''Racha'' (), also spelt ''Rachcha'', is a 2012 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
masala film
Masala films of Indian cinema mix multiple genres into one work. Masala films emerged in the 1970s and are still created as of the 2020s. Typically these films freely mix action, comedy, romance, and drama or melodrama. They also tend to be ...
directed by
Sampath Nandi
Sampath Nandi (born 20 June 1980) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works primarily in Telugu cinema.
Career
After completing his bachelor's degree in Pharmacy (B.Pharm) from the V.L. College of Pharmacy, Nandi assiste ...
and co-written by the
Paruchuri Brothers. Produced by
R. B. Choudary
Ratanlal Bhagatram Choudary is an Indian film producer who has worked in several film industries, predominantly in Tamil and Telugu along with a few films in Malayalam and Hindi. He is the founder of the production company Super Good Films.
C ...
in association with N. V. Prasad and Paras Jain under their banner Megaa Super Good Films, it stars
Ram Charan
Konidela Ram Charan Teja (born 27 March 1985) is an Indian actor, producer, and entrepreneur who works predominantly in Telugu films. One of the highest-paid Telugu film actors, he is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards and two Nandi Awa ...
and
Tamannaah
Tamanna Bhatia (born 21 December 1989), known professionally as Tamannaah, is an Indian actress who appears primarily in Telugu and Tamil films, along with a few Hindi films. In 2005, she made her acting debut at the age of 15 in the Hindi fi ...
, with
Mukesh Rishi,
Dev Gill
Dev Singh Gill is an Indian actor and model known for his work in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada movies alongside Hindi and Punjabi movies.
Career
Gill made his debut with film ''Shaheed-E-Azam'' (2002). In 2008, he acted in Telugu language film ...
and
Kota Srinivasa Rao
Kota Srinivasa Rao (born 10 July 1942) is an Indian character actor known for his work primarily in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He has also starred in a few films in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam. As a former politician, Rao has ...
. The film marks the Telugu debut of
Ajmal Ameer
Ajmal Ameer (born 8 November 1985) is an Indian actor and former physician, who works in the Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu film industries. He has won two Filmfare Awards South for his role '' Anjathe'' (2008) and '' Ko'' (2011).
Early and per ...
and
R. Parthiepan
R. Parthiban (born 14 October 1958) is an Indian actor and filmmaker who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has directed 15 films, produced 13 films and acted in more than 70 films. He started his career as assistant director for K. Bhagyaraj in ...
who makes a
cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
.
The film was edited by Gautham Raju;
Sameer Reddy
Sameer Reddy is an Indian film cinematographer who works in Telugu and Hindi films, and Cinema of the United States. He is the cousin and a relative of noted cinematographers, Rasool Ellore and S. Gopal Reddy
S. Gopal Reddy is an Indian cinem ...
provided the cinematography;
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 score and soundtrack.
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 ...
commenced in June 2011 and was shot in various locations throughout
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, mainly in
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 ...
,
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 States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
apart from
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
and
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
. It was also shot in the
Anji County of
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
making it the first Telugu film to do so.
The film was released worldwide on 5 April 2012. The film received four nominations at the
60th Filmfare Awards South
The 60th Filmfare Awards South ceremony honouring the winners and nominees of the best of South Indian cinema in 2012 is an event that held on 20 July 2013 at the Hyderabad International Convention Center. The Black lady was unveiled by actress ...
where it won the award for best choreography. It also received five nominations at
2nd South Indian International Movie Awards but did not win any.
Plot
Raj is a
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 ...
-based gambler living with his adopted parents who support his means of living. Tragedy strikes the family when his adopted father is diagnosed with
cirrhosis
Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue rep ...
as a result of alcoholism. Raj needs 20 lakhs for his father's
liver transplantation, which must be done within a month. As he is on the lookout for money, he is approached by James, his rival in betting, with a betting challenge. James dares Raj to make Chaitra, a dental student and the daughter of a dreaded and influential businessman Bellary, fall in love with him. If he is able to complete the task before 31 December 2011, James will give him the money needed for his father's operation; if not, he has to give up betting forever. Desperate for the money, Raj takes up the challenge and begins wooing Chaitra. Chaitra soon reciprocates his advances. Bellary finds out about their relationship and sends his henchmen to kill the couple on the night of 31 December. Raj and Chaitra successfully dodge the henchmen and escape to
Srisailam
Srisailam is a census town in Nandyal district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Srisailam mandal in Atmakur revenue division. It is located about from the district headquarters Nandyal, from Kurnool, and ...
