Gopala Gopala

<p>Kanneganti Gopala Rao, an and successful businessman, lives with his deeply religious wife Meenakshi and their school-aged son Moksha. He owns a store that sells the idols of Gods and has prospered in his business. Gopala Rao disrupts a dangerous ritual organized by the fraudulent Siddheswar Maharaj, prompting a furious Maharaj to threaten him with dire consequences. His life takes a turn when an earthquake destroys his shop, which was and laden with loans. The insurance company denies his claim, citing the disaster as an ” ,” leaving Gopala Rao in dire financial straits. He attempts to sell the land where his shop was located, but the property is deemed “impure” due to the shattered idols. In a bid for justice, Gopala Rao decides to sue God, a move that shocks his wife and is met with skepticism from legal professionals. He eventually secures the help of Akbar Khan, a disabled lawyer, who agrees to assist him under the provision of the Indian Constitution that allows self-representation if no lawyer is available. Gopala Rao’s lawsuit garners attention, and he names self-styled Godmen — Leelaladhara Swamy, Siddheswar Maharaj and Gopika Matha — as representatives of God in the case. During the legal proceedings, Gopala Rao faces threats and physical attacks from supporters of Leeladhara Swamy. in the disguise of a common man named Govinda Gopala Hari rescues Gopala Rao and drops him home. Gopala Rao learns that a few fundamentalists threw stones at his residence, causing his father-in-law to take Meenakshi and Moksha away with him. Hari helps Gopala Rao by purchasing his mortgaged house and provides him with financial support until the case is resolved. Gopala Rao’s public appearance on television criticizing fraudulent Godmen and superstitions boosts his popularity. Hundreds of people, denied insurance due to Act of God provisions, join Gopala Rao, leading him to send legal notices to and priests, who appear at court along with Leeladhara Swamy and others. They demand ₹500 crore in compensation, causing stress for the insurance company. As the court case progresses, Shankar Narayana demands proof that God was responsible for the shop’s destruction. The judge grants Gopala Rao seven days to provide evidence. Hari advises Gopala Rao to study , and , from which Gopala Rao derives the notion that God has the power to create and destroy for reasons beyond human understanding. Before Gopala Rao can present his arguments, he is stabbed by a follower of Leeladhara Swamy and slips into a . His family, now supportive of his cause, prays for his recovery. After a month, Leeladhara Swamy arranges for him to die with the help of doctors, but Hari intervenes, revealing himself as in his and explaining that the destruction of Gopala Rao’s shop was a divine act intended to challenge false beliefs and promote true understanding of God. Awakening from his coma, Gopala Rao learns he has won the case, with compensation awarded to all affected. Despite this, Leeladhara Swamy and others propagate the belief that Gopala Rao is a divine messenger. Leeladhara Swamy says that Gopala Rao, in his dreams claimed that he would die on like . Gopala Rao and Hari leave the hospital to confront the public, who are influenced by Leeladhara Swamy and others to build a temple for Gopala Rao. Gopala Rao shatters his own idol, which the people had been praying to, and commands them not to believe in the fraudulent Godmen, whose aim is to exploit people’s beliefs. He urges the people to trust in the God within each individual and to help one another in order to truly honor God. The outraged public turns against the Godmen and attempts to attack them, but Gopala Rao intervenes to stop them. Hari then ascends into the sky, and Gopala Rao discovers a keychain that belongs to him. When he tries to keep it, Hari’s voice from the sky instructs him to throw it away, warning that it would lead him to believe in objects as Gods rather than in people. Gopala Rao throws the keychain toward the sky, where it vanishes, and he reconciles with his wife, son, and family. In early April 2013, the informed the media that they were in the final stages of acquiring the remake rights of (2012) and that work on the script would begin afterwards. It was also said that would play the role of Krishna in this film, originally played by , and that the official confirmation of the film would come within a week. itself was an adaptation of the play . acquired the remake rights in mid November 2013 and was confirmed to be a part of the film’s principal cast. Kishore Kumar Pardasani was selected to direct the film. After much speculation, Suresh Babu confirmed to the media in mid-February 2014 that would play the role of Krishna and Sharrath Marar would be co-producing the film with North Star Entertainment. After considering the titles and , the latter was finalised just before its formal launch on 9 June 2014 at . was confirmed to replace as the music director. was