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]

Naandhi (transl. Beginning) is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language legal drama film directed by debutant Vijay Kanakamedala and produced by 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 Siddharth J.[4] The plot follows the life of Surya Prakash (Naresh), an undertrial prisoner who is falsely accused of murder, awaiting judgement.

Released on 19 February 2021, Naandhi opened to highly positive reviews[5][6] and became 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]

Plot

Surya Prakash is an honest software engineer living with his parents. His only aim is to fulfill 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 his 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, advocate Aadhya comes forward and succeeds in bailing Surya, but he 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 office meeting Surya in prison. Upon Surya's request, his case goes to the Fast Track High Court with Aadhya as his defense 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 defense 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 five 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.[8] Allari Naresh, who is known for his comic roles, is cast as an undertrial 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.[9][10] Filming also took place in an Aluminum factory in the city.[11] Nearly 80% of the shoot was completed by June 2020.[12]

Soundtrack

The music is composed by Sricharan Pakala.

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)
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" (Backing Vocals: Sricharan Pakala)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."[13] 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."[14]

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."[15]

Box office

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

Home Release

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

Awards

Date of ceremony Award Category Recipient(s) and nominee(s) Result Ref.
10–11 September 2022 10th South Indian International Movie Awards Best Actor - Telugu Allari Naresh Nominated
Best Debut Producer – Telugu Satish Varma Won
Best Debut Director - Telugu Vijay Kanakamedala Nominated
21 October 2022 Sakshi Excellence Awards 2021 Special Recognition Award Satish Varma Won [16]

References

  1. ↑ Focus, Filmy (5 February 2021). "Allari Naresh's Naandhi release date confirmed - Filmy Focus". Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  2. ↑ "Naandhi 5th Day Collection: Allari Naresh-Varalaxmi Sarathkumar's Film Box Office Rampage Continues". Sakshi Post. 24 February 2021. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 T2BLive.Com (10 March 2021). "Naandhi Total World Wide Collections". T2BLive. Archived from the original on 24 November 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ "'Naandhi' showcases a new Allari Naresh and glimpses of police brutality". The Hindu. 30 June 2020. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  5. ↑ "Allari Naresh's Naandhi release date announced - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  6. ↑ Balach, Logesh. "Nani lauds Allari Naresh's performance in Naandhi. See post". India Today. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  7. ↑ "Ajay Devgn to produce Hindi remake of Telugu hit 'Naandhi' with Dil Raju". The Hindu. 25 June 2021. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  8. ↑ Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (17 February 2021). "Vijay Kanakamedala: 'Naandhi is in a realistic space'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  9. ↑ Pecheti, Prakash (20 January 2020). "Allari Naresh tries a new genre with Naandi". Telangana Today. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  10. ↑ Hymavathi, Ravali (15 February 2020). "Allari Naresh 'Naandhi' Completed Its First Schedule". The Hans India. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  11. ↑ Reddy, Satish (27 August 2020). "అల్లరి నరేష్‌ మూవీ టీంలో కరోన కలకలం.. క్లారిటీ ఇచ్చిన చిత్రయూనిట్". Asianet News (in Telugu). Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  12. ↑ "Allari Naresh Goes Naked for 'Naandhi'". Sakshi Post. 29 June 2020. Archived from the original on 15 September 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  13. ↑ "Naandhi Movie Review: A powerful subject backed by power-packed performances". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  14. ↑ Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (19 February 2021). "'Naandhi' movie review: What it takes to turn the tables". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  15. ↑ "'Naandhi' movie Review: A crime drama that fails to rise above the template". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  16. ↑ "Stream naandhi on Aha Video". Aha. 12 March 2021. Archived from the original on 15 January 2024. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
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