. Bellary, with the help of his corrupt minister-friend Baireddanna and the latter's Dubai-based son, begins a search for them. At Srisailam, James rescues the couple from Bellary's henchmen but gets stabbed by Baireddanna's son who also kidnaps Chaitra. An injured James reveals that he was sent by his father to protect them and reveals about Raj's past.
Raj's father Suryanarayana was a respected man in
Rayadurga and his best friend, a rich man named Raghupathy was Chaitra's father. Chaitra and Raj were childhood friends. Bellary, who is Raghypathy's brother-in-law, found out about the presence of iron ore under Raghupathy's land, and along with Baireddanna, decided to exploit the ore for their own benefit. When Suryanarayana and Raghupathy objected, they and their families, except Raj and Chaitra, were killed by Bellary and Baireddanna. Chaitra was adopted by Bellary, who planned to kill her when she becomes an adult so he could acquire Raghupathy's land. James's father (Bellary's PA) had revealed her past to Chitra, who decide to avenge her father's death had learnt about Raj and his love for making bets from James. She and James's father tells him to trap Raj by placing the bet so that Bellary and Baireddanna can be destroyed using him. Raj decides to avenge his father's death and kills Bellary, Baireddanna and his son at Rayadurg. He rescues Chaitra (who would have died if not rescued in 10 minutes) and they distributes Raghupathy's and Suryanarayana's land to the villagers
Cast
*
Ram Charan
Konidela Ram Charan Teja (born 27 March 1985) is an Indian actor, producer, and entrepreneur who works predominantly in Telugu films. One of the highest-paid Telugu film actors, he is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards and two Nandi Awa ...
as Raj
*
Tamannaah
Tamanna Bhatia (born 21 December 1989), known professionally as Tamannaah, is an Indian actress who appears primarily in Telugu and Tamil films, along with a few Hindi films. In 2005, she made her acting debut at the age of 15 in the Hindi fi ...
as Chaitra "Ammu"
*
Ajmal Ameer
Ajmal Ameer (born 8 November 1985) is an Indian actor and former physician, who works in the Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu film industries. He has won two Filmfare Awards South for his role '' Anjathe'' (2008) and '' Ko'' (2011).
Early and per ...
as James
*
Mukesh Rishi as Ballari
*
Dev Gill
Dev Singh Gill is an Indian actor and model known for his work in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada movies alongside Hindi and Punjabi movies.
Career
Gill made his debut with film ''Shaheed-E-Azam'' (2002). In 2008, he acted in Telugu language film ...
as Baireddy's son
*
Kota Srinivasa Rao
Kota Srinivasa Rao (born 10 July 1942) is an Indian character actor known for his work primarily in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He has also starred in a few films in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam. As a former politician, Rao has ...
as Baireddy
*
Nassar
Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...
as Raghupathi, Chaitra's father
*
R. Parthiban
R. Parthiban (born 14 October 1958) is an Indian actor and filmmaker who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has directed 15 films, produced 13 films and acted in more than 70 films. He started his career as assistant director for K. Bhagyaraj in ...
as Suryanarayana, Raj's father
*
Brahmanandam
Kanneganti Brahmanandam (born 1 February 1956), known mononymously as Brahmanandam, is an Indian actor, comedian, impersonator, and voice actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He is particularly known for his comic perfor ...
as Dr. Rangeela
*
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
as Papa Rao
*
Diksha Panth
Diksha Panth is an Indian actress, known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema. She was selected as a ''Bigg Boss Telugu
''Bigg Boss'' is an Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language television reality show of the ''Bigg Boss'' fran ...
as Basanthi, Papa Rao's girlfriend
*
Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao as James's father
*
Jaya Prakash Reddy as Sub-inspector J. P. D. Souza
*
Geetha as Bellary's wife
*
Venu Madhav as Raj's friend
*
Srinivasa Reddy
Venkateswara, also known by various other names, is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. Venkateswara is the presiding deity of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, located in Tirupati, Sri Balaji District, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Etymology
Venkatesw ...
