Sarileru Neekevvaru


Sarileru Neekevvaru is a 2020 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film written and directed by Anil Ravipudi. The film features Mahesh Babu and Rashmika Mandanna in the lead roles while Vijayashanti, Prakash Raj and Rajendra Prasad play supporting roles. It was produced by Anil Sunkara, Dil Raju and Mahesh Babu under the banners AK Entertainments, Sri Venkateswara Creations and G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment Pvt. Ltd respectively. Devi Sri Prasad composed the music while R. Rathnavelu handled the cinematography.
Production began on 31 May 2019 at Hyderabad. Shooting began on 5 July 2019 at Kashmir and lasted till mid-November 2019. The film released on 11 January 2020 in 2050 screens worldwide coinciding with Sankranti.
Produced on a budget of 750 million, upon release, film was commercially successful grossing more than 2.6 billion worldwide.

Plot

Ajay Krishna is an army major and a new person named Ajay joins his regiment. One day during a shootout, Ajay gets severely injured., their Brigadier sends Ajay Krishna and his colleague Siva Prasad to inform this news to Ajay's family by ensuring that Ajay's sister's marriage preparations are not disturbed. On the way to Kurnool, in their train, they come across Samskruthi, who is to marry a below-average guy and she decides to run away and marry a good guy.
She sees Ajay and falls in love with him. She tries her best to propose him leading to hilarious scenes. Once they reach Kurnool, Bharathi who is Ajay's mother and her family is running away from MLA Yeddula Nagendra, a corrupt minister. At that time, they get caught by his men and threatens to kill them. Then Ajay comes to their rescue and beats them very badly warns that he will deal with Nagendra in the same way. Nagendra's main henchman narrates this to Nagendra and tells him that he has seen Alluri Seetharama Raju in his guts. Bharathi tells that her friend's son got killed by Nagendra and covered it as suicide but Bharathi raised suspicion and lodged a complaint on Nagendra.
Nagendra warns her to withdraw the complaint else he will see her end but she did not get scared of his warning. Soon, her daughter's marriage gets called off and she gets suspended from the college on the allegation of leaking the question paper. Ajay then goes to Nagendra's home and warns him that he will change him as a responsible citizen by making him surrendered after fetching all the evidences. Ajay then understands that Nagendra has been involved in a scam through Ramakrishna a government officer and Bharathi's brother was a bank officer.
Ramakrishna tried to uncover the scam with his help and other girl. At the same time, Ajay will again fix Bharathi's daughter's marriage with the same people. After marriage, he comes to know that Ajay is dead and Ajay Krishna informs the same. After performing his last rites, Ajay and Prasad leave to railway station for going back to Kashmir. Samskruthi comes and proposes him and initially, he does not accept her but later he accepts her. Nagendra, too goes to railway station for asking him why he spared him so. Ajay answers that he will try to use the sympathy to come out of the jail and resumes his corrupt activities. Instead of getting him jailed, he tells Nagendra that he is appointed to the Indian Army. Once done with the training, he will be disciplined and lead an honest life and same thing happens in the end. The film ends with Ajay marrying Samskruthi ending with a comic note.

Cast

Development

After many speculations movie title was announced as Sarileru Neekevvaru.On May 31, 2019, the 75th birthday of Krishna, the makers unveiled the title poster.Shyamprasad Reddy and others graced the occasion as guests.

Casting

was signed to play the leading lady in the movie opposite Mahesh Babu. Vijayashanti was signed in for this film, which marked her comeback after 13 years. Tamannaah was signed in for a party song. The film also marks the comeback of Sangeetha and Bandla Ganesh into movies after many years.

Filming

The first schedule was shot in Kashmir from July 5 to July 20, 2019. For the second schedule, a replica set of Konda Reddy Buruju was constructed in Ramoji Film City with an estimated cost of. On 8 November 2019, with the Kerala schedule the talkie part of the film wrapped up.

Soundtrack

composed the soundtrack album and background score for the film. The album was launched digitally on 5 January 2020 and the songs were performed by Devi Sri Prasad and his musical crew at the pre-release event that was held on 5 January 2020, at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad.

Release

Sarileru Neekevvaru was certified with 'U/A' Certificate by Central Board of Film Certification and released on 11 January 2020.

Home media

The satellite rights of the film were sold to Gemini TV, which premiered it on 25 March 2020 for the first time on eve of Ugadi and in its first Television premier movie recorded a TRP of 23.4. The film's digital rights were acquired by Prime Video and made available for streaming since 1 March 2020.

