Dookudu

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Dookudu

Directed by Produced by

Film poster Sreenu Vaitla

Written by

Starring

Ram Achanta Gopichand Achanta Anil Sunkara Gopimohan Kona Venkat Sreenu Vaitla Mahesh Babu Samantha Ruth Prabhu Kota Srinivasa Rao Brahmanandam Vennela Kishore Prakash Raj Sonu Sood Ajaz Khan

S. Thaman K. V. Guhan Cinematography Prasad Murella M. R. Varmaa Editing by 14 Reels Entertainment Studio September 23, 2011 Release dates Music by
[1]

Running time 175 minutes India Country Telugu Language 35 crore (US$5.8 million)[2] Budget 101 crore (US$17 million)[3] Box office
(50 days)

Dookudu (translation: Aggression)[4] is a 2011 Telugu action comedy film directed by Sreenu Vaitla, produced and distributed by 14 Reels Entertainment. It stars Mahesh Babu and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in lead roles.[5] The film was released on September 23, 2011[1] with the largest worldwide opening for a Telugu film. The film was released among seventy nine screens in the US, the Los Angeles Times quoted it as The biggest hit you've never heard of.[6][7][8] In the rest of north, east and west India, it opened up in 21 cities.[9] The film set a box office record by collecting a gross of more than 1 billion at the time.[3] The film has won seven Nandi Awards, including the Best Popular Feature Film and Best Actor.[10] The film was dubbed into Tamil as Athiradi Vettai and released on April 12, 2013.[11][12] The film was also dubbed into Hindi as The Real Tiger which was released on February 11, 2012,[13] dubbed into Malayalam as Choodan and it was released on May 17, 2013.[14] The film is also being remade into Kannada starring Puneeth Rajkumar in lead role.[15]

Contents

1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production o 3.1 Development o 3.2 Casting o 3.3 Filming 4 Release o 4.1 Dubbed releases o 4.2 Critical reception o 4.3 Box office

4.4 Home media 5 Awards and nominations 6 Soundtrack 7 Remakes 8 References 9 External links

Plot
Shankar Narayana (Prakash Raj) is a politician driven by idealistic values and a sense of social service. His followers are his brother Sathyam (Rajiv Kanakala), and supporters Meka Narsimha Rao (Sayaji Shinde), Sivayya (Adithya) and Ganesh (Supreeth Reddy). The people of Shankar's constituency elect him as a M.L.A., during the political realm of the late N. T. Rama Rao (NTR). Although Shankar is an ardent follower of NTR, he does not wish to join NTR's party, and establishes his own independent political empire. Shankar's dream is to see his son as a politician revered by people. During this time, Shankar meets with a fatal accident, in which his brother and his followers are also killed. 14 years later, Shankar's son Ajay Kumar (Mahesh Babu) becomes a daring super-cop in Mumbai. He is on a mission to apprehend Mafia don Nayak (Sonu Sood), who is involved in illegal drug trade, extortion and arms trafficking. It is later revealed that Shankar actually survived the accident but ended up in a state of coma. However, this truth is hidden by Shankar's family from the people. Ajay maintains a low profile to catch Nayak. In an undercover operation in Istanbul, Ajay gets hold of Nayak's brother, Bunty (Ajaz Khan). Later, it is revealed that corrupt opposition leader Mallesh Goud (Kota Srinivasa Rao), who is also tied up with Nayak, was the mastermind behind Shankar's accident, and had planned to derail Shankar's political empire as he was opposing his illegal businesses and relation with Nayak. Ajay falls in love with Prasanthi (Samantha Ruth Prabhu), whom he meets in Istanbul during his operation. Prasanthi is the daughter of Ajay's boss Murthy (Nassar), a cop who reports to the police commissioner (Suman) in Hyderabad city. When Ajay's dad comes out of the coma, doctors advise his family that Shankar is at risk if he encounters or hears anything upsetting, disturbing or shocking. Ajay hides the events surrounding his dad's accident. Ajay shifts his family to his dad's previously abandoned mansion, which is now being used for film making. Ajay creates a dummy political set-up at this mansion. In the guise of a reality television program, Ajay tricks an aspiring but unsuccessful film actor Padmasree (Brahmanandam), by making him believe that the television show is being sponsored by film star Nagarjuna Akkineni's television channel, and that Nagarjuna wants to offer Padmasree very high remuneration for his realistic performance in the show. On the other hand, an aspiring actor Bokka (M. S. Narayana) is also tricked by Ajay. Ajay also tricks Mallesh Goud with a real estate business deal, to exploit Mallesh Goud's criminal nexus. Ajay keeps this drama under wraps from Shankar, by making Shankar believe that Ajay is now an M.L.A., revered by people fulfilling his dad's wishes. He also marries his love, Prasanthi, to make his father happy. The rest of the plot reveals the politician-criminal nexus behind Shankar's accident, the comic