as Raj's friend
*
Thagubothu Ramesh
Ramilla Ramesh, better known as Thagubothu Ramesh, is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Telugu films. He is a recipient of Nandi Award for Best Male Comedian. He got the moniker "Thagubothu" as he portrayed several roles as a drunkard ...
as Bobby, Raj's friend
*
M. S. Narayana
M. S. Narayana (16 April 1951–23 January 2015) was an Indian actor and comedian who worked in Telugu cinema. He died on 23 January 2015 due to organ failure in Hyderabad, India.
Career
Narayana has over 750 films to his credit. His debut film ...
as Raj's adoptive father
*
Sudha as Raj's adoptive mother
*
Ravi Babu as Chaitra's bodyguard
*
Mukhtar Khan
Mukhtar Khan is an Indian photographer and journalist. He was one of three photojournalists from Associated Press to win the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography
The Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography is one of the American Pulitzer Pri ...
as Police Officer
*
Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as Raj's uncle
*
Krishna Bhagavaan
Krishna Bhagavan (), (born 2 July 1965) is an actor in Tollywood, who has appeared in more than 350 films, mostly as a comedian. He is also well known as a writer.
Early life
Krishna Bhagavan was born Veeraraju Paparao Chowdary in Kaikavolu ...
as KP
*
Fish Venkat as Venkat
*
Jhansi
Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative head ...
as Slum Member
*
Chatrapathi Sekhar
Chandra Sekhar, known professionally as Chatrapathi Sekhar, is an actor who primarily works in Telugu-language films and TV serials. He is known for his frequent collaborations with S. S. Rajamouli.
Career
Sekar is a regular in S. S. Rajamo ...
as Villager
*
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 ...
as Waiter
*
Uttej
Uttej is an Indian actor and screenwriter who works in Telugu films. He won the Nandi Award for Best Male Comedian for the film ''Chandamama'' (2007).
Personal life
Uttej was born and brought up in Nalgonda district. He is the nephew of not ...
*
L. B. Sriram
L. B. Sriram (born Lanka Bhadradri Sri Ramachandra Moorthy; 30 May 1952) is an Indian actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, and thespian known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He made his feature film debut with '' ...
as Villager
*
Shriya Sharma
Shriya Sharma (born 9 April 1997) is an Indian actress, model and advocate who has worked in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu films. She is known for playing the role of Sneha Bajaj in the television series ''Kasautti Zindagi Kay'' which won her the ...
as Chaitra's sister
*
Geetha Singh as KP's sister
*
Pragathi
Pragathi Mahavadi (born April 17, 1975) is Indian film and television actress who has acted in Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam languages.
Personal life
Pragathi was born in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh.
Career
Pragathi started her career as a model fo ...
as Raj's biological mother
*
Hema as Raj's aunt
*
Satya Krishnan
Satya Krishnan is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Telugu films. She was born in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. She worked as a hotel management professional and entered the film industry with the film ''Dollar Dreams''. Mostly sta ...
as Slum Member
*
Vennela Kishore
Bokkala Kishore Kumar (born 19 September 1977), known professionally as Vennela Kishore, is an Indian actor and director who works in Telugu-language films. Known for his comic roles, he was given the moniker "Vennela" after his first feature f ...
as Raj's friend
*Junior Relangi as Religious Man
*
Lisa Haydon
Elisabeth Marie Haydon is an Indian actress, TV presenter and model, who mainly appears in Hindi films. Haydon made her acting debut with the ensemble romantic comedy-drama ''Aisha'' (2010) and received critical praise for her performance in the ...
in a special appearance in the film's title song
Production
Development
R. B. Choudary
Ratanlal Bhagatram Choudary is an Indian film producer who has worked in several film industries, predominantly in Tamil and Telugu along with a few films in Malayalam and Hindi. He is the founder of the production company Super Good Films.
C ...
