''HIT: The First Case'' is a 2020 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
crime thriller film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
directed by debutant
Sailesh Kolanu and produced by
Prashanti Tipirneni. It stars
Vishwak Sen
Vishwak Sen (born Dinesh Naidu; 29 March 1995) is an Indian actor, director, and screenwriter who works in Telugu films. He made his debut in 2017 with '' Vellipomakey'' and went on to appear in films such as '' Ee Nagaraniki Emaindhi,'' his ...
and
Ruhani Sharma
Ruhani Sharma is an Indian actress and model who primarily works in Telugu films. She made her acting debut in with the Tamil film '' Kadaisi Bench Karthi'' (2017) and received praise for her lead role in ''Chi La Sow'' (2018), marking her Telu ...
. The plot follows Vikram Rudraraju, a police officer of the
Telangana
Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...
state's Homicide Intervention Team (HIT) who is tasked with investigating the missing case of an eighteen year old girl.
''The First Case'' was released theatrically on 28 February 2020 and emerged as profitable venture at the box office.
The film followed by a
standalone sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the sam ...
titled ''
HIT: The Second Case.'' Sailesh Kolanu also helmed the
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 ...
remake of ''The First Case'' as
same title, which was released in July 2022.The story is followed up in HIT: The Second Case also directed by Sailesh with both the films forming a part of the planned in the
HIT Universe.
Plot
Vikram Rudraraju is a police officer in the
Telangana
Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...
CID
CID may refer to:
Film
* ''C.I.D.'' (1955 film), an Indian Malayalam film
* ''C.I.D.'' (1956 film), an Indian Hindi film
* ''C. I. D.'' (1965 film), an Indian Telugu film
* ''C.I.D.'' (1990 film), an Indian Hindi film
Television
* ''CID'' ( ...
, where he works in the Homicide Intervention Team ''HIT'', and is a sharp person, who solves crucial cases with his ability to capture even the smallest of details, thus earning the trust of his senior Viswanath. He is in love with Neha, his colleague, and a
forensic officer. Rohit is Vikram's close friend and colleague, who accompanies him in most of his cases. Vikram is constantly in an argument with Abhilash, another officer, who crosses lines with Vikram. Vikram occasionally suffers from
PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a ...
due to his past experience and refuses to take pills as he believes it slows down his abilities.
Meanwhile, a girl named Preethi is driving on the highway, and her car stops to the side because it suffers a malfunction. Officer Ibrahim stops to help her, and she calls her father because she forgot her phone at her home. When her father comes to pick her up, he sees that she has gone missing and Ibrahim says that she got into a blue car and he thought it was his car. When Preethi's parents approach Ibrahim demandingly, he remains firm and insults them. Being a good friend of Preethi's parents, Viswanath decides to suspend Ibrahim because of how he acted and since he does not believe him. Vikram decides to take a six-month break to relieve his PTSD attacks. After two months, Vikram gets a call that Neha goes missing. He decides to go back to Viswanath and ask for the case file for Neha going missing, but he says Abhilash is dealing with the case, and he cannot give it to him.
Vikram decides to ask Shinde, who is Neha's colleague, about the cases Neha has dealt with over the past two months. Vikram and Rohit connect Preethi's and Neha's missing cases and deduce that the same person is involved in both cases. Vikram decides to investigate, and he asks Srinivas for Preethi's case, and he takes over the case. Meanwhile, Abhilash has suspicions that Vikram was the one who kidnapped Neha. Vikram decides to go to Preethi's college, and he asks Ajay and Sandhya about what happened the previous night, and they say the same response about how they were at a pub. Vikram and Rohit ask both Preethi's parents, and they say that her parents died in a car crash and she was living with them and Preethi's neighbor Sheela about her.
Vikram and Rohit start deducing the case, and they conclude that Sheela kidnapped Preethi after they see Sheela's blue car and a note forged by Sheela indicating the whereabouts of Preethi’s corpse. Ibrahim then sees the car and says that Sheela was not the one who kidnapped Preethi. Vikram and his team dig up the body behind the house and find that it is unnoticeable and it has a few
DNA samples on it. Vikram suspects Ajay because he said that Preethi was his girlfriend. While searching for the shreds of evidence Vikram gets a call from a stranger named Latha who is stalked by a man in a car telling her to stop so that he can talk, but she drives fast and reaches the outskirts and contacts Vikram. Vikram begins his investigation in the toll booth on the highway.
