Once Upon a Warrior

Once Upon A Warrior (Telugu: Anaganaga O Dheerudu) is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language fantasy adventure film written and directed by Prakash Kovelamudi in his first mainstream film. It is produced by Walt Disney Pictures with veteran director K. Raghavendra Rao's A Bellyful of Dreams Entertainment at a budget of ₹ 26 crore and stars Siddharth, Shruti Haasan, Baby Harshitha, and Lakshmi Manchu. Once Upon a Warrior focuses on the journey of Moksha , a nine-year-old girl with special healing powers, and Yodha , her fierce warrior bodyguard, as they travel to a faraway village to save its children, under the constant menace of the evil witch Irendri . Shruti Hassan and Lakshmi Manchu made their Telugu debut through this film.

Once Upon a Warrior
Theatrical release poster
Original titleAnaganaga O Dheerudu
Directed byPrakash Kovelamudi
Written byPrakash Kovelamudi
Produced byPrakash Kovelamudi
Prasad Devineni
StarringSiddharth
Shruti Haasan
Lakshmi Manchu
Baby Harshitha
CinematographySoundarrajan
Edited byShravan Katikaneni
Music bySongs:
Salim–Sulaiman
Mickey J. Meyer
Koti
M. M. Keeravani
Background Score:
Salim–Sulaiman
Production
companies
Walt Disney Pictures
A Bellyful of Dreams Entertainment
Distributed byUTV Motion Pictures[1]
Release date
  • 14 January 2011 (2011-01-14) (India)
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu
Budget₹26 crore[2]

It features a musical score by Salim–Sulaiman, an ensemble soundtrack by Salim–Sulaiman, M. M. Keeravani, Koti, and Mickey J Meyer,[3] while cinematography and editing are handled by Soundar Rajan and Sravan Katikaneni, respectively.[4]

Plot

Irendri (Lakshmi Manchu) is a sorceress who terrorizes people of Anga Rajyam. A guru arrests her, doesn't allow her to play with the lives of people, and destroys her. Before she was destroyed, Irendri takes her soul away and traps it in a locket. Though she dies, her soul lives in the locket. Her great-great-granddaughter is Priya (Shruthi Haasan), and she lives as a gypsy.

Priya too possesses magical powers as she was born into a sorceress' family. Yodha (Siddharth) is a travelling swordsman who always romances women whenever there is opportunity. He is smitten by Priya's beauty and falls in love with her. Sudigundam (Ravi Babu) is a local goon, and he attacks the gypsies' village. Yodha prevents him and defeats him in a fight. However, Sudigundam makes a stealth attack, ties Yodha's hands, and sets afire the entire village.

In this process, the locket in Priya's neck falls down, and Irendri's soul comes out with the touch of fire. The sarpa sakthi (power of the serpents) tells her that she could gain power with a drop of Priya's blood. So, Irendri takes away Priya and imprisons her. Meanwhile, Yodha turns blind as Sudigundam pierces his eyes. However, Yodha gets saved by a swami (Subbaraya Sarma) and appoints to save a girl named Moksha (Baby Harshitha), who has divine powers. Irendri, to take revenge, attacks Agartha, a village in Anga Rashtram, and makes the children of the village senseless.

Druki (Vallabhaneni Ramji) goes to Pushpagiri to bring Moksha, who could save their children. Druki, Yodha, and Moksha start from Pushpagiri and reach Agartha. At this juncture, the sarpa sakti tells Irendri that Moksha's blood would make her invincible if it was taken by her on lunar eclipse day. So, Irendri sends her men to capture Moksha. But Yodha kills all of them. Irendri again sends Sudigundam, the commander-in-chief, to bring her. Yodha follows them in search of Moksha, finds Priya alive, and saves Moksha and Priya. Moksha brings back Yodha's vision with her divine power. Yodha decides to completely destroy Irendri as she is trying to harm people and succeeds in the climax.

Cast

Production

Pre-production for Once Upon a Warrior began in June 2009 and the cast was finalized soon after, with the film creating expectations as it marked the debuts of noted star children Prakash Kovelamudi, Shruti Haasan, and Lakshmi Manchu.[5] Furthermore, the film marked a return to a rare genre in Indian cinema: the fantasy adventure. Shooting began in October 2009 and took place across India, whilst scenes were also shot in Turkey.[6]

During the production stage, Disney agreed to co-produce with Raghavendra Rao's home banner, a Bellyful of Dreams Entertainment, marking the first South Indian production by Disney.[7][8]

Release

Once Upon a Warrior was released internationally on 14 January 2011 during the Sankranti festival[9][10][11] to average reviews and box office collections.

Dubbed versions were created in Tamil and Malayalam, but their release was put on hold indefinitely due to the unexpected failure of the Telugu version. The film is rated PG-13 in North America for "violence and scary images" making it the sixth of ten Disney-branded films to receive the rating.