, in association with N. V. Prasad and Paras Jain, produced a film titled ''Merupu'' directed by
Dharani
Dharanis ( IAST: ), also known as ''Parittas'', are Buddhist chants, mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, usually the mantras consisting of Sanskrit or Pali phrases. Believed to be protective and with powers to generate merit for the B ...
starring
Ram Charan
Konidela Ram Charan Teja (born 27 March 1985) is an Indian actor, producer, and entrepreneur who works predominantly in Telugu films. One of the highest-paid Telugu film actors, he is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards and two Nandi Awa ...
and
Kajal Aggarwal whose production began on 30 April 2010. There was no proper script except a vague one-line for the film then and a song was shot on Charan. After the release of ''
Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
'' (2010), Charan and the producers asked Dharani to come up with its bound script. He narrated it to both Charan and his father
Chiranjeevi
Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu language, Telugu, as ...
. When Dharani quoted a high budget, Chiranjeevi and the producers suggested a reduction.
After completing a schedule, ''Merupu'' was shelved and later, N. V. Prasad approved a script narrated by
Sampath Nandi
Sampath Nandi (born 20 June 1980) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works primarily in Telugu cinema.
Career
After completing his bachelor's degree in Pharmacy (B.Pharm) from the V.L. College of Pharmacy, Nandi assiste ...
and announced in late February 2011. The film's official launch ceremony was conducted on 12 June 2011 at
Ramanaidu Studios
Suresh Productions (also known as Suresh Movies, Vijaya Suresh Combines) is an Indian film production and distribution company known for its works in Telugu cinema. It is established in 1964 by D. Ramanaidu. It is one of India's largest film p ...
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 (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
where the film's working title was announced as ''Racha''.
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 ...
was signed to compose the film's music.
Sameer Reddy
Sameer Reddy is an Indian film cinematographer who works in Telugu and Hindi films, and Cinema of the United States. He is the cousin and a relative of noted cinematographers, Rasool Ellore and S. Gopal Reddy
S. Gopal Reddy is an Indian cinem ...
was recruited as the film's cinematographer while
Raju Sundaram
Basuva Raju Sundaram is an Indian dance choreographer, actor and director, who works primarily in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films. He appeared as an actor in films such as but not limited to: '' Jeans'' (1998), '' 123'' (2002), '' I Love Yo ...
and Shobi choreographed the songs along with
Prem Rakshith
Prem Rakshith is an Indian choreographer who was introduced to the movie industry by Actor Jithan Ramesh. He has won four Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi- ...
. The film's Telugu logo was unveiled on 14 February 2012 and the title was confirmed as ''Racha'' where the first two letters were taken from Ram and the other three letters were taken from Charan. The first look poster featuring Charan was unveiled on 18 February 2012.
Casting
Charan left for an abroad trip for a complete make-over of his attire and practised different dancing steps as part of his homework for the film. He also underwent training in strict physical exercise for about 45 days in David Barton's gym. Reports in early March 2011 suggested that
Tamannaah
Tamanna Bhatia (born 21 December 1989), known professionally as Tamannaah, is an Indian actress who appears primarily in Telugu and Tamil films, along with a few Hindi films. In 2005, she made her acting debut at the age of 15 in the Hindi fi ...
would be signed in as the female lead, who was finalised for the same in mid May 2011. She was confirmed to play the role of a rich woman who falls in love with a poor man. She later revealed in an interview that her character is integral to the film's main plot and its layers get revealed as the film progresses.
R. Parthiepan
R. Parthiban (born 14 October 1958) is an Indian actor and filmmaker who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has directed 15 films, produced 13 films and acted in more than 70 films. He started his career as assistant director for K. Bhagyaraj in ...
made a
cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
as Charan's father in the film marking his Telugu debut who accepted it after Nandi explained the role's importance.
Ajmal Ameer
Ajmal Ameer (born 8 November 1985) is an Indian actor and former physician, who works in the Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu film industries. He has won two Filmfare Awards South for his role '' Anjathe'' (2008) and '' Ko'' (2011).
Early and per ...
's inclusion in the film's cast was confirmed in late July 2011.
He revealed later that every character in the film would be introduced through his role which would be a cameo appearance, adding that it would be an impactful one bringing twists in the story. He could not dub for his role since he was shooting for a Tamil film in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
Brahmanandam
Kanneganti Brahmanandam (born 1 February 1956), known mononymously as Brahmanandam, is an Indian actor, comedian, impersonator, and voice actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He is particularly known for his comic perfor ...
and
Krishna Bhagavaan
Krishna Bhagavan (), (born 2 July 1965) is an actor in Tollywood, who has appeared in more than 350 films, mostly as a comedian. He is also well known as a writer.
