Bheemla Nayak

<p>Daniel “Danny” Shekhar, an ex- , and his driver cross the state border from to on a night. The police at the check post stop them for carrying liquor beyond the permissible quota but a drunken Danny, who is furious that his sleep is disturbed, beats them up. Bheemla Nayak arrives and hits Danny, explaining his offense. Danny refuses by saying that his destination was in Telangana but Nayak arrests him nonetheless since Danny has physically crossed the border, entered Andhra. A constable humiliates Danny by removing his , which further aggravates his anger. The police file an but after going through his phone contacts, they are shocked to know that Danny is the son of an influential politician and is connected to politically powerful men. Nayak informs the same to Kodanda Ram who asks him to treat Danny with respect. Nayak tries to reconcile with Danny but he refuses to budge. Nayak threatens him with a gun and they sit together. Danny then annoys Nayak for a drink. With no option left, Nayak opens a bottle from the seized liquor and serves, which Danny secretly films on his phone. The following day, Danny is taken to court where he is sentenced to 14-day . Danny’s lawyer bails out him, subject to his biweekly appearance at the police station. In an act of vengeance, Danny releases the recorded video to the press. Nayak is arrested with an order to investigate his actions. Danny challenges Nayak in front of the police station. The villagers, who are staunch supporters of Nayak, try to attack Danny but Nayak stops them by saying their fight is personal. A local owner, Nagaraju, with a grudge against Nayak, joins hands with Danny. A senior politician arranges a truce between them, where Danny would delay sending the evidence to , and his mandatory appearance for two weeks would be waived. However, on the insistence of his father Jeevan Kumar, Danny sends the evidence anyway and Nayak is suspended. The following day, Nayak blows up Nagaraju’s bar with explosives. Danny meets Nayak en route in a bus and tries to assert his dominance by saying that he made Nayak lose his job. Nayak replies that even if the battle is lost, he’d return to win the war. The police seize Danny’s vehicle and arrest the driver in retaliation. Meanwhile, Jeevan meets the SP and submits the evidence that Nayak’s wife Suguna has indulged in smuggling by illegally buying forest goods from tribals which results in her arrest warrant. Knowing this, Nayak and Suguna, move along with their baby to a remote place in the forest. Jeevan’s men, who track their location and steal Suguna’s phone, threaten Nayak for her life. Furious Nayak attacks Jeevan’s men in a lodge. Danny is unaware of his father’s actions and asks Nayak to stop beating them. But Nayak blows up Danny’s vehicle and they engage in a fight. The police arrive and stop them. Kodanda Ram tells Danny that Nayak is revered by the locals as an equivalent of the village deity , hence it’s not wise to have a tussle with him. Danny learns that 15 years ago, Nayak killed a ruthless contractor who preyed on tribal girls in order to save them and was seen by the people as their protecting saviour. Danny asks Jeevan whether they should compromise, but he refuses. On Jeevan’s demand, the SP goes to their place and arrests Suguna, angering Nayak. He goes and meets Jeevan at his home and forces him to call Danny at gunpoint. Danny, who has Nayak’s baby in custody, asks him to meet at Erra Thanda, a place outside the police jurisdiction of both the states for a final duel. They fight intensively and just as Nayak is about to use his signature technique of removing an arm, Danny’s wife arrives and pleads for mercy. Nayak recognizes her as one of the tribal girls he saved long ago and allows them to leave. They willingly withdraw the cases on each other. Nayak, who is transferred to Telangana, arrives at Danny’s home. They re-introduce each other and shake hands. In June 2020, bought the Telugu remake rights of the 2020 . Saagar K Chandra who earlier directed (2016) was signed to helm the project. Several actors including , , and were approached for the lead role. In October 2020, the film was officially announced with as one of the leads, in the role of a police officer originally played by . In December, Rana was confirmed the other lead, playing the role of from the original. Rana later revealed that he was on board for the project before Kalyan signed in. He compared his character Daniel Shekar with his earlier role Arjun Prasad from his debut film (2010) While both are aspiring politicians, he said that Daniel was “an entitled guy who played dirty.” The filming was officially launched with a ceremony in . The film used a working title “Production No.12” and was colloquially referred as . The official title was unveiled on 15 August 2021. Writer-director was hired for the film’s screenplay and dialogues. was signed to compose the music with cinematography by , editing by and production design handled by AS Prakash. In July 2021, Murella opted out of the project and cinematographer joined the film as the replacement. was approached to play opposite Kalyan as Suguna, while was cast to be a pair with Rana. In March 2021, reports emerged that Pallavi may not join the project but director refuted them by stating that she would join the production in April. However, Pallavi eventually opted out due to scheduling conflicts. In July, was cast in place of Pallavi while is signed to play a pivotal role. In September, Aishwarya left the project due to scheduling conflicts. was confirmed to replace her in October. In December 2021, confirmed through an interview that he was playing a role in the film. Principal photography of the film began in January 2021. A 25-day schedule took place at an aluminium factory in Hyderabad. In March, action scenes featuring Pawan Kalyan and Rana were shot under the choreography of . The second schedule of film began in April. Later, the shoot was halted due to the second wave of in India. 