HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Srimanthudu'' () is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by Koratala Siva. The film is produced by Mythri Movie Makers and G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment. The film stars Mahesh Babu, Shruti Haasan, Jagapati Babu and
Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, journalist and scholar who served as the first president of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian National Congress during the Indian independen ...
.
Sampath Raj Sampath Raj (born 25 December 1968) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films, in addition to Kannada and Malayalam films. He is best known for his appearances in director Venkat Prabhu's trilogy, which includ ...
, Mukesh Rishi, Sukanya and Harish Uthaman appear in supporting roles. It was distributed globally by Eros International. The film tells the story of Harsha Vardhan (Mahesh Babu), a young man who inherits a business empire from his father Ravikanth (played by Jagapati Babu). Urged by his friend Charuseela (Haasan) to learn about his and his father's ancestral roots in a remote village named Devarakota, Harsha adopts the village and spends some time trying to improve the
standard of living Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available to an individual, community or society. A contributing factor to an individual's quality of life, standard of living is generally concerned with objective metrics outsid ...
of the local people and the infrastructure of the village. His efforts anger the local crime boss Sashi (played by Sampath Raj) and his brother Venkata Ratnam, a politician (played by Mukesh Rishi). ''Srimanthudu'' was initially going to be produced by UTV Motion Pictures, but the company backed out, citing differences with Siva. In addition to directing the film, Siva also wrote the screenplay.
Devi Sri Prasad Gandham Sriprasad (2 August 1979), known as Devi Sri Prasad or more commonly by his initials DSP, is an Indian music composer, singer, and lyricist primarily known for his work in Telugu cinema, along with Tamil cinema. He has received numerous ...
composed the score, and R. Madhi was the cinematographer. Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao edited the film. Production began on 11 August 2014 at Ramanaidu Studios in
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
.
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 the ...
began on 7 November 2014 in
Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
, and lasted till mid-June 2015. Though most of the film was shot in and around Hyderabad, a few portions were filmed in
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. 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 Indi ...
and
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
. ''Srimanthudu'' and its
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 ...
dubbed version, titled ''Selvandhan'', were released simultaneously worldwide on 7 August 2015 in around 2500 screens. It opened to positive critical reception and was a commercial success, grossing over 200
crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...
globally on a budget of 6070 crore and becoming the second highest-grossing Telugu film of all time in its original release. After the film's release, many actors, bureaucrats and politicians announced plans to develop the backward villages and encouraged the adoption of villages in
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
and
Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...
. The film went onto win three
Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are annual awards presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to recognise excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television, as well as lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. The awards are named after the monolithic ...
including Best Popular Feature Film and three
Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...
including Best Telugu Actor for Mahesh Babu. It also won the state Gaddar Award for Third Best Feature Film.


