Yatra (2019 film)


Yatra is a 2019 Indian film which was released in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. It is a biographical film, based on the padayatra of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who served as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from May 2004 to June 2009 representing Indian National Congress. The film produced by Vijay Chilla, Shashi Devi Reddy under 70mm Entertainments and directed by Mahi V Raghav. It stars Mammootty in the lead role as Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy and music composed by K. Principal photography commenced on 20 June 2018 in Hyderabad.
The film was released on 8 February 2019 alongside dubbed versions in Malayalam and Tamil.

Cast

The music is composed by K, while the lyrics are written by Sirivennela Sitaramasastri. The first single "Samara Shankham" was released on 2 September 2018 on the anniversary of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy's death.

Production

By early January 2018, the producers Vijay Chilla and Shashi Devireddy under their banner 70MM Entertainments had registered the title Yatra, while director Mahi V. Raghav was at the final phase of scripting.

Casting

Director Mahi V. Raghav said Mammootty was the first choice to play the role of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, but it took nearly five months to bring him on board. In April 2018, Posani Krishna Murali was chosen to play YSR's personal assistant Sureedu.
In May, Hindi actor Sachin Khedekar was selected to play former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Bhaskara Rao, while Rao Ramesh was chosen to play K. V. P. Ramachandra Rao, a close associate of Reddy. In June, Suhasini Maniratnam was cast to portray Sabitha Indra Reddy, a sister figure to Reddy and the first woman Home Minister in Andhra Pradesh, while television actress Anasuya Bharadwaj was reported to play a politician from Kurnool district. In July, Jagapathi Babu was selected to feature Y. S. Raja Reddy, YSR's father.

Release

The film released on 8 February 2019.

Reception

Critical Reception

Hemanth Kumar of Firstpost gave 3 out of 5 stars stating "Yatra feels like just its title. The route is long and you are moved to tears at times, but without any major twists or turns that leave you in awe of the whole journey".
Manoj Kumar R of The Indian Express gave 3 out of 5 stars stating "Beyond politics, Mahi V Raghav film Yatra, starring Mammootty, also works as a decent human drama.".
Karthik Kumar of Hindustan Times gave 3 out of 5 stars stating "Mammootty’s docudrama is at its best when it focuses on the padayatra, devoid of any major twists and turns that usually leave you in awe".
Sify gave 3 out of 5 stars stating "Political movies work more if you have a similar political bent".
Venkat Arikatla Great Andhra gave 3 out of 5 stars stating "More than politics, the emotional sequences work out well for all".

Box office

Yatra collected in the first five days. The film, which grossed a total of 14.3 crore worldwide against a budget of 12 crore, performed poorly at the box office. It's worldwide distributor's share was 3.81 crore.