Early life
Krishna Bhagavan was born Veeraraju Paparao Chowdary in Kaikavolu ...
were included in the film's cast in early October 2011.
Dev Gill
Dev Singh Gill is an Indian actor and model known for his work in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada movies alongside Hindi and Punjabi movies.
Career
Gill made his debut with film ''Shaheed-E-Azam'' (2002). In 2008, he acted in Telugu language film ...
was signed to play one of the antagonists. He revealed that all his action sequences will be with Charan only.
Lisa Haydon
Elisabeth Marie Haydon is an Indian actress, TV presenter and model, who mainly appears in Hindi films. Haydon made her acting debut with the ensemble romantic comedy-drama ''Aisha'' (2010) and received critical praise for her performance in the ...
performed an
item number
In Indian cinema, an item number or item song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and ...
in the film.
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 ...
commenced in June 2011 at
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 ...
. The next schedule began at
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
in early July 2011. Tamannaah joined the film's sets on 7 July 2011 and she revealed that the film would be shot in the jungles of Sri Lanka in a long schedule. A song featuring Charan and Tamannaah was shot in Sri Lanka in late July 2011 on whose completion the schedule was wrapped up.
Filming continued at
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
till 15 August 2011. Later, a dance academy set was erected in the outskirts of Hyderabad where few comedy scenes were shot.
Few scenes were shot in a set erected near the Aluminium factory at
Gachibowli
Gachibowli is a suburb of Hyderabad, Telangana, India, located in the Serilingampally mandal of the Rangareddy district. It is situated about 5 km away from HITEC City, another IT hub. Gachibowli is home to numerous tech companies and res ...
. Tamannaah and Brahmanandam participated in the film's shoot at Hyderabad till 6 October 2011 after which the makers planned to shoot the film in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. After much silent shoot in Hyderabad, filming continued at
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
. During the shoot of Charan's introduction scene, the cables fixed to the train failed and Charan, who was sitting in a car on the railway track, jumped from the car and was injured. After the schedule's completion, Charan visited
Sabarimala to end his Aiyyappa Deeksha.
The song ''Vaana Vaana Velluvaye'' was shot on Charan and Tamannaah in early November 2011. A special set in
Annapurna Studios was erected where the song was shot for four days after which the film's China schedule commenced from 12 November 2011. A song and a fight sequence was shot at a Bamboo forest in
Anji County of
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...
province till the end of November 2011. ''Racha'' became the first Telugu film to be shot in the dense forest of interior China. On its completion, Charan took a break for ten days. The film's shoot resumed at Rayalacheruvu near
Tirupathi in December 2011. After a brief shoot at
Ramoji Film City
Ramoji Film City is an integrated film studio facility located in Hyderabad, India. Spread over 1,666 acres (674 ha), it is the largest film studio complex in the world and as such has been certified by the Guinness World Records. It was estab ...
, the last schedule began in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
on 17 January 2012. The shooting of the title song choreographed by Prem Rakshith was wrapped up at
Buddha Statue of Hyderabad
The ''Buddha Statue of Hyderabad'' is a monolith located in India. It is the world's tallest monolith of Gautama Buddha, erected on Gibraltar Rock in the middle of Hussain Sagar.
History
Hyderabad is the capital of the state of Telangana (separ ...
on 23 January 2012.
![Periyar National Park](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Periyar_National_Park.JPG)
The film's shoot continued at
Periyar National Park
Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary (PNP) is a protected area located in the districts of Idukki and Pathanamthitta in Kerala, India. It is notable as an elephant reserve and a tiger reserve. The protected area encompasses , of which ...
of
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
in February 2012. Charan and Tamannaah were filming for a song sequence on a boat when the park's deputy director Sanjay Kumar insisted that the duo should use life jackets as they were entering a risky spot. After few disagreements, the film's shoot was temporarily halted and some long shots were shot when the duo used the jackets. The forest officials also restricted the entry of about 20 vehicles and 100 members into the park due to which the shoot was limited to a small portion of a song.