Plot

Harsha Vardhan is the sole heir of his father Ravikanth's business empire worth 25,000
crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...
. After he meets Charuseela at his friend Apparao's birthday party, he enrolls in a university course on rural development. Charuseela wants to use technology for the benefit of Devarakota, a remote village in Uttarandhra from which she hails. A friendship blossoms between them, and as time passes they become attracted to each other. The natural resources of Devarakota are being exploited by Sashi, the brother of Central minister Venkata Ratnam, whose tyranny has made many locals migrate to the city to seek a better life. Nevertheless, the village head Narayana Rao hopes that the standard of living will soon improve along with the general condition of the village. Meanwhile, Ratnam's son Radha uses blackmail to threaten harm to Ravikanth's family if he does not back out of a prestigious highway contract. Ravikanth's nephew Karthik, who hopes to succeed Ravikanth in the business empire, leaks to Radha details about an upcoming bid for the contract, which comes to the notice of Harsha. After subtly warning Ratnam at his residence in Delhi, Harsha secretly makes a lower bid on behalf of his father's company and wins the contract. When Charuseela learns that Harsha is Ravikanth's son, she starts avoiding him. When he asks the reason, she says that Ravikanth is a native of Devarakota who left for Hyderabad to earn wealth unlike her father Narayana Rao, and she bids farewell. After asking his father for a long holiday before joining the office, Harsha travels to Devarakota without his father's knowledge. In Devarakota he meets Rao and introduces himself as a student pursuing a course in
rural development Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life, quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Often, rural regions have experienced rural povert ...
who has come to study the village. After learning more about Devarakota and Sashi's tyranny, Harsha announces that he will adopt the village and develop it. While he works to improve conditions in the village, Ratnam asks Sashi also to develop the village, partly to win in the upcoming elections, but he remains silent regarding his intention to gain credit for doing so. At the same time, Harsha learns from Rao that, as a young man, Ravikanth wishing, as Harsha does now, to see the village developed, established a
dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...
for the local welfare. After the farm was set up, Ratnam and Sashi set it on fire, causing many deaths and Ravikanth was blamed for the fire, Insulted, and arrested. He walked out of the village, moved to the city, and went on to acquire much wealth. Charuseela returns to Devarakota and assumes that Harsha is trying to impress her family with the intention of marrying her. Initially livid, Charuseela is impressed when Harsha succeeds in persuading her uncle's family not to migrate to the city to live with their employed son and instead makes their son agree to visit them every possible weekend. Later, Harsha and Charuseela learn that Ratnam is going to take over all the agricultural land around the village for political gain since the value of the land will appreciate following the official declaration of a new coastal industrial corridor. Harsha confronts them and warns them not to interfere in his work of developing the village. Harsha later visits a water bottling unit which not only produces
alcoholic beverages Drinks containing alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered non-alcoholic. Many societies have a di ...
but also draws from the village's source of
drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...
. He tries to close it, but is attacked by Sashi's henchmen and is hospitalised. Ravikanth, who has been informed of Harsha's adoption of Devarakota, manages to bring Harsha back to
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
, where he joins the office after he recovers. Ravikanth later confronts a visibly upset Harsha and decides to send him back to Devarakota, earning Harsha's love for which he has long yearned. Harsha hands over the reigns of the business empire to Karthik and leaves. At Devarakota, Harsha kills Ratnam and Sashi at the factory and construes it as an accident due to an inadvertent short circuit, similar to what Sashi had done before Ravikanth's arrest years before. The film ends with Ravikanth and his family visiting Rao's house on Sankranthi, where Harsha, now Charuseela's husband, receives them warmly.


Cast

* Mahesh Babu as Harsha Vardhan * Shruti Haasan as Charuseela * Jagapathi Babu as Ravikanth *
Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, journalist and scholar who served as the first president of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian National Congress during the Indian independen ...
as Narayana Rao * Sukanya as Harsha Vardhan's mother * Sithara as Charuseela's mother * Mukesh Rishi as Venkata Ratnam *
Sampath Raj Sampath Raj (born 25 December 1968) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films, in addition to Kannada and Malayalam films. He is best known for his appearances in director Venkat Prabhu's trilogy, which includ ...
as Sashi * Harish Uthaman as Radha *
Vennela Kishore Bokkala Kishore Kumar (born 19 September 1980), known professionally as Vennela Kishore, is an Indian actor and director who works in Telugu cinema. Known for his comedic roles, he earned the moniker "Vennela" after his first feature film ''Ven ...
as Apparao * Sriram Edida as Narayana Rao's brother * Tulasi as Narayana Rao's sister-in-law * Subbaraju as Ravikanth's brother * Rahul Ravindran as Karthik * Ali as Rajaratnam * Sravan as Radha's sidekick * Sivaji Raja as Suryam * Ravi Prakash as Dr. Ganesh *
Surya Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...
as Ravikanth's accountant * Tejaswi Madivada as Venkata Ratnam's daughter * Surekha Vani as Sumathi * Anand as Meghna's father * Sanam Shetty as Meghna * Angana Roy as Harsha's cousin * Ravi Varma as Charuseela's cousin * Chatrapathi Sekhar as TV Reporter *
Rajitha Mallela Rajitha is an Indian actress who works in Telugu films. She has been active since the late 1980s. Career Rajitha made her debut in film industry at the age of 18 with the Telugu movie, '' Brahma Rudrulu'' in which she portrayed Ak ...
as Apparao's mother * Nikkita Anil Kumar as Harsha's sister * Appaji Ambarisha Darbha as head of board of directors * Kadambari Kiran as villager * Poorna in a cameo appearance in the song "Rama Rama" *
Ramajogayya Sastry Darivemula Ramajogayya Sastry (born 24 August 1970) is an Indian film lyricist, known for his works in Telugu cinema and music. Early life Ramajogayya Sastry was born in Arepalli Muppalla, Ipuru Mandal near Narasaraopet of Palnadu distric ...
in a cameo appearance in the song "Rama Rama"


