Naandhi

Naandhi (transl. Beginning) is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language legal drama film directed by debutant Vijay Kanakamedala and produced by 'Naandhi' Satish Varma. The film stars Allari Naresh and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar while Priyadarshi, Harish Uthaman, Vinay Varma, and Praveen play supporting roles. The film has music composed by Sricharan Pakala with cinematography performed by Sid.[4] The plot follows the life of Surya Prakash (Naresh), an undertrial prisoner who is falsely accused of murder, awaiting judgement.

Naandhi
Theatrical release poster
Directed byVijay Kanakamedala
Screenplay byVijay Kanakamedala
Dialogues by
Story byToom Venkat
Produced bySatish Varma
Razesh Danda
StarringAllari Naresh
Varalaxmi Sarathkumar
CinematographySiddharth J.
Edited byChota K. Prasad
Music bySricharan Pakala
Production
company
SV2 Entertainment
Release date
  • 19 February 2021 (2021-02-19)[1]
Running time
146 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu
Budget₹6 crore[2]
Box officeest. ₹9.5 crore[3]

Released on 19 February 2021, Naandhi opened to highly positive reviews.[5][6] The film is a commercial success, grossing over ₹9.5 crore at the box office.[3] A Hindi remake has been announced with Ajay Devgn as the lead under the production of Dil Raju.[7]

Producer 'Naandhi' Satish Varma won SIIMA 2022 Best Debutant Producer Award (Telugu category) for Naandhi.

Sakshi Excellence Jury Special Recognition Award 2021 has been awarded to producer 'Naandhi' Satish Varma for the movie Naandhi on 21st Oct 2022.[8]

Plot

Surya Prakash is an honest software engineer, living with his parents. His only aim is to fulfil the dreams of his parents, which they sacrificed for his upbringing. Soon, Surya gets engaged to Meenakshi. Meanwhile, tensions arise in the state, after the death of an honest and truthful lawyer Rajagopal. The police are under immense pressure to arrest the murderer. The in-charge of the case, CI Kishore, pulls Surya into the case, arresting him by falsely accusing him of killing Rajagopal. This is after he gets a contract, worth ₹10 lakh, which Surya actually took as a loan, for buying a house. Kishore creates and plants fake evidence.

Surya is astonished as all the people, who can prove Surya's innocence, turn hostile, after being threatened by Kishore. Surya becomes an undertrial prisoner and Kishore tortures him to make him accept the crime, but Surya stands his ground. Surya's parents commit suicide, by immolating themselves, which devastates Surya. At the funeral ground of his parents, Kishore reveals to Surya that he only forced his parents to commit suicide, for not torturing Surya in jail. Surya becomes infuriated and beats up Kishore, due to which he is charged with another case. Helpless, Meenakshi leaves Surya and ends their relationship.

After four years, Surya's case is still in court and he is a broken man. He meets Radha Prakash, a controversial YouTuber and narrates his past. Later, Adv. Aadhya comes forward and succeeds in bailing Surya, but Surya brutally thrashes up some imprisoned goons, who beat him up without any reason, as per Kishore's plan. Surya again ends up in prison. Radha Prakash is revealed to be Aadhya's brother, and he recorded the incident, in which the goons mistreated Surya. The video gets uploaded on the Internet, resulting in a Human Rights Officer meeting Surya in prison. Upon Surya's request, his case goes to the Fast Track High Court with Aadhya as his defence lawyer.

Aadhya proves Surya's innocence and he is acquitted of the accusations. Surya decides to take revenge on Kishore using IPC Section 211. Satyamurthy becomes Kishore's defence lawyer, for the case. Surya abducts Chandraiah, Kishore's assistant, who testified against Surya in Rajagopal's murder case. Chandraiah reveals that Kishore bribed two goons to kill Rajagopal, but upon pressure from the opposition party, he decided to capture them. The goons learned of the truth and escaped, which caused Kishore to pull Surya into the case, using a co-incidence as evidence.

Chandraiah accepts to reveal the truth in court, but he is kidnapped by the henchmen of ex-Home Minister Naagender, who is revealed to be the mastermind behind Rajagopal's murder. Aadhya requests the judge to provide them more time and he accepts. Chandraiah is killed by Kishore, who fakes a report that he died in the riots. Aadhya and Surya find out that Naagender ordered Kishore to kill Rajagopal. Before Rajagopal's death 5 years ago, Naagender's land scams were brought to light by the government. To divert the media's attention, Naagender got Rajagopal killed because of his popularity and good image in the state.

Aadhya and Surya nearly succeed in exposing Naagender and request permission to tap Naagender's phone calls, to prove him guilty. A night before the court appearance, Surya is kidnapped by Naagender, who blackmails Aadhya to withdraw the case, but upon being inspired by Surya, Aadhya carries on with the prosecution. Though injured, Surya successfully frees himself, defeating Naagender's henchmen. He reaches the court, where he is admitted to the hospital and is saved from his injuries. Naagender and Kishore are successfully proved guilty and they receive life imprisonment and death sentence respectively. After this, Surya is relieved that he finally achieved his parents' death legally.