misadventures which lead to Shankar knowing the truth, and Ajay's retaliation over Nayak and Mallesh Yadav's political corruption.

Cast

Mahesh Babu as G. Ajay Kumar (Chinna) / Bellary Babu Prakash Raj as Shankar Narayana, Ajay's Father Samantha Ruth Prabhu as Prasanthi Sonu Sood as Nayak Bramhanandam as Padmasri/Singapore Rajeswara Rao/Champak Seth M. S. Narayana as Bokka Venkata Rao Sonia Deepti as Prasanthi's Friend Tanikella Bharani as Ajay's uncle Chandra Mohan as Tulasi Ram, Ajay's uncle Sayaji Shinde as Meka Narasingh Rao Nassar as Murthy, Prasanthi's father Kota Srinivasa Rao as Mallesh Goud Ajaz Khan as Bunty, Nayak's younger brother Pragathi as Padma, Prasanthi's mother Shafi as Qadir, Nayak's Henchman Vennela Kishore as M.S.Sastry Suman as Commissioner of Police Naga Babu as Commissioner of Police Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as Cool Babu Ravi Prakash as Ravi Prakash Vinaya Prasad as Tulasi Ram's wife Rajiv Kanakala as Sathyam, Shankar Narayana's brother Subbaraju as Dinesh Goud Brahmaji as Prakasam Shiva Reddy as Mimicry artist Adithya as Sivayya Parvati Melton in Item number Meenakshi Dixit as (cameo) Surekha Vani as Shankar Narayana's wife Srinivasa Reddy as Director Ajay as Nayak's Henchman and Ajay's Colleague Master Bharath as Muddu Krishna Sanjay Swaroop as Shankar's doctor Sudha as Janaki, Ajay's aunt Supreeth Reddy as Ambarpet Ganesh Raghavendra Sharvan as Shravan Shankar Melkote as Ranga Rao[16]

Production

Development
In November 2009, it was announced that Mahesh Babu would act in a film under the direction of Srinu Vaitla which would be produced by 14 Reels Entertainment.[17] However, since the director and the producers were busy in the Post-Production activities of Namo Venkatesa, it was informed that the film would go to sets in January 2010.[18] In March 2010, Mahesh Babu's brother and actor Ramesh Babu was said to produce the film jointly with Achanta Gopichand, Anil Sunkara and Achanta Ram. This would be Ramesh's second film with Mahesh after Arjun and Athidhi in the past.[19] The film was launched at Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad on June 28, 2010.[20] Though the film was initially titled tentetively as "Power",[21] it was later officially renamed as "Dookudu" later in July 2010.[22][23]

Casting
After signing Mahesh Babu as the protagonist, Samantha, who rose to fame with the 2010 Telugu film Ye Maaya Chesave was signed in as the heroine of the film, marking her first collaboration with Mahesh.[24] Sonia Deepti of Happy Days fame was selected to play the role of heroine's friend.[25] Though Srihari was roped in to play a vital role, he was later replaced by Prakash Raj as the makers felt that Prakash Raj was the ideal choice to play that role.[26] Parvati Melton was roped in to perform the item song "Poovai Poovai" along with Mahesh and her look in the song was launched in September 2011.[27] It was reported that Venkatesh would provide voice over for the film.[28] Later it was confirmed by the makers that it was just a rumor.[29] Apart from actors, Dookudu's technical team had some variations. While Srinu Vaitla wrote the script, his associate writer and friend Kona Venkat penned the Dialogues for this film.[30] Initially, Devi Sri Prasad was supposed to score the music and background score of the film. But he was replaced by S. Thaman later which marked his first collaboration with both Mahesh and Srinu Vaitla.[31]

