| Dookudu | |
|---|---|
Daring & Dashing |
|
| Directed by | Sreenu Vaitla |
| Produced by | Ram Achanta Gopichand Achanta Anil Sunkara |
| Written by | Gopimohan Kona Venkat Srinu Vaitla |
| Starring | Mahesh Babu Samantha Kota Srinivasa Rao Vennela Kishore Prakash Raj Sonu Sood |
| Music by | Thaman |
| Cinematography | K. V. Guhan Prasad Murella |
| Editing by | M. R. Varmaa |
| Studio | 14 Reels Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | September 23, 2011[1] |
| Running time | 176 mins |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Budget | 35 crore (US$6.65 million)[2] |
| Box office | 101 crore (US$19.19 million)[3][4] |
Dookudu (Telugu: దూకుడు; English: Aggression) is a 2011 Telugu action comedy film directed by Sreenu Vaitla and distributed by 14 Reels Entertainment. The ensemble cast, stars Mahesh Babu and Samantha.[5] The film was released on September 23, 2011, with the largest worldwide opening for a Telugu film. Opening to generally positive reviews, the Los Angeles Times quoted 'Dookudu' as "the biggest hit you've never heard of."[6] The film set a box office record for the Telugu film industry by collecting a gross of more than 1 billion.[7][8]
Contents |
Shankar Narayana (Prakash Raj) is a politician driven by idealistic values and social service. His followers are his brother (Rajiv Kanakala) and supporters (Sayaji Shinde) and Supreet. The people of Shankar's constituency elect him as an M.L.A during the political realm of late N. T. Rama Rao. Even though Shankar is an ardent follower of NTR, he does not wish to join NTR's party, and establishes his own independent political empire. Shankar's dream is to see his son as a Politician revered by people. During this time, Shankar meets with a fatal accident.
Years later, Shankar's son Ajay Kumar (Mahesh Babu) is a daring and dashing super cop in Mumbai. He is on a mission to apprehend mafia don Nayak (Sonu Sood) who is involved in illegal drug trade, extortion and arms trafficking. It is later revealed that Shankar actually survived the accident but ended up in a state of coma. However, this truth is hidden by Shankar's family from the people. Ajay maintains a low profile to catch Nayak. On an undercover operation in Istanbul, Ajay gets hold of Nayak's brother Bunty (Ajaz Khan). Later, it is revealed that corrupt opposition leader Mallesh Yadav (Kota Srinivasa Rao) who is also tied up with Nayak was the mastermind behind Shankar's accident, planned to derail Shankar's political empire revered by people.
Ajay falls in love with Prashanthi (Samantha Ruth Prabhu), whom he meets in Istanbul during his operation. Prashanthi is the daughter of Ajay's boss (Nassar), a cop, who obeys commissioner (Suman) in Hyderabad city. When Ajay's dad comes out of coma, doctors advise his family that Shankar is at risk if he encounters or hears anything upsetting, disturbing or shocking. Ajay hides the shocking events surrounding his dad's accident. Ajay shifts his family to his dad's previously abandoned mansion, which is now utilized for filmmaking.
Ajay creates a dummy political set up at this mansion. In the guise of a reality television program, Ajay tricks a film actor Padmasree (Brahmanandam) by making him believe that the television show is being sponsored by film Star Nagarjuna Akkineni's television channel and that Nagarjuna wants to offer him a great deal of remuneration for Padmasree's realistic performance in the show. On the other hand, an aspiring actor Bokka (M. S. Narayana) is also tricked by Ajay. Ajay also tricks Mallesh Yadav with a real estate business deal, to exploit mallesh Yadav's criminal nexus. Ajay keeps this drama under wraps from Shankar, by making Shankar believe that Ajay is now an M.L.A revered by people fulfilling his dad's sentiments. The rest of the plot reveals the politician-criminal nexus behind Shankar's accident and the comic travails which lead Shankar to know the truth and Ajay's retaliation over Mafia don Nayak and Mallesh Yadav's Political Corruption.