Vikram using the toll gate security cameras deduces that the man who kidnapped was Fahad, the mechanic to which Ibrahim gave his scooter to for repair. After Vikram, Abhilash, and Ibrahim find Fahad, Ibrahim is shot dead by Fahad while Vikram and Abhilash capture him. Fahad takes them to the house where he received the money to kidnap Preethi. Vikram finds out that it was Rohit's house, and before Rohit shoots him, he shoots him dead. Abhilash goes upstairs and gets Neha. It is found that Swapna, Rohit's wife, killed Preethi and kidnapped Neha. During Rohit's funeral Swapna explains how Preethi, herself, and her younger sister belonged to the same orphanage. Swapna's younger sister was suffering from a deadly heart disease. She wants her sister to be adopted as she can undergo treatment and can be saved. Swapna requested Preethi to decline the adoption, but ultimately Preethi was adopted.
When Mohan's brother and his wife adopted Preethi, Swapna becomes depressed and furious against Preethi as her sister had died on her birthday due to lack of treatment. She kidnaps and kills Preethi with the help of Fahad to avenge her sister's death. Rohit tries to protect Swapna by burying her behind the guest house and planting the DNA evidence. When Neha finds a compromising piece of evidence, the needle used to sedate Preethi, Rohit swaps the needle with another without Neha's knowledge. Before Neha reports about this finding to her superiors, Rohit goes to her house and laces Neha's drink, and later kidnaps her with the help of Fahad. The couple did not want to cause harm to any of the suspects, they want to illegally migrate somewhere abroad, once the case goes cold. Swapna explains the whole story and she gets arrested. Vikram attends the funeral of both Preethi and Ibrahim. The unidentified DNA on Preethi was of Rohit. He knew he would be caught. The gun he tried to use earlier on Vikram didn't have any bullets as he wanted to die at the hands of Vikram. Vikram donates to the orphanage where Swapna, her sister and Preethi were part of, an act which was appreciated by Neha. When Neha and Vikram are talking, Vikram almost gets shot by a sniper. It is then hinted that the story would continue in ''
HIT: The Second Case''.
Cast
*
Vishwak Sen
Vishwak Sen (born Dinesh Naidu; 29 March 1995) is an Indian actor, director, and screenwriter who works in Telugu films. He made his debut in 2017 with '' Vellipomakey'' and went on to appear in films such as '' Ee Nagaraniki Emaindhi,'' his ...
as Vikram Rudraraju
*
Ruhani Sharma
Ruhani Sharma is an Indian actress and model who primarily works in Telugu films. She made her acting debut in with the Tamil film '' Kadaisi Bench Karthi'' (2017) and received praise for her lead role in ''Chi La Sow'' (2018), marking her Telu ...
as Neha
*Chaitanya Sagiraju as Rohit
*
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 R. Shinde
*
Hari Teja
Hari Teja is an Indian actress and television presenter, who works in Telugu-language films and television. She is also a professional Kuchipudi dancer. She contested on the reality TV show ''Bigg Boss 1'', and stood in third place.
Early an ...
as Sheela
*
Murali Sharma
Murali Sharma (born 9 August 1972) is an Indian actor who works predominently in Telugu and Hindi films. Sharma has starred in over 130 feature films, including Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Malayalam cinema.
Sharma gained wide recognition ...
as Ibrahim Shaikh
*
Bhanu Chander
Bhanu Chander (Madduri Venkatasatya Subramanyeswara Bhanuchander Prasad; born 2 July 1952) is an Indian actor, director and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu and Tamil cinema. He is the son of veteran music composer Master Ven ...
as Vishwanath. K
*
Kalpika Ganesh
Kalpika Ganesh is an Indian actress who appears in Telugu films. She made her film debut with the film '' Prayanam'' in 2009.
Early life
Kalpika Ganesh was born in Hyderabad, India to a Iyengar family. She has completed BA from Vivekananda C ...
as Dr. Roopa
* Naveena Reddy as Swapna
**Dhanvi as Young Swapna
* Ravi Raja as Fahad
* Sahiti Avancha as Preethi
**Vanshi kakkar as Young Preethi
*
Ravi Varma Ravivarma is a Hindu male name used in India. It may refer to:
People
* Ravi Varma Kulasekhara, 14th century warrior king of Quilon, Kerala
* Ravi Varma of Padinjare Kovilakam (1745–1793), rebel prince regent of Calicut, Malabar
* Raja Ravi Varma ...
as Srinivas
* Maganti Srinath as Abhilash
* Rangadham as Mohan
* Roopa Lakshmi as Lakshmi
* Rajeshwari as Latha
* Kalpalatha as Saraswati
* Trish as Ajay
* Jaiyetri as Sandya
*
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 Priya
*Sri Harsha as Shiva
*Sanjana Reddy Malla as Doctor Garu
Production
On 24 October 2019, the film's ceremonial
pooja was held and production for the film commenced.
