Shakti (2011 film)

''Sakthi'' () is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language fantasy action film directed by Meher Ramesh. The film has an ensemble cast including Jr NTR, Ileana D'Cruz, Sonu Sood, Vidyut Jammwal, Daniel Kaleb, Sayaji Shinde, Prabhu, Jackie Shroff, Pooja Bedi, Ali, Manjari Phadnis, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vinod Kumar, Nassar, and Brahmanandam in pivotal roles. The film was produced by C. Aswani Dutt through Vyjayanthi Movies, and the music was composed by Mani Sharma.

The follows Sakthi, a tourist guide who accompanies the home minister's daughter Aishwarya and their friends on a journey across various Indian states. Aishwarya has been unwittingly carrying a magical diamond with her, due to which a vengeful Egyptian woman Faqtooni enlists the help of her younger son Bashim and his henchmen. As they try to capture Aishwarya, Sakthi turns out to be her protector and eventually finds himself getting linked to the diamonds and its secrets.

One of the most expensive Telugu-language films, ''Sakthi'' was released on 1 April 2011, with the Tamil dubbed version titled ''Om Sakthi'' releasing on 2 April 2011. The film was also dubbed and released in Hindi as ''Sakthi the power'' in 2012 and in Bhojpuri as ''Hamaari Shootveer'' It opened on more than 700 screens worldwide, mainly receiving negative reviews from critics criticizing the film's screenplay, runtime, execution, action sequences and lack of logic and became a box-office bomb.

Plot

Faqtooni, an Egyptian woman, vows to seek revenge for the death of her husband Mukhtar and trains her sons Bashim and Raakha. She wants to retrieve a magical ''Jwalamukhi'' diamond and a ''Rudra'' trident. Her brother Jaffer reveals that Mahadevaraya, the Home Minister of India, possesses the diamond. In order to retrieve it, they target his daughter Aishwarya who goes on a secret trip with her friends, after unwittingly packing the diamond in her bag. In Jaipur, they meet Sakthi, a tourist guide who comes to their rescue when goons trouble them. Mahadevaraya learns of Aishwarya's escape from home, and two police officers are assigned to find her. Mahadevaraya requests his former partner Jackie to hand him over the trident in exchange for his entire wealth, but Jackie declines. While in Kashmir, Aishwarya falls for Sakthi after he saves her life. Later, she is kidnapped by Bashim's henchmen but rescued by Sakthi after a fight. Bashim manages to find out they're now heading to Haridwar, where Sakthi comes across the diamond while taking a dip in the Ganges. A sage senses it and informs Mahadevaraya about the cleansing of the diamond and the arrival of Aishwarya's protector. The two cops looking for Aishwarya inform them about her presence in Haridwar. While leaving the city, Aishwarya proposes to Sakthi, but he declines. Soon, Bashim and his henchmen attack them, but Sakthi, revealed to be an undercover agent, protects everyone and captures Bashim after a huge shootout.

Faqtooni tries to retrieve the trident from Jackie, but he demands a huge sum. Aishwarya is questioned about the diamond, but she doesn't know anything. Sakthi explains to officer Siva, his father, that he went undercover to protect Aishwarya as she was the target of a terrorist group. Raakha is sent to India to rescue Bashim. Aishwarya finds pictures of her in Sakthi's bag, which leads to Sakthi confessing that he loved her from the moment he saw her. Sakthi, along with his parents and Aishwarya, goes to the temple for his birthday and finds the box with the ''Jwalamukhi'' and opens it. Siva informs Mahadevaraya and is called to Hampi along with both the diamond and Aishwarya. Raakha attacks the prison and frees Bashim, who, having overheard a conversation, tells him Siva is heading to Hampi. Raakha attacks Siva and other officers but is left wounded by Sakthi, who gains powers after touching the diamond. At Hampi, Bashim tries to snatch the diamond but is killed by Sakthi with an ancient sword. Proclaiming Sakthi as the protector, the sage explains how Rudra who is actually Sakthi's biological father, the protector of a secret Sakthi Peetha, sacrificed his life while protecting his pregnant wife and Mahadevaraya's parents from Mukhtar and his henchmen. Jackie, who was initially known as Janaki Varma, killed Mahadevaraya's parents after being paid by Mukhtar and managed to flee with the Rudra trident. After decapitatating Mukhtar in a fight, the dying Rudra handed over his newborn son (who is now Sakthi) to his loyal servant Basava, who sent him away via the river. He was discovered by Siva and his wife and eventually raised by them.

Sakthi retrieves the trident after killing Jackie's henchmen, Jaffer and Jackie himself. However, Sakthi is betrayed and shot by Mahadevaraya's partner Prachanda, who then acquires the trident and hands it over to Faqtooni as she arrives with a resurrected Raakha. Mahadevaraya stabs Prachanda to death, and Raakha knocks him unconscious. Faqtooni forcibly takes the sage and Aishwarya to perform the compulsory rites conducted every 27 years, and as Raakha begins destruction, Sakthi arrives and fights using the trident. Faqtooni is thrown into a deep pit, while an indestructible Raakha is killed after the sage instructs Sakthi to stab Raakha in his eyes, which were implanted from Mukhtar's severed head. Mahadevaraya regains consciousness, while Sakthi places the trident back and walks out with the diamond in his hand, accompanied by Aishwarya and the sage.

Cast

* NTR Jr. in a dual role as Sakthi Swaroop and Rudra (Sakthi's biological father)
* Ileana D'Cruz as Aishwarya Mahadevaraya, Sakthi's love interest
* Manjari Phadnis as Gauri, Rudra's wife
* S. P. Balasubrahmanyam as Vijayaraya (Mahadevaraya's father)
* Prabhu as Central Minister Mahadevaraya (Aishwarya's father)
* Jackie Shroff as Janaki Varma / Jackie The Great
* Vinod Kumar as Prachanda
* Pooja Bedi as Faqtooni
* Sonu Sood as Mukthar (Faqtooni's husband)
* Vidyut Jammwal as Wasim Ali (Faqtooni's younger son)
* Daniel Kaleb as Raakha (Faqtooni's elder son)
* Mukthar Khan as Jaffer (Faqtooni's brother)
* Nassar as Sage
* Ali as Tommy
* Brahmanandam as Avatar
* Krishna Bhagavaan as Devudu / David
* Sayaji Shinde as Sivaji
* Pragathi as Siva's wife
* Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as Subba Rao
* Venu Madhav as Satti Babu
* M. S. Narayana as Haridwar priest
* Manju Bhargavi as Mahadevaraya's mother
* Chatrapathi Sekhar as Basava (Rudra's servant)

Reception

Shakti mainly received negative reviews from critics. ''123Telugu.com'' gave the film 1 stars out of 5, appreciating the storyplot, music and Egyptian episodes. Radhika Rajamani from ''Rediff.com'' gave the film 2 stars out of 5, appreciating the Egyptian connection and the second half. ''The Times of India'' gave the film 2 stars out of 5 and praised the cinematography, performance, music, storyplot and visualisation, but criticized the action sequences, screenplay and logic mistakes.

Box office

The collections saw a rise in the second week as the film collected a total of INR 15.64 crore in Andhra Pradesh. By the end of its theatrical run, the film collected a total of INR 19.01 crore worldwide.

The film was dubbed into Tamil, titled as ''Om Sakthi.'' Howerver, the film ''was'' a commercial failure at the box office.