Filming
The Principal photography began on September 12, 2010 with scenes involving Samantha being shot first while Mahesh joined the sets on September 15, 2010.[32] In October, the shooting continued in Vadodara at Gujarat.[33] After completeing some important scenes, the unit flew to Turkey to shoot some important scenes and songs.[34] Despite the terrified conditions in Istanbul due to suicide bomb attack, the unit completed the shoot of first schedule there and proceeded to Dubai.[35] There few songs were canned on the lead pair.[36] After completing shoot in Dubai, the unit returned to India and the next schedule started at Hyderabad.[37] Later in January, some talkie part of the film was shot at Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad.[38] After scenes involving Mahesh at Levis showroom in Banjara Hills of Hyderabad along with Samantha and Sonia in the end of January, the unit left to Gujarat.[39] After canning the song "Chulbuli Chulbuli" on Mahesh and Samantha at Rann of Kutch under the choreography of Raju Sundaram, the unit returned from Gujarat in February.[40] The next schedule started at Hyderabad in the end of February.[41] In March, shooting continued at Ramoji Film City where some key sequences were shot.[42] Later, some action sequences were canned at Old City area in Hyderabad.[43] In the end of March, the shooting continued in Mumbai and the song "Nee Dookudu" was canned on Mahesh and others under the choreography of Raju Sundaram.[44] In April, shooting continued at

Padmalaya Studios where some key scenes were shot.[45] later the unit left to Switzerland to shoot a song.[46] After shooting for a week in Switzerland, the unit left to Dubai to shoot some vital scenes.[47] In May, Some scenes of the film were shot in Central Jail set in Ramoji Film City.[48] The unit then proceeded to the Aluminium factory at Gachibowli where an action sequence was canned for five days.[49] Later the wedding song "Adara Adara" was shot at Chiran Fort in Begumpet at Hyderabad under the choreography of Dinesh Master.[50] In August, The climax was shot near Mumbai and in September, parts of it were canned in Hyderabad.[51][52] In September, the song "Poovai Poovai" was canned on Parvati Melton and Mahesh Babu at Ramoji Film City.[53] The Principal photography came to an end on September 12, 2011.[54]

Release
The film was released on September 23, 2011.[1] The film had the second largest worldwide opening for a Telugu film, releasing globally in 1,600 screens,[55] including 71 screens in Hyderabad.[56] It also shattered records by releasing in 15 screens in Chennai and 79 theaters in the United States, the highest ever for a Telugu film in both the cases.[7][8] In the rest of north, east and west India, it opened up in 21 cities.[9] Overseas, it released in 21 countries.[9] The film became the first Telugu project to release in Botswana and was opened in a single screen with one show by the Telugu Association of Botswana.[57] Further, it was released in Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, Dubai and Finland[9] the first for a Telugu film, and in regular overseas markets like Singapore, Malaysia and UK, making it the biggest overseas release for a Telugu film as well.[58] The producers of the film approached the high court for a John Doe order to prevent piracy of the film.[59]

Dubbed releases
Title Language Release Date Reference(s) [11][12] Athiradi Vettai Tamil April 12, 2013 The Real Tiger Hindi February 11, 2012 [13] [14] Choodan Malayalam May 17, 2013

Critical reception
Professional ratings Review scores
Source Times of India CNN-IBN Deccan Chronicle Rating
[60]

[61]

[62]

Rediff

[63]