Nani and
Prashanti Tipirneni produced the film under "Wall Poster Cinema" banner. This film is their second venture after ''
Awe
Awe is an emotion comparable to wonder but less joyous. On Robert Plutchik's wheel of emotions awe is modeled as a combination of surprise and fear.
One dictionary definition is "an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., ...
''. A teaser was launched on 1 January 2020. The film's title is an acronym for "Homicide Intervention Team".
Soundtrack
The songs were composed by
Vivek Sagar
Vivek Sagar is an Indian music composer, record producer and playback singer who works in Telugu cinema. He debuted with the film, ''Pelli Choopulu'' (2016). Upon critical acclaim for the album garnered him his first nomination for Filmfare Aw ...
. The singles "Poraatame" and "Ventaade Gaayam" were released on February 25 and February 26, respectively.
Home media
The movie was released on
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...
on 1 April 2020, while the satellite rights were purchased by
Gemini TV
Gemini TV is an Indian Telugu language general entertainment pay television channel. It was launched on 9 February 1995 by Gemini Group, owned by A. Manohar Prasad (grandson of L. V. Prasad), in association with Sun TV Network. In 1996-97, Sun ...
.
Critical reception
''
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 ...
'' gave the film a positive review praising the screenplay and the performances of the cast.
The ''
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 ( ...
'' gave the film three out of five stars and wrote that "Vishwak Sen’s brilliant performance and Vivek Sagar’s background music mark this film". Hemanth Kumar of
Firstpost
''Firstpost'' is an Indian online news and media website. The site is a part of the Network 18 media conglomerate owned by Reliance Industries, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18.
The ''Network 18'' group was originally owned by Raghav ...
rated the film 3.25 stars out of 5, saying,"If you love crime dramas, ''HIT'' is a thrilling experience, which falters a bit in the end." 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 ...
'' said, "Director Sailesh Kolanu's HIT is a brilliant investigation thriller that will blow your mind right from the beginning." 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 ...
'' said, "HIT is definitely not a film that will keep you on the edge of the seat, but it keeps you engaged enough to know more."
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 South wrote "In this whodunit, directed by Sailesh Kolanu, the sophistication in filmmaking is matched by a sophisticated worldview. But it needed a better closing stretch."
Remake
Kolanu also directed the film's Hindi remake with
the same name starring
Rajkummar Rao
Rajkummar Rao (born Raj Kumar Yadav; 31 August 1984) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi films. He has appeared in more than 30 films since 2010, and is the recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, three ...
and
Sanya Malhotra
Sanya Malhotra (born 25 February 1992) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She began her career with supporting roles in the biographical sports film '' Dangal'' (2016) and the comedy ''Badhaai Ho'' (2018), both of which rank among t ...
. It released on 15 July 2022.
Sequel
In March 2021, the sequel was announced by Nani. Actor
Adivi Sesh
Adivi Sesh Sunny Chandra (born 17 December 1985) is an Indian actor, director and screenwriter who primarily works in Telugu-language films. Sesh was born in Hyderabad and was raised in Berkeley, California. He made his film debut as a lead act ...
plays the lead Krishna Dev who is a police officer of the
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 ...
HIT team. The sequel would not focus on what happened after ''The First Case'', and starts as an original story, but has references and connections to the first part(as it is the part of universe). The film was originally scheduled for a theatrical release on 29 July 2022, but was delayed and instead released on 2 December 2022. A third HIT (The Third Case) movie is also in development.
References
External links
*{{IMDb title, 11490170
2020 directorial debut films
2020 films
Indian action thriller films
Indian mystery thriller films
2020s Telugu-language films
2020 action thriller films
2020 thriller films
2020s mystery thriller films
Fictional portrayals of the Telangana Police
Films about missing people
Films set in Hyderabad, India
Films shot in Hyderabad, India
Films directed by Sailesh Kolanu
Films scored by Vivek Sagar