30% of the shoot is completed by June 2021, and a special set was constructed in Hyderabad for the next schedule. Filming resumed in July 2021. A new schedule began in December 2021, filming took place at Madanpalle Yellamma Temple in . Final sequences, including a promotional song featuring Kalyan were shot in February 2022. The shoot was wrapped up on 17 February 2022, a week ahead of its scheduled release. The film’s soundtrack is composed by in his second collaboration with after . The audio rights were acquired by label for a sum of (US$600,000). was released on 25 February 2022 one day later after the release of starring and . Earlier in July 2021, it was announced that the film would release on 12 January 2022, coinciding with the festival of . However, in December 2021, it was postponed to 25 February 2022 after requests by producers , Vamsi, and as their films and were scheduled to release at the same time. Later in January 2022, the makers announced their intention to release the film either on 25 February or 1 April, whichever datewas conducive for a theatrical release due to the prevailing COVID situation. In mid-February, the makers confirmed that the fil would be released theatrically on 25 February 2022. The film’s global theatrical rights were sold for 102.5 , including the rights of which were pegged at 84.3 crore. Surprising many, the film did little to no on ground marketing to promote the film, barring the pre release event. The audience showed up in theatres mainly on the basis of the star pull of Pawan Kalyan and Rana Daggubati, and promotional content released online, like the trailer and the songs. Doing no on-ground marketing in star-led films became a trend starting with this film, with Pawan Kalyan’s very next venture , and the starrer pan-India movie , employing the same strategy. The pre-release event of the film, scheduled to take place on 21 February 2022 was postponed to 23 February in the wake of death of ‘s Minister as a sign of respect. In February 2022, vandals slashed screens in movie theatres playing the film in the area. The rights of the film were acquired by and , while the satellite rights were acquired by . The film was originally scheduled to stream on and on 25 March 2022, but it ended up streaming a day earlier, on 24 March 2022. As per , grossed over 192 crore worldwide in 20 days of its theatrical run. On its opening day, the film grossed 52.1 worldwide, including 43.1 crore in the domestic territory and million from overseas. The film netted 37 in India and emerged as the best post- opener in and . reported that the lower ticket prices in Andhra coupled with stricter norms by the state government have negatively impacted the film’s collections. In its opening weekend, the film grossed crore worldwide, of which 70 crore came from India, and the rest from the overseas. The film grossed 50 crore in 6 days, with the distributor’s share standing at crore. According to trade analysts, if there was no ban of the first day early morning shows, and had the government not lowered ticket prices in , this movie would have collected much more. After 10 days of its theatrical run, the film collected a worldwide distributor’s share of ₹92.25 crore, with a gross of crore. The film became a profitable venture in the United States, grossing $2.4 million in 11 days. received mixed-to-positive reviews from the critics and audience, who praised the film for “terrific mass elements” and “intense confrontation scenes”. On the website , 60% of 5 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.5/10. Writing for , Sangeetha Devi Dundoo termed “racy, -laden adaptation,” praising the screenplay, score and cinematography. Thadhagath Pathi of also echoed the same while opining that the climax could have been fleshed out better. On performances, Pathi wrote: ” is an example of what makes Pawan Kalyan such a huge star [..]. Rana Daggubati is top notch and this film is proof of how well he can act. Nithya Menen is decent in her role but it’s Samyuktha Menon who delivers a mature performance.” Ram Venkat Srikar of wrote, “Although it is largely faithful to the central conceit of the original, is bigger, fiercer, and massier.” While saying traded “depth for whistles”, Srikar felt that this choice did “more good than harm” to the film. Haricharan Pudipeddi opined that despite not recreating the original’s magic, the remake still worked in its own ways, owing to “Kalyan’s machismo” and “Daggubati’s impressive performance.” Sankeertha Varma of felt that Trivikram not only tried to retain the essence the original but also successfully weaved mythology around his protagonists, in addition to a flashback that tied the loose ends. A reviewer called the film an “engaging experience,” and wrote: “The director has managed the extremely difficult task of engaging the audience with a simplistic, single-thread plot, through with his writing.” Janani.K of wrote that “the remake turned out to be better than original, that has been spruced up with masala and mass moments but wisely have cut short the runtime as well”. On the other hand, critic Manoj Kumar R was critical of the film for deviating much from the original, stating: “In , we get no sense of the place where the story plays out. The film is a very shallow reading of the text of .”</p>