Home media

The film was released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment on DVD and digital download on 26 July 2011.[12][13][14][15] The release will be produced in DVD widescreen and include a Telugu language track plus English subtitles.

Reception

Radhika Rajamani of Rediff.com rated the film 3/5, calling it a "visual extravaganza." While praising the technical aspects of the film like photography, the art direction, the editing, and the computer generated imagery (CGI), she felt that the story had a few loopholes.[16] A reviewer from Sify also rated the same and said: "The film opens on a grand scale, as though it is going to set the standards for a fantasy film, but within a few minutes, the tempo dies, dragging the film into a monotonous drama, making the audiences wait in expectation for something to happen. Frame after frame, the curiosity dies."[17]

Awards
Nandi Awards[18]
CineMAA Awards[19]
Filmfare Awards South[20]
Other awards

Soundtrack
Anaganaga O Dheerudu
Soundtrack album by
Salim–Sulaiman
Mickey J. Meyer
Koti
M. M. Keeravani
Released2011 (2011)
Recorded2010
GenreSoundtrack
Length25:10
LabelWalt Disney Music
Salim–Sulaiman chronology
Ladies vs Ricky Bahl
(2011)		 Anaganaga O Dheerudu
(2011)		 Love Breakups Zindagi
(2011)
Mickey J. Meyer chronology
Leader
(2010)		 Anaganaga O Dheerudu
(2011)		 Life Is Beautiful
(2009)
Koti chronology
Brammigaadi Katha
(2011)		 Anaganaga O Dheerudu
(2011)		 Raaj
(2011)
M. M. Keeravaani chronology
Maryada Ramanna
(2010)		 Anaganaga O Dheerudu
(2011)		 Badrinath
(2011)
No.TitleLyricsMusicPerformer(s)Length
1."Ninnu Choodani"ChandraboseM. M. KeeravaniAnuj Gurwara, Chaitra4:30
2."Premalekha"ChandraboseSalim–SulaimanSalim Merchant, Shreya Ghoshal4:20
3."Pralaya Kaalabelaa"VedavyasKotiGeetha Madhuri3:23
4."Chandamaamala"ChandraboseMickey J MeyerKarthik, Sahiti4:09
5."Tharumukosthondi"Sasi RajasimhaKotiS. P. Balasubrahmanyam2:48
6."Premalekha" (remix)ChandraboseSalim–SulaimanAbhijith3:58
7."Yodha Theme"ChandraboseSalim–SulaimanRajiv Sundaran, Rishikesh2:02
Total length:25:10

References
  1. "Disney India, UTV Join up for Film Production". The Hollywood Reporter. 20 May 2011.
  2. "Sea change". The Hindu. 7 July 2012.
  3. "Shruti Haasan, Siddharth in Walt Disney film! - Rediff.com Movies". Rediff.com. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  4. Moviebuzz (2009). "Siddharth-Shruti film starts rolling!". Sify. Archived from the original on 17 February 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  5. "Siddharth's new beginning". The Times of India. 21 June 2009. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  6. "Shruti sings for Mallika in Hisss". The Times of India. 27 September 2010. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  7. "Disney fantasy film in Telugu, Tamil". The Hindu. 2010. Archived from the original on 28 April 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  8. "Walt Disney picks Shruti, Siddharth!". The Times of India. 17 March 2010. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  9. "A Walt Disney Film in Telugu". Rediff Movies. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  10. Hurtado, J (4 December 2010). "Disney Steps Into South India With Once Upon a Warrior". Twitch Film. Archived from the original on 9 September 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  11. "Anaganaga O Dheerudu Music to Release on Dec 18th". The Face of South India. 20 December 2010. Archived from the original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  12. "Walt Disney Unveils Three Indian Movies in North America". The Economic Times. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  13. Ramrakhani, Naina (1 July 2011). "Disney Sets Up a New Home in India". Desi Hits. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  14. "Disney to Launch 3 Hindi Films in North America Across Platforms". Business of Cinema. 30 June 2011. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  15. "Disney Releasing 3 Indian Films in North America". Deccan Herald. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  16. Rajamani, Radhika (14 January 2011). "Anaganaga O Dheerudu: A visual extravaganza". Rediff.
  17. "Anaganaga O Dheerudu review". Sify. 17 January 2011. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021.
  18. Suresh Kavirayani, TNN (13 October 2012). "2011 Nandi Awards winners list". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  19. "Cinemaa awards 2012 - Telugu cinema functions". Idlebrain.com. 17 June 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  20. Oor Kaalan (8 July 2012). "59th Filmfare Awards 2012 (South) - Winners List, Proud Moments [Video] | Tamil Cinema News " KollyInsider". Kollyinsider.com. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  21. "The Hyderabad Times Film Awards 2011". The Times of India. 24 June 2012. Archived from the original on 18 July 2013.
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