''Martin Luther King'' is a 2023 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

-language

political satire Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satir ...

film directed by Puja Kolluru in her directorial debut. It was jointly produced by YNOT Studios,

Reliance Entertainment Reliance Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian media and entertainment company. It is a division of Reliance Group, handling its media and entertainment business, across content and distribution platforms. The company was founded on 15 February ...

, and Mahayana Motion Pictures. This film's story is a remake of the Tamil movie ''

Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the coun ...

,'' in which

Yogi Babu Yogi Babu (born 22 July 1985) is an Indian actor and comedian, who appears in Tamil films. He has won Ananda Vikatan Cinema Award for '' Aandavan Kattalai'' (2016), '' Kolamavu Kokila'' (2018), '' Pariyerum Perumal'' (2018), '' Love Today'' ( ...

played the lead role. Titled after the prominent American civil rights leader

Martin Luther King Jr Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

, the film stars

Sampoornesh Babu Narasimha Chary, popularly known by his screen name Sampoornesh Babu, is an Indian actor known for his works in the spoof comedy genre in Telugu cinema. He made his acting debut as the lead role in the 2014 film, '' Hrudaya Kaleyam'', for whic ...

in the titular role, with Naresh,

Sharanya Pradeep Sharanya Pradeep is an Indian actress who works in Telugu films. In the past she worked as a news anchor for the Indian news channel V6. Career Sharanya Pradeep made her debut with ''Fidaa'' (2017) portraying the character of Sai Pallavi's char ...

, and

Venkatesh Maha Venkatesh Maha is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor who works in Telugu cinema. He's known for directing films such as '' C/o Kancharapalem'' (2018) and '' Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya'' (2020). Career Maha left his house at the ...

playing supporting roles. The music for the film was composed by Smaran, and the cinematography was handled by Deepak Yaragera. In addition to directing, Puja Kolluru also took on the role of editor for the film.

Plot

A man without a name or identity is suddenly courted by two warring groups when he receives a voter ID. Will he reap the benefits of his newfound privilege, or will he use it as a tool for social change?

Cast

as Smile aka Martin Luther King * Naresh as Jogi *

as Vasantha *

as Loki *

Goparaju Ramana Goparaju Yagneswara Venkata Ramana Murthy (born 5 April 1952), known popularly as Goparaju Ramana, is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema, theatre and television shows. He made his feature film debut with '' Grahanam'' (2004), with his b ...

* HMT Hanmantu

Production

YNOT Studios came up with the idea of adapting the Tamil film ''Mandela'' into Telugu, and as

Baradwaj Rangan Baradwaj Rangan () is an Indian film critic and writer. A chemical engineering graduate with no formal training in filmmaking or cinema writing, he has a diverse career in advertising, IT consulting, and cinema writing. He has authored two boo ...

suggested, they approached

. However, Venkatesh Maha declined to do another remake, as he had already remade the Malayalam film ''

Maheshinte Prathikaaram ''Maheshinte Prathikaaram'' () is a 2016 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film directed by Dileesh Pothan, in his directorial debut and produced by Aashiq Abu. The film stars Fahadh Faasil in the title role alongside a supporting cast ...

'' in Telugu as '' Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya''. Subsequently, they chose Venkatesh's associate director, Puja Kolluru, to direct the film. Venkatesh wrote the screenplay and dialogue for the film, which is set in the town of

Markapur Markapuram is a town in Prakasam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and is the headquarters of Markapuram Municipality in Markapuram revenue division. Markapuram is notable for the Chennakesava Swamy Temple, ...

was later selected for the lead role. To prepare for the role of Smile, Sampoornesh underwent a forty-day workshop.

Music

The film's music was composed by Smaran.

Release

Theatrical

The film was released on 27 October 2023.

Home media

The film premiered on

SonyLIV Sony LIV is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Culver Max Entertainment. Sony LIV was introduced in 2013 as the first OTT service in India. As a streaming service, it provides live sports, origina ...

on 28 November 2023, in Telugu, as well as dubbed versions in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Reception

A critic from '' Sakshi'' gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote a mixed review. Srivathsan Nadadhur of ''

OTTPlay HT Media is an Indian mass media company based in Delhi. It has holdings in print, electronic and digital media. HT Media's flagship newspaper is the ''Hindustan Times'', the second most widely read English newspaper in India after ''The Times of ...

'' gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Director Puja Kolluru’s ''Martin Luther King'' is a sharp social commentary with a good dose of drama and humour."

References

External links

* {{YNOT Studios 2020s Telugu-language films Indian political comedy-drama films Indian satirical films Telugu remakes of Tamil films Films scored by Smaran Films produced by S. Sashikanth