Production


Development

UTV Motion Pictures announced in October 2013 that they would produce a film starring Mahesh Babu and directed by Koratala Siva, marking their maiden Telugu production with Mahesh's sister Manjula Ghattamaneni and presenting the film under the banner Indira Productions. A possible delay was expected as Mahesh had earlier agreed to work on a film directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K., produced by Ashwini Dutt, after completing '' Aagadu'' (2014). In late March 2014, G. Dhananjayan of UTV Motion Pictures announced that the film's production would commence in July 2014. UTV Motion Pictures backed out of the film citing differences with Siva, and the overseas distribution company Mythri Movie Makers agreed to become the major investor in the film. Mahesh opted to co-produce the film under the banner G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment Pvt. Ltd to control the film's budget, accepting a share in the profits in lieu of his remuneration.
Devi Sri Prasad Gandham Sriprasad (2 August 1979), known as Devi Sri Prasad or more commonly by his initials DSP, is an Indian music composer, singer, and lyricist primarily known for his work in Telugu cinema, along with Tamil cinema. He has received numerous ...
was signed to compose the film's music. R. Madhi, the film's cinematographer, charged 1.4 crore as his remuneration. The official launch ceremony was held on 11 August 2014 at Ramanaidu Studios in
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. Mahesh participated in the story discussions with Siva and shared his ideas for improving the script. ''Srimanthudu'' was confirmed as the film's title on 29 May 2015, after registering it in December 2014.


Casting

Mahesh played the role of a billionaire's son in the film. For his character's appearance, he chose a casual look replete with cardigans, jackets and scarves. He sported various hair styles, including a layered look, a messy hair-do, and a conservative cut, for various episodes in the film. Shruti Haasan was selected as the heroine of the film; the role was supposed to be her first on-screen appearance with Mahesh though she had appeared in an
item number In Indian cinema, an item number or special 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 ( Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu c ...
in ''Aagadu'' after signing this film. She charged a remuneration of 1.25 crore, which was the highest she had received in her career until then. Haasan said that she would play a "strong, independent, intelligent" and simple girl in the film, adding that the romance between the lead pair would be a "very calm, relaxed and classy" one. Siva chose the name Charuseela for the female lead character after going through the lyrics during the recording of the song of the same name. Impressed with his work in ''
Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...
'' (2014), Siva chose Jagapati Babu to play the role of Harsha's father in the film. After considering Nadhiya and Gracy Singh for the role of Mahesh's mother, Sukanya was selected in January 2015.
Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, journalist and scholar who served as the first president of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian National Congress during the Indian independen ...
,
Sampath Raj Sampath Raj (born 25 December 1968) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films, in addition to Kannada and Malayalam films. He is best known for his appearances in director Venkat Prabhu's trilogy, which includ ...
,
Brahmanandam Kanneganti Brahmanandam (born 1 February 1956) is an Indian actor and comedian known for his work in Telugu cinema. Recognised as one of India's finest and highest-paid comic actors, he holds the Guinness World Record for the most screen cred ...
and Tulasi were announced for the supporting roles. While Sampath Raj played the antagonist, Brahmanandam's inclusion was never confirmed. Harish Uthaman was signed to play one of the antagonists in the film. Uthaman told Indo-Asian News Service that a few scenes required numerous takes due to his difficulties with the language and called Mahesh considerate to have helped him. Rahul Ravindran made a small yet important
cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
. After considering actresses proficient in classical dance for performing a peppy dance number set in a rural backdrop, Poorna was selected as she was a trained
Kathak ''Kathak'' is one of the eight major forms of Classical Indian dance, Indian classical dance. Its origin is attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern India known as ''Kathakar'' ("storyteller"), who communicated stories from the ...
dancer. After auditioning seventy actresses, Angana Roy was selected to play an "important part" in the film, marking her debut in Telugu cinema. Sanam Shetty was signed after one of the unit members of her unreleased Telugu debut ''Intinta Annamayya'' convinced the film-makers to consider her. Malayali actress Nikkita Anil Kumar played the role of Mahesh's sister in the film, and Vaishnav, a teenager who played the role of her cousin, helped the non-Telugu actors with their lines. Tejaswi Madivada, who earlier worked with Mahesh in '' Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu'' (2013), was signed to play a politician's daughter.


