relative, as a clerk. Narappa's brother Munnappa and Varadarajulu, a lawyer, are attempting to regain their poor farming community's land from landlords who had seized it illegally. Narappa's family repeatedly fails to find a bride for him as he is a brewer. Frustrated Narappa's elder sister's daughter Kannamma, proposes to her uncle which he and the family accepts. Seenu slowly gains Shankaraiah's trust and becomes his mill accountant. Once Narappa beats Seenu inside the mill, for refusing to loan Rs. 1 to him and he plans revenge. Meanwhile, Narappa gifts sandals to Kannamma. Noticing Kannamma wearing sandals, Seenu hits her and forces her to walk through the village with the sandals on her head. Narappa retaliates by hitting him with sandals in the middle of the village and ties him up but is reprimanded by Shankaraiah. Humiliated Narapppa quits brewing and joins his brother. One night, before a meeting is conducted by Munnappa and Narappa, the news arrives that Varadarajulu is arrested, and Narappa is sent to get the documents authorizing the meeting. When he returns, Munappa has been killed by Seenu and Narappa's entire family is burned alive in their huts along with Kannamma. Enraged, Narappa brutally kills Shankaraiah, Seenu, and their men.
After that, Narappa leaves the village and months later is found by Basavaiah, who taught him farming. He's also introduced to Sundaramma, who is not getting marriage proposals. Then, he narrates his story, and Sundaramma admires what he did for his family. He surrenders to the court and is given a short-term penalty. After serving his sentence he marries Sundaramma. Seenappa is amazed at his father's past and starts to admire him. Narappa reconciles with his wife and reaches Varadarajulu for help who advises them to turn up to court the next day.
Doraswamy and Rangababu plan an ambush near the court premises and Narappa and his son flee. Later Narappa reluctantly sells his land to protect Seenappa from Panduswamy's family. However, Seenappa is abducted and tortured by Doraswamy & Rangababu, in direct violation of the agreement. At this point, the infuriated Narappa kills them and many of their henchmen. He and Seenappa sustain serious injuries. Basavaiah and their villagers arrive armed and defuse the situation.
In the end, it is revealed that the two villages agreed that the conflict should end and prevent a village clash. Narappa's family has gathered in the court, and he has agreed to go to jail instead of Seenappa if necessary. He tells his son to study well and get a job, and that, unlike land and money, the landlords can't seize their education. The film ends with Narappa smiling at his family as he enters the court.
Cast
Production
Development and casting
In November 2019, Srikanth Addala confirmed that he would be directing Telugu remake of ''Asuran'' with Venkatesh playing the titular role. Title was revealed as ''Narappa'' in January 2020. The film marks the second collaboration of Venkatesh and Srikanth Addala after working in the 2013
family drama film ''
Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu
''Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu'' (), also known by the initialism ''SVSC'', is a 2013 Indian Telugu-language family drama film written and directed by Srikanth Addala. It was produced by Dil Raju's Sri Venkateswara Creations, and stars V ...
''. Venkatesh plays the role of Narappa, belonging to an oppressed caste from
Anantapuram
Anantapur, officially Anantapuramu, is a city in Anantapur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Anantapuru mandal and also the divisional headquarters of Anantapur revenue division. The city is locat ...
,
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
. Similar to ''Asuran'', Venkatesh plays a man of his mid-40s.
Priyamani
Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer (born 4 June 1984), known by her professional name Priyamani, is an Indian actress and former model, who works in the South Indian film industry. She is a recipient of Several Awards.
Priyamani made her acting debut ...
was cast as Sundaramma and
Karthik Rathnam
Karthik Rathnam is an Indian actor who works in Telugu theatre and Telugu cinema. Rathnam made his debut with the critical acclaimed film ''C/o Kancharapalem'' (2018), which was the first Telugu film to be screened in New York Film Festival. ...
as Munikanna, playing Narappa's wife and elder son respectively.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
of the film began on 22 January 2020 at Paalturu village near
Uravakonda in
Anantapur district. First schedule was to be shot in
Rayalaseema region for authenticity. The film team then moved to
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
to film few action scenes, and completed it in the March 2020, before the
COVID-19 lockdown in India. These scenes were shot under the supervision of action director
Peter Hein at Kurumalai,
Theri Kaadu (Teri dune complex),
Tirunelveli
Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tam ...
and other areas of Tamil Nadu. Filming has been suspended in March 2020 due to
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 ...
.
It was reported that the film's shooting will be resumed in October 2020. Later, it was confirmed that the filming will be resumed on 9 November 2020 in Hyderabad, with Venkatesh being part of the filming for five days. By the time, the film has completed 80% of the shooting. By the end of January 2021, the shooting was
wrapped up. Venkatesh completed his part of
dubbing
Dubbing (re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production, often in concert with sound design, in which additional or supplementary recordings are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production sou ...
in May 2021, during the second-wave lockdown.