CNN-IBN gave three and half stars said "Dookudu is a treat for Mahesh's fans. But others can also enjoy this film for its comedy elements and Mahesh's powerful presence."[64] The Times Of India also gave a three and half rating noted "Dookudu is a typical Srinu Vytla film with a generous sprinkling of comedy. His narrative manages to keep the audience engaged until the end of the movie."[65] Deccan Chronicle rated three stars commented "Although, it is a tale of a honest cop who is on the trail of a dreaded don, director Sinu Vaitla relies on a band of comedians like Brahmanandam and M.S. Narayana to sustain audience interests, before his protagonist accomplishes his mission."[66] Sify praised the lead performances writing "Mahesh Babu`s role, particularly in the action episodes, rocks."[67] NDTV stated "Mahesh Babu's style, dialogues and his fight sequences are a plus. Samantha Ruth Prabhu is largely an eye-candy in the film. Despite the star cast, the film's biggest flaw is the weak screenplay and several illogical sequences".[68] Venkat of Greatandhra.com said "Overall, the film has the right ingredients to appeal the family audience and though most of it is expected, it is the pace and ability with which the audience is engaged and the entertainment value they get."[69] Idlebrain.com, a movie news site, rated the film 3.5 out of 5, also predicting that it would "smash records in the days to come".[70] On the other hand, the film also received some mixed and negative reviews from other critics. Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff gave it 2.5 out of 5 and criticized the film's screenplay and logicdefying sequences, while praising the performance of Mahesh Babu, calling his role a "cakewalk" and recommending the film for his fans in particular.[71] Prakash of Oneindia.in said "To sum up, Dookudu is just another average entertainer and not in the same league as Mahesh Babus earlier blockbusters like Athadu and Pokiri."[72] Haricharan Pudipeddi of nowrunning.com said "Mahesh shines in Dookudu but movie falls short." giving it 3 out of 5 stars.[73]

Box office
The film had the largest opening for a Telugu film, and collected a share of 10.11 crores, and a gross of 12.58 crores, on the first day of its release.[74] It collected a share of 35.01 crores and grossed 50.07 crores in its first week.[75] After two weeks, it grossed 70 crores[76][77] and 101 crores in 50 days.[3] The movie crossed the $1 million mark in the US, and grossed 1.5 crores in two days, in UK, Australia, Dubai and Canada.[78] The film is the biggest Telugu hit in Chennai.[79] The film also completed 50 days in 312 centres.[80] Some reports say that the movie has a share of about 64.97 crores in the first 8 weeks.[81] This is the only Telugu Film to feature in Google's list of "Top 10 Most searched films in India" in the year 2011, ranked at the 9th place in the list.[82]

Home media

The satellite rights of the film were sold to MAA TV for 5.4 crores.[83] The film was released on Anamorphic widescreen DVD and VCD on December 31, 2011, by Volga videos in India.[84] The release will be produced in DVD widescreen, and will include a Telugu language track, and English subtitles. The release date of the DVD also coincides with the 100th day of the movie. The movie has been released on a 1080p High Definition Blu-ray Disc in January 2012. Overseas, a high-quality 2 disc Blu-ray and an Anamorphic widescreen DVD was released by Ficus Inc., in January 2012.[85]

Awards and nominations

Ceremony Category Best Popular Feature Film Best Actor Best Supporting Actor Best Male Comedian Best Editor Best Fight Master Best Screenplay Writer Best Film - Telugu Best Director - Telugu Best Actor - Telugu Best Actress Telugu Best Supporting Actor Telugu Best Supporting Actor Telugu Best Music Director Telugu Best Male Playback Singer Telugu Best Female Playback Singer Telugu Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist Telugu Best Film Hyderabad Times Film Awards 2011[88] Best Director Best Actor - Male Best Actor in Comic Nominee Ram Achanta, Gopichand Achanta & Anil Sunkara Mahesh Babu Prakash Raj M. S. Narayana M. R. Varma Vijayan Sreenu Vaitla Ram Achanta, Gopichand Achanta & Anil Sunkara Sreenu Vaitla Mahesh Babu Samantha Ruth Prabhu M. S. Narayana Prakash Raj S. Thaman Rahul Nambiar "Guruvaram March Okati" Ramya "Poovai Poovai" Ramajogayya Sastry "Guruvaram March Okati" Ram Achanta, Gopichand Achanta & Anil Sunkara Sreenu Vaitla Mahesh Babu Bramhanandam Result Won Won Won Won Won Won Won Won Won Won Nominated Won Nominated Won Won Nominated Nominated Won Won Won Won

Nandi Awards 2011[10]

59th Filmfare Awards South 2011[86][87]