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 the ...
commenced on 7 November 2014 at
Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
, and Haasan joined the set on the next day. The two leads were mobbed by local people during the film's shoot at an IT hub in Pune. The next segment took place in Hyderabad at a private studio where a song was filmed with Mahesh and Haasan. The song that accompanies Mahesh's first appearance in the film was filmed at Ramoji Film City starting on 11 December 2014. The third filming segment commenced on 28 December 2014 at Hyderabad. Around the end of January 2015, it was estimated that the film's shooting would be wrapped up in a month. A song on Mahesh and Haasan was shot in a set erected at Annapurna 7 Acres Studios. Another filming segment commenced at
Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...
, where Haasan and Kishore rejoined the film's sets. Shooting then moved to
Karaikudi Karaikudi is the largest city of Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the centre of the Karaikudi Metropolitan Area, the 21st largest urban Agglomeration of Tamil Nadu based on 2011 census data. It is part of the area ...
. An action sequence on Mahesh and others was filmed at
Pollachi Pollachi is a town and municipality in Coimbatore district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Pollachi taluk. It is situated near the center of the South Indian Peninsula, surrounded by Western Gha ...
in February 2015. A song choreographed by Bosco-Caesar was filmed with Mahesh and Haasan. This marked the first Telugu film of Bosco-Caesar. The filming continued at Palani until 3 March 2015, after which a few scenes focusing on Mahesh, Roy, and others were shot at Hyderabad. In April 2015, the next filming schedule began in
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
. Upon its completion, Mahesh took a break and then joined the set at Hyderabad on 6 May 2015. On 5 June 2015, Madhi said in an interview that twelve days of shooting were pending. He added that two types of camera – the Alexa XT and the Red Dragon – were being used to film a number of mild movement shots throughout the film. On 17 June 2015, Siva told the media that all filming except for a week of patchwork was finished. By then, a song sequence focusing on the lead pair was being filmed at Ramoji Film City.


Soundtrack

Devi Sri Prasad Gandham Sriprasad (2 August 1979), known as Devi Sri Prasad or more commonly by his initials DSP, is an Indian music composer, singer, and lyricist primarily known for his work in Telugu cinema, along with Tamil cinema. He has received numerous ...
composed the film's soundtrack which consists of six songs; the lyrics were written by
Ramajogayya Sastry Darivemula Ramajogayya Sastry (born 24 August 1970) is an Indian film lyricist, known for his works in Telugu cinema and music. Early life Ramajogayya Sastry was born in Arepalli Muppalla, Ipuru Mandal near Narasaraopet of Palnadu distric ...
except for "Charuseela" which was co-written by Prasad.
Aditya Music Aditya Music India Private Limited is an Indian music record label company, 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 b ...
marketed the film's soundtrack. Compared to other songs, Sastry took more time to complete the lyrics of the song "Jaago". Siva explained the situation to Sastry during the film's shoot at Karaikudi and at Ramoji Film City, and Sastry took input from him. Prasad composed it in the
indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
genre. Haasan revealed that "Charuseela" was based on her character in the film and that the tune had been inspired by one of
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
compositions. The soundtrack of the original and dubbed Tamil versions were released on 18 July 2015 and 4 August 2015, respectively.


Release

In December 2014, the producers announced a May 2015 release. Due to technical issues, the film's release was postponed to 17 July 2015. The film's release was postponed to 7 August 2015 after a personal request by Shobu Yarlagadda, the producer of '' Baahubali: The Beginning'' to do so.''Srimanthudu'' was dubbed into
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 ...
as ''Selvandhan'', which was released simultaneously along with the original on 7 August 2015. ''Srimanthudu'' was released in 2500 screens worldwide. While the
Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory Motion picture content rating system, film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of ...
passed the film in India with a 'U/A' certificate without any cuts, the
British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organization, non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited ...
rated it '12A' and suggested a compulsory removal of a four-second long visual of rooster fighting as per the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937. It was also released in
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
, the capital of
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
, thus becoming the first Indian film to be screened in a Latin American country.