Themes and influences
Sangeetha Devi Dundoo felt that ''Narappa'' is a story of revenge and the leading man's transformation is reminiscent of
Rajinikanth in ''
Baashha
''Baashha'' is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language gangster
action film written and directed by Suresh Krissna. The film stars Rajinikanth, Nagma and Raghuvaran, with Janagaraj, Devan, Shashi Kumar, Vijayakumar, Anandaraj, Charan Raj, Kitty, Sath ...
'' (1995). The film explores various
social issues in India, including
caste discrimination and primarily shows the theme of "rich vs poor". The core plot of the film is influenced by the real-life
Kilvenmani massacre
The Kilvenmani massacre (or Keezhvenmani massacre) was an incident in Kizhavenmani village, Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu state in India on 25 December 1968 in which a group of around 44 people, the families of striking Dalit village labour ...
that occurred in 1968 in
Kizhavenmani
Kizhavenmani (also spelled Kilvenmani and Keezhvenmani) is a village in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu state in India. The village is about 25 km from the district headquarters town of Nagapattinam. It is in the fertile river Cauvery De ...
village,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
.
Music
After working as the
film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
r in the film ''
Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu
''Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu'' (), also known by the initialism ''SVSC'', is a 2013 Indian Telugu-language family drama film written and directed by Srikanth Addala. It was produced by Dil Raju's Sri Venkateswara Creations, and stars V ...
'' (2013), this is the second time
Mani Sharma
Mani may refer to:
Geography
* Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia
* Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad
* Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece
* Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshina ...
, collaborating with Srikanth, and first time as the composer of
soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...
. First single "Chalaaki Chinnammi" was released on 11 July 2021 through Suresh Productions Music label. The second single "Ooo Narappa" was released on 16 July 2021. Third single "Rage of Narappa" was released on 23 July 2021. The soundtrack album (jukebox) was released on 30 July 2021.
Release
The film was scheduled to release on 14 May 2021 but was postponed due to the second wave of the
COVID-19 pandemic in India
The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , according to Indian government figures, India has the second-highest n ...
. On 29 June 2021, it was announced that film received U/A certification from
Central Board of Film Certification
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...
. In July 2021, it was announced that the film would have its digital premiere on
Amazon Prime Video on 20 July 2021, forgoing its theatrical release.
About the film's release on Amazon Prime Video, producer Suresh Babu commented that "The film's core message is very powerful. It does not shy away from the truths. I am certain that it will impact in ways that no one would expect. I am incredibly happy that we are able to showcase our film to audiences across 240 countries and territories".
Reception
Neeshita Nyayapati of ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
'' gave a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and wrote that "In this adaptation of Poomani’s acclaimed novel ''Vekkai'', Srikanth Addala gets out of the comfort zone of his usually bright and happy family dramas." Writing for
''Cinema Express'', Ram Venkat Srikar commented that "In all, ''Narappa'' is as faithful a remake can get; it is, perhaps, too immaculate for its own good. When the original is a film like ''Asuran'', there is no way a remake can go wrong, and fittingly, ''Narappa'', despite its shortcomings, is a welcome change in Telugu cinema."
Baradwaj Rangan
Baradwaj Rangan is an Indian film critic, writer, and formerly the deputy editor of ''The Hindu''. He later became a senior editor of Film Companion. Rangan won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2006. Before joining ''The Hindu' ...
of ''
Film Companion
Anupama Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written sev ...
'' stated that "The screenwriting in the film is cyclical: what happens in one generation finds an echo in the next. ''Narappa'' isn’t quite as good as ''Asuran'' but — on its own terms — it’s pretty good."
In contrast, Janani K of ''
India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...
'' cited that "Director Srikanth Addala’s Narappa is a faithful remake of Dhanush’s Asuran. However, it lacks the freshness and soul of Asuran." Praising the performances done by all the actors and work by the director, Shubham Kulkarni of ''
Koimoi
Koimoi is a Bollywood entertainment website providing Bollywood news, box-office reports and film reviews. In January 2021, its Alexa ranking in India was 2530.
Origin
On 23 November 2009, Contest2win.com and Komal Nahta's Faith Entertainment j ...
'' stated: "Did We Really Need A Scene-To-Scene Copy Of Asuran?" and added that "The remake is good but not equal to the brilliance the Dhanush starrer stood on." Sasidhar Adivi of ''
Deccan Chronicle
''Deccan Chronicle'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded by Rajagopal Mudaliar in the 1930s & currently owned by Samagrah Commercial Pvt Limited. It is published in Hyderabad, Telangana, by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited ( ...
'' wrote, "''Narappa'' works in parts as a dark and gripping drama. The storyline is old and predictable, but the performances and emotional trail make it a decent watch."
References
External links
*
{{Srikanth Addala
Films set in Andhra Pradesh
Films shot in Andhra Pradesh
Films shot in Tamil Nadu
Suresh Productions films
Telugu remakes of Tamil films
2021 action drama films
Indian action drama films
Films scored by Mani Sharma
Films about education
Indian films based on actual events
Films about social issues in India
Films about racism
Films not released in theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 direct-to-video films
Indian direct-to-video films
Film productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Films about the caste system in India
Amazon Prime Video original films