After spraining his leg during the song shoot at Annapurna Studios, Charan was advised to take a bed rest for three to four weeks. He rejoined the shoot on 25 March 2012 to complete the remaining two songs. After completing the shoot for the song ''Dillaku Dillaku'' at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad, the last song ''Singarenundi'' was shot at
Anaimalai Hills
The Anamala or Anaimalai, also known as the Elephant Mountains, are a range of mountains in the southern Western Ghats of central Kerala ( Idukki district, Ernakulam district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district) and span the border of we ...
and
Siruvani Waterfalls near
Pollachi
Pollachi is a town and a taluk headquarters in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu state, India. Located about to the south of Coimbatore, it is the second largest town in the district after Coimbatore. Pollachi is a popular Marketplace for jag ...
on Charan and Tamannaah. On its completion, the film's team returned to Hyderabad and the principal photography came to an end on 1 April 2012.
Music
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 soundtrack and background score. The soundtrack consists of 5 songs. The song ''Vaana Vaana Velluvaye'' from the film ''
Gang Leader
''Gang Leader'' is a 1991 Indian Telugu-language action crime film written and directed by Vijaya Bapineedu, and produced by Maganti Ravindranath Chowdary. The film stars Chiranjeevi and Vijayashanti, while Rao Gopal Rao, Anandaraj, Murali Mo ...
'' was remixed for this film.
Aditya Music
Aditya Music India Private Limited is a music company in India, which owns the label Aditya Music. It produces music for the Telugu cinema industry and is headquartered at Hyderabad, Telangana.
Overview
The company was founded by Umesh Gup ...
and Star Music marketed the soundtrack albums of the Telugu and Tamil versions respectively. The soundtrack was released by hosting a promotional event at People's Plaza near
Necklace road on 20 February 2012.
Release
The film was initially scheduled for a release in March 2012. After Charan suffered a muscle tear in his leg, the film's shoot was delayed due to which the film's release was postponed to 5 April 2012. The film's Tamil dubbed version titled ''Ragalai'' was announced in mid March 2012 after the release of ''
Maaveeran
''Maaveeran'' () is a 1986 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Rajasekhar. A remake of the 1985 Hindi film '' Mard'', it stars Rajinikanth, Ambika and Jaishankar. The film revolves around a rude princess, who falls in love with a si ...
''. ''Racha'' was awarded an 'U/A' certificate by
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 ...
on 3 April 2012.
After Competition Commission of India imposed a fine on Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce for restricting free trade, Racha released in Karnataka in more than 120 screens.
''Ragalai'' was released on 6 April 2012. The Malayalam dubbed version ''Raksha'' released on 13 April 2012 though it was planned for a simultaneous release with ''Ragalai''. ''Racha'' Television broadcasting rights were sold to
Gemini TV. Both the Indian and overseas DVDs and Blu-rays of the Telugu version were marketed by Aditya Videos.
''Racha'' was dubbed into
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 ...
as ''Ragalai'' and into
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
as ''Raksha''. The former was released on 6 April 2012 while the latter was released a week later. The film was dubbed into
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
as ''Betting Raja'' in 2014 and this film was remade in Bangladesh as ''
Honeymoon'' starring
Bappy Chowdhury
Bappy Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi film actor. He made his debut in 2012, appearing in ''Bhalobasar Rong'' as an actor opposite Mahiya Mahi.
Career
Bappy has made his acting debut in 2013 with ''Bhalobasar Rong''. He released two films " Lover ...
and
Mahiya Mahi
Mahiya Sharmin Akter Nipa (born 27 October), known as Mahiya Mahi, is a Bangladeshi film actress. She is considered as the current highest paid actress of Bangladeshi film industry. She made her debut in the film '' Bhalobashar Rong'' in 2012 w ...
.
Reception
Critical reception
''
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...