Distribution

Classic Entertainments acquired the overseas distribution rights of the film in late February 2015, for an amount of 81 million, which was the highest price that any Telugu film had commanded in the overseas market until then. By the second week of June 2015, distribution rights for most of the regions were sold out while negotiations for a few were ongoing. Global Cinemas, Aditya films, and Vintage creations acquired the distribution rights of the Nizam,
West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
and East Godavari regions for 14.5 crore, 3.25 crore, and 3.43 crore respectively. At the same time, 14 Reels Entertainment and Devi films were in talks with the makers for the rights of
Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
and Ceded regions, respectively while 'S' Creations was expected to acquire the Guntur region rights for an amount of 44.25 crore. However, a press release on 19 June 2015 stated that Abhishek Pictures had acquired the theatrical distribution rights of the Nizam region. The film's global theatrical rights were sold for a total of 59.6 crore. The theatrical rights of
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
,
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
, and the rest of India were sold for 21 crore, 6 crore, and 2 crore respectively. Eros International acquired the film's worldwide distribution rights on 5 August 2015.


Marketing

The first look poster featured Mahesh riding a Cannondale Scalpel 29 Carbon 3 bike costing approximately 3.5
lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...
. The first look teaser of 60 seconds was released on 31 May 2015. The second poster featuring Mahesh was released on 14 July 2015. Another poster featuring Mahesh was released on 24 July 2015.
Close-Up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, s ...
entered into a co-branding partnership with this film in late July 2015. A cycling rally was held on 16 August 2015 at Gachibowli, Hyderabad, where Mahesh met 2,500 cyclists as a part of the film's promotion. Close-Up announced a "Closeup Srimanthudu Meet Mahesh Babu Contest", where Mahesh's fans were asked to give a missed call to 1800-266-2444 to enter the contest which was open from 1 August 2015 to 4 September 2015. The makers announced the auction of the cycle used by Mahesh in the film, with interested people being directed to bid for the cycle at www.iamsrimanthudu.com by donating 999. Whilst the remaining donors received a special T-shirt, G. Nageswara Reddy from
Karimnagar district Karimnagar district, also known as Elagandula district, is one of the 33 districts of the Indian state of Telangana. Karimnagar city is its administrative headquarters. The district shares boundaries with Peddapalli district, Peddapalli, Jagitya ...
was announced as the winner of the cycle by the film's unit in mid-November 2015.


Home media

The global television broadcast rights were sold to Zee Telugu in late May 2015 for a high but undisclosed price, estimated to be around 12 crore.''Srimanthudu'' had its global television premiere on 8 November 2015 at 6:00 pm IST. It registered a TRP rating of 21.24, the third-highest rating ever for a Telugu film after '' Magadheera'' (2009) and ''Baahubali: The Beginning'' (which registered TRP ratings of 22.00 and 21.84, respectively).