S. Thaman Rahul Nambiar Best Singer - Male "Guruvaram March Okati" Ramya N.S. Best Singer - Female "Poovai Poovai" Audi - Ritz Icon Awards Iconic Film of the year - Ram Achanta, Gopichand 2011[89] Telugu Achanta & Anil Sunkara Ram Achanta, Gopichand Best Film Achanta & Anil Sunkara Best Director Sreenu Vaitla Best Actor Mahesh Babu Best Actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu Best Actor in a Prakash Raj Supporting Role 1st South Indian International Movie Best Comedian Bramhanandam [90][91][92] Awards Best Comedian M. S. Narayana Best Music Director S. Thaman Best Male Playback Rahul Nambiar Singer "Guruvaram March Okati" Ramajogayya Sastry Best Lyricist "Guruvaram March Okati" Best Cinematographer K. V. Guhan Best Director Sreenu Vaitla Best Character Actor Prakash Raj Best Comedian Brahmanandam TSR - TV9 National Film [93] Best Music Director S. Thaman Awards 2011 Ramya N.S. Best Playblack Singer Female "Poovai Poovai" Best Album of the year S. Thaman Music composer of the S. Thaman year Mirchi Music Awards S. Thaman/Rahul South 2011[94][95] Best Song of the year Nambiar/Ramajogayya Sastry "Guruvaram March Okati" Male vocalist of the year Rahul Nambiar

Role Best Actor in Negative Role Best Actor in Negative Role Best Music Director

Kota Srinivasa Rao Sayaji Shinde

Won Nominated Won Nominated Nominated Won Won Won Won Nominated Won Won Nominated Won Won Won Nominated Won Won Won Won Won Won Nominated Nominated Nominated

Upcoming Female vocalist of the year Lyricist of the year Technical - Sound Mixing of the year Best Film Best Director Best Actor Best Supporting Actor Best Actor In Negative Role Best Actor In Comic Role Best Actor (Jury) Best Cinematographer

"Guruvaram March Okati" Ramya N.S. "Poovai Poovai" Ramajogayya Sastry "Guruvaram March Okati" Chandu, Shadab Rayeen, Muralidhar "Guruvaram March Okati" Ram Achanta, Gopichand Achanta & Anil Sunkara Sreenu Vaitla Mahesh Babu Prakash Raj Sonu Sood Bramhanandam

Won Nominated Nominated Won Won Won Won Won Won Won Won Won Won Won Won Won

CineMAA Awards 2012[96]

Maa Music Awards 2012[97]

M. S. Narayana K. V. Guhan Ram Achanta, Gopichand Musical Film of the year Achanta & Anil Sunkara Best Music Director S. Thaman Shankar Mahadevan Best Singer - Male "Nee Dookudu" Ranjith Popular Singer - Male "Dethadi Dethadi" Ramya N.S. Popular singer - Female "Poovai Poovai"

Soundtrack
Dookudu
Soundtrack album by S. Thaman August 18, 2011 Released 2011 Recorded Film soundtrack Genre 25:32 Length Aditya Music Label S. Thaman Producer

S. Thaman chronology Kandireega (2011) Dookudu (2011) Osthe (2011)

The soundtrack of the film was composed by S. Thaman and released through Aditya Music label on August 18, 2011. The album consists of six songs. Lyrics for the four songs were penned by Ramajogayya Sastry and the remaining two songs were written by Viswa and Bhaskarabhatla.[98] The audio was launched at Shilpakala Vedika, Hyderabad on the same day. Tracklist No. Title 1. "Nee Dookudu" 2. "Guruvaram March Okati" 3. "Chulbuli Chulbuli" 4. "Poovai Poovai" 5. "Dethadi Dethadi" 6. "Adara Adara" Lyrics Viswa Singer(s) Shankar Mahadevan Length 3:49 4:25 4:26 4:20 4:11 4:21

Ramajogayya Sastry Rahul Nambiar Ramajogayya Sastry Karthik, Rita Ramajogayya Sastry Ramya N.S., Navin Madhav Bhaskarabhatla Ranjith, Divya S. Menon

Ramajogayya Sastry Karthik, Koti, Ramajogayya Sastry, Vardhini, Ranina Reddy, Megha

Total length:

25:32

Remakes
Dookudu was remade into Bengali by director Raja Chanda as Challenge 2. The film has Bengali actors Dev and Pooja Bose in lead roles. Discussions are going on to remake this film in Kannada with Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar in the lead role by the same production house 14 Reels Entertainment.[99]