'' called the film a "paisa vasool" one and stated "Both, actor Ram Charan and his director Sampath Nandi play a safe game by following the same pattern of earlier mass-masala movies. Rachcha offers nothing new but has enough elements that entertain the mass audiences and mega fans." Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
'' stated "Within the framework of pleasing the actor's fan clubs, the film works. But the sense of déjà vu in the tale of revenge is palpable. Even when you tune yourself into watching a mass entertainer and don't expect anything intellectually stimulating, you do miss the ingenuity and spark that were the hallmark of mass entertainer blockbusters like ''
Singam'', ''
Pokiri
''Pokiri'' () is a 2006 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film written and directed by Puri Jagannadh. The film was produced by Jagannadh and Manjula Ghattamaneni by their respective production companies Vaishno Academy and Indira Prod ...
'' or ''
Kick
A kick is a physical Strike (attack), strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee (strike), ...
''. Go without expectations and you will be entertained."
Karthik Pasupulate 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 the film 3 out of 5 stars and felt that the film is designed for the "hardcore Mega Fans and it makes no bones about it". He added "Clearly there are a lot of prospective hooting opportunities for the die hard Ram Charan fans. As for the other kind of audience, well, you'll have to ask them. We suspect they might just be feeling a little unattended". Praising the screenplay written by Sampath Nandi, Ramchander of ''
Oneindia Entertainment
Oneindia.com is an Indian website established in January 2006 by BG Mahesh. The website provides news updates, information on sports, events, travel, entertainment, business, lifestyle, videos, and classifieds in seven different Languages of Ind ...
'' stated "Finally, Sampath Nandi has come out with a good film. Though, the story is not that great and is quite predictable one, the ability of the director made it quite interesting."
Rating the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, ''
CNN-IBN
CNN-News18 (originally CNN-IBN) is an Indian English-language news television channel founded by Raghav Bahl based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is currently co-owned by Network18 Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN provides internationa ...
'' felt that the film was technically brilliant but lacked a credible storyline. They termed the film's presentation as a "lacklustre and ordinary" one. Radhika Rajamani of ''
Rediff.com
Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City.
, it had more than 300 e ...
'' gave 2 out of 5 stars and criticised the film for its predictability and stereotypical pattern and stated that ''Racha'' is a potboiler meant for the masses and not for a discerning audience. Praising the lead pair's performances by calling them as one of the reasons to watch this film, ''IndiaGlitz'' opined that at the end, ''Racha'' means "telling an old story with lot's
icof bells and whistles — over the top dialogues, destructive fights, falling back on the poor, etc."
Box office
''Racha'' debuted with an average occupancy of 90% and collected at the AP/Nizam box office setting first day record. The film collected a total of by the end of its first weekend and by then, ''Ragalai'' had a successful theatrical run. In its first week, the film collected at AP/Nizam box office out of which was from Nizam region. The film collected in Karnataka, taking its first week Indian box office total to . By late April 2012, the film collected nett in Karnataka.
In four weeks, ''Racha'' grossed at the global box office including the collections of the dubbed versions with a distributor share of at the AP/Nizam box office. The film completed a 50-day run in 127 direct centres across the AP/Nizam region out of which 38 screens were from Ceded region and 16 screens were from Nizam region. By then, the film was declared a
blockbuster
Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to:
*Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived.
Corporations
* Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain
** Bl ...
. The film completed a 100-day run in 38 centres across Andhra Pradesh on 13 July 2012. ''Racha''s final share for its distributors was
Awards and nominations
In popular culture
The specially designed
axe
An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...
used by Ram Charan in the film's climax was auctioned by Movie Artist Association. In a press meet, Tammanaah showcased the axe to the media and the proceeds of its sale were announced to be used to educate poor children in Telugu cinema. In ''
Aagadu'' (2014), Brahmanandam performed a spoof on this film along with two other 2014 Telugu films ''
Legend
A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...
'' and ''
Race Gurram
''Race Gurram'' () is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film directed by Surender Reddy and produced by Nallamalupu Srinivas under his banner Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Productions. The film stars Allu Arjun and Shruti Haasan while Shaa ...
''.
References
External links
*
{{Sampath Nandi
2012 films
2010s Telugu-language films
Indian action films
2012 action films
2012 masala films
Films shot in Sri Lanka
Films shot in Bangkok
Films shot in China
Films shot in Andhra Pradesh
Films shot in Tamil Nadu
Films shot in Kerala
Films shot in Munnar
Films shot in Goa
Films scored by Mani Sharma
Films shot in Hyderabad, India
Super Good Films films