Reception


Critical reception

''Srimanthudu'' received positive reviews from critics. 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 was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
'' called ''Srimanthudu'' a "star-driven film with a strong plot that's worth a watch". Dundoo further stated, "This isn't Ashutosh Gowariker '' Swades'', where
Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...
finds his true calling in a much more realistic manner. The social consciousness comes coated with commercially viable ingredients and still, makes for an engaging watch".
Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...
called ''Srimanthudu'' a "right mix of Mahesh's emotional and class performance, Shruthi's charisma, fine storyline and all materials that are needed for a good entertainer". The reviewer appreciated Siva for not writing a separate comedy track to distract from the story. Karthik Pasupulate of ''
The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote, "You could say this movie is Mahesh Babu's ''Swades'' (the 2004 SRK film) albeit a little dumbed down. Or a '' Mirchi'' (the Prabhas film) rehashed. Yet there can be no denying that ''Srimanthudu'' achieves more than any big ticket Tollywood potboiler has in more in that last decade , for the simple reason that it is a drama made like one." Sethumadhavan N of the ''
Bangalore Mirror ''Bangalore Mirror'' is an English-language daily published by The Times Group in Bangalore, India, as a compact newspaper. It is a deputed newspaper and is the second-largest circulating English daily in the city. In 2020, as part of its COVID ...
'' rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote, "Make no mistake, ''Srimanthudu'' is certainly a big commercial entertainer and has most of the elements needed for the same. But to deliver a total commercial which doesn't have a great plot and yet remaining engaging all the way isn't easy at all. That is where the writing by Siva emerges triumphant." Suresh Kavirayani of ''
Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Hyderabad, India. Founded in 1938, it was initially launched as a Weekly newspaper, weekly and later converted into a daily. The newspaper's name reflects its origins in the ...
'' rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote, "Though there are a few hiccups, ''Srimanthudu'' is a good emotional drama with excellent performance by Mahesh Babu, supported by good content with neat dialogues". Hemanth Kumar C. R. of ''
Outlook India ''Outlook'' is a weekly general interest English and Hindi news magazine published in India. History and profile ''Outlook'' was first issued in October 1995 with Vinod Mehta as the editor in chief. It is owned by the Rajan Raheja Group. Th ...
'' rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and stated, "In an industry where weaving a story to suit the image of an A-list star is common, Mahesh Babu's latest, ''Srimanthudu'', takes a different course. The film might lack a big-starrer firepower, but by letting go of such conventions, what we get in the end is a sensible film full of heart and humanity." Karthik Keramalu of IBNLive rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and stated "All in all, ''Srimanthudu'' is a notch above the so-so model of commercial films. It'd have been neater had the gap between the intent and the content of the film narrowed down further". Kirubhakar Purushothaman of ''
India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, 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'' laun ...
'' rated the film 2.5 out of 5 and wrote, "There are many cliches throughout the story, but still ''Srimanthudu'' manages to hold your attention. Though ''Srimanthudu'' has failed to serve anything new, he is rich and complete. When the film ends, everyone in the film is happy. As are Mahesh Babu's fans." Suhas Yellapuntala of ''
The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu ...
'' wrote, "The director showcases power, greed, corruption as well as regression, hope and agony, in equal measure. However, while Mahesh Babu effortlessly sails through the movie, ''Srimanthudu'' is clichéd, unimaginative and stretched beyond its potential". He added, "''Srimanthudu'' would have made for much better viewing if it had been cut shorter by about half an hour. At the end of it, watching the film becomes an endurance rather than an experience".


Box office


Global

Registering an occupancy of 200% across the globe on its first day, ''Srimanthudu'' collected approximately a distributor share of 200cr at the AP/Nizam box office and 50cr from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, the rest of India and overseas markets, taking its first day global total share to 350cr. With this, it managed to break the records set by '' Attarintiki Daredi'' (2013) and '' S/O Satyamurthy'' (2015) and became the second-highest Telugu film opener of the year. Trade analyst Trinath told Indo-Asian News Service that the first day global gross stood at 310 million. The film grossed 1000 million on its second day at the global box office, taking its two-day global total gross to 5000 million. With this, it became the second-fastest Telugu film of the year after ''Baahubali: The Beginning'' to do so. The film managed to collect a total net of 2000 million and a distributor share of 1000 million in two days at the global box office. The film grossed 250 million on its third day, taking its three-day global total gross to 750 million, thus breaking the records set by Telugu films other than ''Baahubali: The Beginning''. The film grossed a total of 1.0125 billion in its first week at the global box office. The film grossed 220 million in its second weekend, taking its ten-day global total gross to 1.23 billion. The net and share figures for the ten days stood at 980 million and 826.3 million, respectively. The film grossed 150 million during the weekdays, taking its second week total to 370 million and two-week global total gross to 1.38 billion. The two-week global net and distributor share figures stood at 1.1 billion and 900 million, respectively. Witnessing a decline of 50% in its trade due to new releases, the film grossed 180 million in its third week, taking its three-week global total gross to 1.56 billion, thus becoming the fourth highest grossing south Indian film of all time. The two-week global net and distributor share figures stood at 1.25 billion and 960 million, respectively. Witnessing a further drop of 50% in its trade, the film grossed 95 million in its fourth week, taking its 28-day global total gross to 1.655 billion. On 25 September 2015, it completed a 50-day run in 185 centres, which was considered a record. It also completed its 100-day run in 15 centres on 14 November 2015. ''Srimanthudu'' grossed approximately 200 crore in its lifetime run at the global box office, and was declared the second-highest grossing Telugu film ever.