Cast

Production

Development

The film is Vijay Kanakamedala's directorial debut.[9] Naresh, who is known for his comic roles, is cast as an under trial prisoner. Varalaxmi Sarathkumar is seen as an advocate that helps the falsely convicted victims. Srikanth Iyengar is a crooked lawyer while Priyadarshi is seen as a controversial YouTuber.

Principal photography

Principal photography of the film began in January 2020 at Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad with the first schedule completed by February 2020.[10][11] Filming also took place in an Aluminum factory in the city.[12] Nearly 80% of the shoot was completed by June 2020.[13]

Soundtrack
Naandhi
Soundtrack album by
Sricharan Pakala
Recorded2020-2021
StudioJubilee10 studios,(Hyderabad)
St. Luke's Studio (Visakhapatnam)
GenreFeature film soundtrack
LanguageTelugu
LabelLahari Music
ProducerSricharan Pakala
Sricharan Pakala chronology
Maa Vintha Gaadha Vinuma
(2020)		 Naandhi
(2021)		 Thimmarusu
(2021)

All music is composed by Sricharan Pakala

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Cheli" (Backing Vocals: Sricharan Pakala)Sri ManiN.C. Karunya, Haripriya Maranganti3:35
2."Idhe Naandhi" (Backing Vocals: Sricharan Pakala, S. Anant Srikar)Chaitanya PrasadVijay Prakash3:20
3."Devathalantha"Kittu VissapragadaAnurag Kulkarni3:45
4."Gundelona"Chaitanya PrasadKareemulla3:18

Reception

Critical reception

The Times of India's Thadhagath Pathi rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and stated, "A film like this demands excellent writing and that is what Vijay excels at. He tells a story that goes beyond the usual tropes of a man wronged getting a bail and seeking revenge."[14] Sangeetha Devi in her review for The Hindu, wrote "Naandhi marks the arrival of Vijay Kanakamedala as a director with promise and reinforces how good an actor Naresh is. This will go down as one of his career-best performances."[15]

Vishwanath Vijayanagaram of The New Indian Express opined: "Despite being well-intentioned, Naandhi lacks both the consistency of a courtroom drama and the maturity of a legal procedural." Vijayanagaram rated the film 2.5/5 and added, "Composer Sricharan Pakala rises above the mediocre script and deserves kudos for this. Besides Naresh and Varu, Vinay Varma, Harish Uthaman, and Priyadarshi too deliver nice performances."[16]

Box office

The film grossed ₹6.4 crore in the first week. It is Naresh's first commercially successful film after nearly 8 years.[3]

Home Release

Aha's acquisition of Naandhi led to its premiere on 12 March 2021.[17]

References
  1. Focus, Filmy (5 February 2021). "Allari Naresh's Naandhi release date confirmed - Filmy Focus".
  2. "Naandhi 5th Day Collection: Allari Naresh-Varalaxmi Sarathkumar's Film Box Office Rampage Continues". Sakshi Post. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  3. T2BLive.Com (10 March 2021). "Naandhi Total World Wide Collections". T2BLive. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  4. "'Naandhi' showcases a new Allari Naresh and glimpses of police brutality". The Hindu. 30 June 2020. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  5. "Allari Naresh's Naandhi release date announced - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  6. Balach, Logesh. "Nani lauds Allari Naresh's performance in Naandhi. See post". India Today. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  7. "Ajay Devgn to produce Hindi remake of Telugu hit 'Naandhi' with Dil Raju". The Hindu. 25 June 2021.
  8. Special Jury Award 2021 to Naandhi Movie | Sakshi Excellence Awards 2021 | Sakshi TV, retrieved 30 October 2022
  9. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (17 February 2021). "Vijay Kanakamedala: 'Naandhi is in a realistic space'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  10. Pecheti, Prakash (20 January 2020). "Allari Naresh tries a new genre with Naandi". Telangana Today. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  11. Hymavathi, Ravali (15 February 2020). "Allari Naresh 'Naandhi' Completed Its First Schedule". The Hans India. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  12. Reddy, Satish (27 August 2020). "అల్లరి నరేష్‌ మూవీ టీంలో కరోన కలకలం.. క్లారిటీ ఇచ్చిన చిత్రయూనిట్". Asianet News (in Telugu). Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  13. "Allari Naresh Goes Naked for 'Naandhi'". Sakshi Post. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  14. "Naandhi Movie Review: A powerful subject backed by power-packed performances". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  15. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (19 February 2021). "'Naandhi' movie review: What it takes to turn the tables". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  16. "'Naandhi' movie Review: A crime drama that fails to rise above the template". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  17. "Stream naandhi on Aha Video". Aha. 12 March 2021.
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