Autonagar Surya

During the post-production activities of his directorial Prasthanam, A 26-year-old IT employee was migrating from Chennai to Calcutta along with his wife, 18-month-old baby and some extra luggage. In Orissa around midnight, a couple of drunk railway police boarded the compartment. They asked him whether he paid for all of the extra luggage. They demanded him to pay for the extra luggage and threatened to throw the luggage out of train if not paid. The IT employee refused to pay as he already bribed a ticket collector in Chennai. When they asked him to show the receipt, he questioned them "since when they have been issuing receipts for bribes?" and asked if they are going to issue one if he pays now. A quarrel took place which ended with the Railway police throwing the IT employee's wife and the 18-month-old baby out of the running train, both died on spot. This disturbed him very much, which he told in an interview later.[15]

Deva Katta later reacted to the incident. He said, "The problem does not lay 'in' the system but way 'under' the system, deep inside each one of us, our very understanding about life and its interconnections. All actions and reactions finally boil down to the elemental level of thinking with which we live and view others life." He also said that "More than the incident it was the responsiveness of the total system that alarmed me the most" as there was no news later about the IT employee and about the actions taken on those drunk police officers. That article made Deva Katta to design the conditions and basic frame of the film's plot and the protagonist's character and claimed no reference to the people involved in the incident anywhere in the film. He added that the disturbance is a "subconscious stream" in the film and said that the film is all about "an underdog's rise from a nobody to somebody while fighting for his share of life, ambition and happiness".[15]

Though the origin of this project was revealed by Deva Katta in the late 2010, Naga Chaitanya signed an Untitled film which was reported to be directed by Deva Katta under Max India Productions which would make this film Deva Katta's Third Directorial Venture in 2011.[16] Deva Katta confirmed that the project is Autonagar Surya itself and not any other film.[17] Due to the construction of an automobile industry set designed by Art Director Ravindra, the filming delayed and was set to start after Naga Chaitanya completed his shooting for Dhada.[18] After Dhada became a Box Office failure, news of shelving the film temporarily were reported.[19] However, the film had an official launch on Vijaya Dasami of 2011.[20] A Tata 207 pickup truck was stripped down for a unique and massive look which was used by the Hero in the film predominantly. The truck's photo was released later which gained attention from the public.[21]

In December 2010, reports emerged that Nandamuri Balakrishna was recruited to play the role of Surya.[22] However, Deva Katta dismissed those reports.[23] Later it was reported that Deva Katta approached Pawan Kalyan for playing the title role.[24] Finally after much speculation, Naga Chaitanya was signed to play the role of Surya in February 2011 and Samantha was apparently selected as the heroine with only the former was confirmed then.[25] The role of Surya played by Chaitanya in the film was said to be a skilled mechanic based in Vijayawada but the director claimed it to have no connection with Vijayawada.[26] Initially, Nithya Menen, Kajal Agarwal and Rakul Preet Singh were considered for the role of Heroine[27][28] but later Samantha was recruited.[29] She was reported to be playing a mass role with some shades of comedy.[30] Rakul Preet Singh was recruited to play another heroine marking her first collaboration with Naga Chaitanya,[31] which was later denied.

Veteran actor and voice artist Sai Kumar was recruited to play the role of Heroine's father.[32] Brahmanandam was recruited to play a hilarious role and later some morphed photos of Brahmanandam used in the film were officially released into the Internet which received positive response allover.[33] It was said that his role was named "Super Mechanic" Brahmi who is a rival to Surya's business and Venu Madhav would be his assistant. Apart from this, Madhu of "Chakravakam" fame was recruited to play the role of City Mayor and Jaya Prakash Reddy was recruited to play the role of corporator of the city. Popular actors Ravi Prakash and Surekha Vani were recruited to play the roles of Surya's parents who die in an unexpected train accident when Surya was of 4 years.[34] Mumbai dance based reality show contestant Kimaya was recruited for an item song in the movie after the film's team saw her in a special song in a Kannada film named Dakota Picture.[35]

The filming officially started from 14 October 2011 in Hyderabad.[36] After wrapping key portions, the film unit resumed its shooting in Hyderabad from 27 February 2012.[37] Two songs were canned on Chaitanya and Samantha at Ramoji Film City and Annapoorna Studios under the choreography of Raju Sundaram.[38][39] The Climax was shot at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad in which Chaitanya and others participated.[40] In December 2012, the opening sequence of the film was shot at a railway station set in Ramoji Film City by using an old steam engine train which was said to be used in the film in Night Effect.[34] However the film's shoot was halted due to financial turmoil and the news of its revival came in August 2013 by Deva Katta himself.[41] He further added that they are planning to start the shoot from 10 September 2013, finish a song and the patchwork in India and shift to Malaysia for the last song which would complete the photography work.[42]