Overseas

''Srimanthudu'' collected approximately US$0.5 million from 117 locations on Thursday premiere shows held in the United States. The film collected US$1,753,698 (111.8 million) from about 150 screens at the United States box office in two days, which Taran Adarsh called an "impressive" start. By the end of its first weekend, ''Srimanthudu'' collected a total of US$2.1 million at the United States box office and became the second-highest grossing Telugu film of all time in the country. It also became the second Telugu film to cross the US$2 million mark, after ''Baahubali: The Beginning''. In its second weekend, ''Srimanthudu'' collected US$342,010 from 102 screens at the United States box office thus taking its ten-day total to US$2,654,658 (173.5 million). In ten days, the film collected US$8,036 (0.52 million) from two screens at the Canada box office and approximately 70 million at the United Arab Emirates box office. In its second weekend, ''Srimanthudu'' collected 4,764 from two screens in Malaysia, taking its ten-day total to 15,178 (0.24 million). With this, it became the second-highest grossing Telugu film in the international market by collecting a total of approximately US$3,735,139 (242.2 million). In its third weekend, ''Srimanthudu'' stood at the second place in the Indian films at the United States box office. It collected US$94,498 (6.257 million) from 46 screens. The United States box office total stood at US$2,820,214 (188 million), which was considered quite a remarkable achievement for a South Indian film. After losing 49% of screens due to new releases, ''Srimanthudu'' collected US$27,647 from 24 screens in its fourth weekend. The United States box office total stood at US$2,869,560 (190.7 million). By then, the film's screening had ended in Canada, the United Arab Emirates, and other key international markets. ''Srimanthudu'' lost eighteen screens to '' Bhale Bhale Magadivoy'' and other new releases, thus witnessing a drop of 75% in its business. Collecting US$7,538 from six screens, the film's 31-day United States box office total stood at US$2,882,809 (192.6 million), with a per-screen average of US$1,256.


Accolades


Legacy

After the release of the movie, ''Srimanthudu'', police officers and district level officers adopted 523 and 606 panchayats, respectively, in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, which ''
Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by businessman K. N. Guruswamy and launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printers Mysore, a privately hel ...
'' called a feat that India's prime minister
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
Saansad Adarsh Gram scheme had failed to do. Actors, bureaucrats, and politicians also announced plans to develop the backward villages. Mahesh adopted his father
Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
native village Burripalem, a minor panchayat in
Tenali Tenali is a city in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality, and the headquarters of Tenali mandal and Tenali revenue division. The city is renowned for art, culture, drama, and hence, it is called "Andhra ...
, and announced a plan to address basic needs of the community such as potable drinking water and better roads and drainage systems. After discussing with Telangana's then Rural Development minister K. T. Rama Rao, Mahesh decided to adopt Siddhapuram, a village in Mahabubnagar district. After the film's release, many of Mahesh's fans began using eco-friendly modes of transportation. According to Y. Sunita Chowdary of ''The Hindu'', ''Srimanthudu'' success "heralded the acceptance of new stories and a rejection of template comedies that have been recycled for over ten years". Similarly, writer Kona Venkat stated, "People are ready to encourage new subjects, as it was proved with ''Srimanthudu''. There are no comic scenes in the film and it runs purely on story and was successful". Celebrities such as Manchu Vishnu, Nithin,
Harish Shankar Sanganabhatla Harish Shankar (born 31 March 1977) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works exclusively in Telugu cinema, and Telugu drama, Telugu theater. He made his directorial debut with ''Shock (2006 film), Shock'' ( ...
, Gopimohan and others praised the film. Director S. S. Rajamouli opined that ''Srimanthudu'' success lies in the "clever mixture of village adoption with family sentiment", adding that Mahesh "looks cool, acts subtle, talks mellow" and the overall effect is "flabbergasting". Director
Ram Gopal Varma Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma (born 7 April 1962), often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, primarily known for his work in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Telugu cinema, Telugu films.** * * Varma has dir ...
said that ''Srimanthudu'' proved that impact "doesn't only come from 100 of crores and 100 days of shooting" and "a simple story and plain closeups of Mahesh can too".
Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...
called ''Srimanthudu'' a "classic Telugu commercial masala" film and a "complete, satisfying entertainer".


Notes


References


External links

* {{Nandi Award for Best Popular Feature Film 2010s Telugu-language films 2015 action drama films 2015 films Films scored by Devi Sri Prasad Films about corruption in India Films about farmers' suicides in India Films about poverty in India Films shot in Karaikudi Films about social issues in India Indian action drama films Films about Indian slavery Films shot in Pollachi Films shot in Malaysia Films shot in Palani Films directed by Koratala Siva Mythri Movie Makers films