The film had the second largest worldwide opening for a Telugu film, releasing globally in 1600 screens,[9] including 71 screens in Hyderabad, India.[10] It also shattered records by releasing in 15 screens in Chennai and 79 theaters in the United States, the highest ever for a Telugu film in both the cases.[11] [12] In the rest of North, East and West India, it opened up in 21 cities.[13] The satellite rights of the film were sold to MAA TV for 5.4 crore.[14]
Overseas, it released in 21 countries.[13] The film became the first Telugu project to release in Botswana and was opened in a single screen with one show by the Telugu Association of Botswana.[15] Further, it was released in Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, Dubai and Finland[13] the first for a Telugu film, and in regular overseas markets like Singapore, Malaysia and UK, making it the biggest overseas release for a Telugu film as well.[16] The producers of the film approached the high court for a John Doe order to prevent piracy of the film.[17]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Times of India | [18] |
| CNN-IBN | [19] |
| Deccan Chronicle | [20] |
| Rediff | [21] |
CNN-IBN gave three and half stars said "Dookudu is a treat for Mahesh's fans. But others can also enjoy this film for its comedy elements and Mahesh's powerful presence."[22] The Times Of India also gave a three and half rating noted ""Dookudu" is a typical Srinu Vytla film with a generous sprinkling of comedy. His narrative manages to keep the audience engaged until the end of the movie."[23] Deccan Chronicle rated three stars commented "Although, it is a tale of a honest cop who is on the trail of a dreaded don, director Sinu Vaitla relies on a band of comedians like Brahmanandam and M.S. Narayana to sustain audience interests, before his protagonist accomplishes his mission."[24]
Sify praised the lead performances writing "Mahesh Babu`s role, particularly in the action episodes, rocks."[25] NDTV stated "Mahesh Babu's style, dialogues and his fight sequences are a plus. Samantha Ruth Prabhu is largely an eye-candy in the film. Despite the star cast, the film's biggest flaw is the weak screenplay and several illogical sequences".[26] Venkat of Greatandhra.com said "Overall, the film has the right ingredients to appeal the family audience and though most of it is expected, it is the pace and ability with which the audience is engaged and the entertainment value they get."[27]
On the other hand, the film also received some mixed and negative reviews from other critics. Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff gave it 2.5 out of 5 and criticized the film's screenplay and logic-defying sequences, while praising the performance of Mahesh Babu, calling his role a "cakewalk" and recommending the film for his fans in particular.[28] Prakash of Oneindia.in said "To sum up, Dookudu is just another average entertainer and not in the same league as Mahesh Babu’s earlier blockbusters like Athadu and Pokiri."[29] Haricharan Pudipeddi of nowrunning.com said "Mahesh shines in Dookudu but movie falls short." giving it 3 out of 5 stars.[30]
The film had the largest opening for a Telugu film and collected a share of 10.11 crores and gross of 12.58 crores on the first day of its release.[31] It collected a share of 35.01 crores and grossed 50.07 crores in its first week.[32] After two weeks, it grossed 70 crores [33] and at 47 days, it grossed 100 crores.[34] The movie crossed the million dollar mark in USA and grossed 1.5 crores within two days in UK, Australia, Dubai and Canada.[35] The film Completed successfully for 50-days in 312 centres.[36] Some reports say that the movie has a share of about 64.97 Crore in first 8 weeks [37] Dookudu is the only Telugu Film to feature in Google's list of Top 10 Most searched films in India in the year 2011. It is ranked at 9th place.[38]
The film was released on Anamorphic widescreen DVD and VCD on December 31, 2011 by Volga videos in India.[39] The release will be produced in DVD widescreen and include a Telugu language track plus English subtitles. The release date of the DVD also coincides with the 100th day of the movie. The movie will also be released on a 1080p High Definition Blu-ray Disc in January 2012. In the overseas, a high quality 2 disc Blu-ray and a Anamorphic widescreen DVD will be released by Ficus Inc in January 2012.[40]
| Dookudu | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Thaman | ||||
| Released | 18 August 2011 | |||
| Recorded | 2011 | |||
| Genre | Film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 25:32 | |||
| Label | Aditya Music | |||
| Producer | Thaman | |||
| Thaman chronology | ||||
|
||||
The soundtrack of the film, composed by S. Thaman, was released worldwide on 18 August 2011. Lyrics were provided by Ramajogayya Sastry, Viswa and Bhaskarbhatla.[41] The music was launched on 18 August 2011 at Shilpakala Vedika.
| Tracklist | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length | |||||
| 1. | "Nee Dookudu" | Viswa | Shankar Mahadevan | 3:49 | |||||
| 2. | "Guruvaram March Okati" | Ramajogayya Sastry | Rahul Nambiar | 4:25 | |||||
| 3. | "Chulbuli Chulbuli" | Ramajogayya Sastry | Karthik, Rita | 4:26 | |||||
| 4. | "Poovai Poovai" | Ramajogayya Sastry | Ramya N.S., Navin Madhav | 4:20 | |||||
| 5. | "Dethadi Dethadi" | Bhaskarbhatla | Ranjith, Divya | 4:11 | |||||
| 6. | "Adara Adara" | Ramajogayya Sastry | Karthik, Koti, Ramajogayya Sastry, Vardhini, Ranina Reddy, Megha | 4:21 | |||||
|
Total length:
|
25:32 | ||||||||