The film then had a silent shoot and by November, Deva Katta revealed that 90% of the film's shoot was complete and Sai Kumar dubbed for his role underway and the remaining portions were informed to be wrapped up soon.[43] On 11 November 2013 it was reported that the last song was being shot on Naga Chaitanya and Samantha in Hyderabad for 3 days with which entire shooting of the film would be completed.[44] The song was wrapped up on 14 November 2013 with yet another song's shoot to be done.[45] Later it was announced that the last song's shoot would take place from 27 November 2013 whose completion would end the principal photography.[46] It was a flirtatious song titled Hyderabad Biriyani shot on the street where Surya resides in the film.[35] It was shot on Naga Chaitanya and Kimaya under Raju Sundaram choreography at Rock Castle in Hyderabad and the shooting completed on 30 November 2013.[47]

The first look posters and stills depicting the lead pair were released on 23 November 2012 on the occasion of Naga Chaitanya's birthday.[90] On the same day, a teaser of 43 seconds with a dialogue spelled by Chaitanya was released which gained viral response over the Internet, raising much expectations on the film.[91] After releasing a set of stills after the film's revival, the first visual trailer of the film was reported to be launched on 23 November 2013 again on the occasion of Naga Chaitanya's birthday.[92] It was also informed later that the trailer would be screened in Theaters along with Selvaraghavan's directorial Varna, the Telugu back to back shot version of Irandaam Ulagam, which was released on 22 November 2013 across the world.[93] A set of 6 stills, 3 poster designs and the Theatrical trailer of 96 Seconds were released officially into the Web Media on 22 November 2013, a day before Naga Chaitanya's birthday as his birthday gifts by the team.[94][95][96]

The worldwide distribution rights were sold for ₹18 crore (US$2.3 million), to Dil Raju. The satellite rights were sold for ₹4.6 crore (US$580,000), to Gemini TV. However, the film recovered twice the amount of its actual production cost of ₹25 crore (US$3.1 million).

The film received mixed to positive response from critics and audiences. Jeevi of idlebrain.com gave a rating of 3/5 stating "Auto Nagar Surya has good premise and good intention. But should have been edited better. Plus points of the film are dialogues, ideology and performances. First half of the film is nice and with good elevation of protagonist character in pre-interval scenes. Second half of the film should have been better with better screenplay. This film too needs trimming in terms of comedy episodes and songs just like Deva Katta's earlier movie Prasthanam". The Hindu gave a review stating "Art director Ravindra's massive set representing a mini automobile factory, Srikanth Naroj's cinematography and background score by Anoop Rubens add to the intensity. Autonagar Surya makes for a reasonably good watch and yet, we can't help feeling that Deva Katta is capable of delivering a more hard-hitting film, going by his previous work, Prasthanam."[97] Zee News gave a review stating "In the history of cinema, oft has the subject of political thriller been told and retold. But this Deva Katta directed film Autonagar Surya makes you sit and take notice of the narrative unfold itself in a peculiar yet interesting way. It does look like a film made with precision and mastery of craft."[98]

Deccan Chronicle gave a review stating " The setting for the story looks very natural. The cinematography is good and of Chaitanya and Samantha's scenes have come out very well. On the whole, a predictable and long story, Autonagar Surya may not go down well with many. Deva Katta fails this time and falls short of the expectations."[99] The New Indian Express gave a review stating "Overall, Autonagar Surya is meant for die-hard fans of Naga Chaitanya. The film entertains with its action sequences, dialogues and music. Watch it if you're a Naga Chaitanya fan."[100]Onenindia Entertainment gave a review stating "Overall, Autonagar Surya has a simple and routine story, but it is the director's treatment of the subject that makes the film a good entertainer. Naga Chaitanya rocks the viewers with his heroism. The movie is good treat for all Akkineni family fans" and rated the film 3/5.[101]

The movie has collected approximately Rs 6.85 crores nett at the global Box Office in the first weekend. Its breakup is Rs 2.2 cr on Fri, Rs 2 cr on Sat and Rs 2.65 cr on Sun.[102]