Reception

Critical response

The editor of Times Of India Neeshita Nyayapati, rated the film 2.5/5 stars and stated "Mahesh Babu does a good job of playing a man who will serve the country, crack jokes and protect. Rashmika Mandanna woos, gets hyper, dances, has a catch-line, all for the male lead, but why she exists in this tale, other than to fawn over him is a mystery. Vijayashanthi gets a solid role, and the way she's set up you expect so much more from her character. Prakash Raj and Ajay in roles they can play in their sleep. DSP's music for the film is okay, with Daang Daang opening the film on an unexpected note but He Is So Cute and Mind Block being horribly misplaced and breaking the flow of things. Suryudivo Chandrudivo and Sarileru Neekevvaru are the numbers that fit the narrative and comes at apt time. His background score however works and gets the job done without overpowering the narrative. Rathnavelu's cinematography too works but is unfortunately overshadowed by subpar VFX shots. The action by Ram- Lakshman is engaging."
The editor of India Today Janani k, rated the film 2/5 stars and called it a "Mahesh Babu film is utterly disappointing." First post editor Hemanth Kumar rated the film 3.25/5 stars and stated "Neekevvaru movie review: Mahesh Babu hits it out of the park in Anil Ravipudi's fine blend of heroism and comedy." Indian express editor Manoj Kumar rated the film 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Mahesh Babu shines in mind bending popcorn fare."
The editor of Sify gave the film 3/5 and called it a "A commercial action-entertainer."
The editor of The Hindu wrote "Mahesh Babu's film is a partly entertaining mixed bag."
Behindwoods editor gave 3/5 stars and wrote "On the whole, the film can be watched for Mahesh Babu's outstanding performance, while Prakash Raj appears as a menacing villain role at the start, but as the film progresses his character become less threatening. Amidst all these issues, it is Mahesh Babu's performance that makes the film watchable. He dances, acts, fights, and more importantly delivers clean fun. He entertains you so much and that's probably the only redeeming factor. Among the supporting actors, Vijayashanti, Vennela Kishore, and Prakash Raj's performances stand out."
The editor of Hans India rated the film 3/5 stars and praises a few of the characters: "Mahesh Babu's impeccable performance is one of the major driving factors behind the film. The actor has carried the entire movie on his shoulders and the way he has portrayed his character is too good. Rashmika Mandanna has impressed with her performance. Vijaya Shanthi is truly an asset to this film. The actress gave her 100% for the role and has grabbed the attention of the audience. The actors like Ajay, Subbaraju Vennela Kishore also delivered honest performances in the film. Sangeetha and Hari Teja delivered decent performances. Bandla Ganesh's comedy timing worked out really well. The rest of the actors also made their presence felt." Koimoi editor, Shubham Kulkarni states "Mahesh Babu Wins Our Heart In The Film That Is Confused About Which Story It Wants To Tell while."

Box office

Sarileru Neekevvaru on the opening day collected gross, beating Mahesh Babu's previous best Maharshi gross worldwide.
In two days the movie collected a total gross of
and a share of worldwide. It collected a gross of worldwide in just three days.
In first week itself it collected a total gross of worldwide and a share of. And collected a gross of at worldwide box office in just 10 days. In 50-days it collected a gross of and share at worldwide box office.

AP/Telangana

In Telugu speaking states, on the second day movie collected gross and share, making total gross of and a share of in two days.
In four days the movie collected a gross of and share of.
On the fifth day the movie collected a gross of, making total gross of and a share of in five days.
In six days the movie collected a gross of and a share of.
In nine days the movie collected a gross of and a share of. Collected over share in Telugu states itself in just 10-days and touted as non-Baahubali franchise record.

Overseas

At the USA box office movie collected 759,000 through premiere shows.
On the opening day movie collected 236,744 in Australia, 20,750 in New Zealand and 55,234 in United Kingdom and in two days the movie collected 1.31 million in United States of America.
In three days the movie collected 6,454 from Canada, 1,624,974 from USA and 70,689 from UK.
In nine days the movie collected 2 million from USA, 349,258 from Australia 96,218 from UK and 35,566 from New Zealand. And it crossed over $2.3 million in United States and marked as 3rd film to collect $2 million in Mahesh Babu's career after Maharshi and Bharath Ane Nenu.