selected to handle the cinematography, despite reports stating that would be doing the job. and were initially reported to reprise the roles of and from the original. Venkatesh was later confirmed as playing the role played by Paresh Rawal and was approached for the role of Krishna. was engaged for the same part later on. Venkatesh personally researched and purchased his outfits., incorporating a number of differently-coloured short into his costume. He ended up with more than 40 changes onscreen. Kalyan underwent a special diet and exercise to lose weight for the role in the film. Kishore Kumar said that Kalyan would be seen for 25 minutes, as in the original, but this was later extended to 45 minutes. Kalyan was slightly overweight before signing the film and followed a crash diet comprising milk and fruit, avoiding carbohydrates and oily foods. Reports stated that he would use a in the film. Later his team met Akshay Warde, who had designed a special Vardenchi motorcycle for Akshay Kumar in the original. Warde completed designing a new motorcycle within a month, albeit without a support team like he had had when making the original film. After considering , , and for the female lead, was finalised for the role in early May 2014 after Nayanthara walked out of the project citing scheduling and payment issues. She called her role a “beautifully etched” and an “inspiring” one. Saran added that the relationship between her and Venkatesh in the film would encapsulate the central debate of the existence of God. was signed to repeat his role from the original in early June 2014, thereby making his Telugu debut. , , , and were selected to play other important roles in the film. was selected to play the role of a journalist. It was originally unclear whose role she was remaking from the original when she was engaged on the film. Diksha Panth was selected to play the role that Poonam Jhawer performed in the original. made a . In early May 2014, the film’s co-producer Sharrath Marar, in an interview with , said that the regular shooting was planned to begin on 19 May 2014 after Pawan Kalyan was relieved from his political duties, also saying that the makers were aiming for a September 2014 release. However, it emerged that the film would be officially launched on 2 June 2014 and shooting would be done in a specially erected set in Hyderabad. eventually commenced a week later on 9 June 2014 at at in Hyderabad. Venkatesh joined the shoot in the same day. Pawan Kalyan allotted 25 days for the shooting of his scenes in the film. The film’s second schedule started on 18 July 2014 at Hyderabad after a brief break while Venkatesh was promoting his film . Pawan Kalyan was reported as joining the shoot on 23 July 2014 and a special sequence in which he would be seen driving his personal motorcycle was planned to be shot. His part in the film’s dialogue was expected to be completed. However, Kalyan joined the sets two days in advance and scenes featuring him and Venkatesh were shot. The film’s shoot continued in the outskirts of Hyderabad where scenes with Venkatesh. Kalyan and Shriya Saran were shot. The film’s shoot continued in late August 2014 at Nanakramguda. The exteriors of in were used to shoot a court scene. Producer Daggubati Suresh Babu said that the college had a look which suited the scene. Filming went ahead in . Kalyan shot his introductory song in late September 2014. The filming was almost complete and in the middle of October 2014, the film’s climax was shot in the outskirts of Hyderabad. An additional song with Venkatesh and Kalyan was also planned. At the end of October 2014, earthquake scenes were shot with Venkatesh and others at Ramoji Film City. Filming then continued in Nanakramguda. By then, three-quarters of the film’s shoot was complete and Kalyan was reported as having completed shooting for his part during the subsequent weeks. Shooting for two songs and graphics work remained to be completed. By mid-November 2014, the film’s shoot neared completion. Venkatesh and Shriya joined the film’s sets in where a song and a few more scenes were shot. On completion, the production team revealed that the schedule was shot in the city to boost morale at Ramanaidu Studios and also demonstrate to the Bengali and Oriya film industries that shoots could be carried out smoothly even after the destruction of the city by . The film continued to be shot near in early December 2014, with Venkatesh and other actors taking part. A song with Venkatesh and Kalyan was shot in the outskirts of Hyderabad around the end of December. The final schedule began the next day and Kalyan’s crucial scenes were planned. The film is an official remake of the 2012 Hindi film directed by which tells the story of an atheist who sues God for causing an earthquake in which he loses his shop. The film focuses mostly on exploiting people’s faith in the name of business and money-making. Daggubati Venkatesh said in an interview to that this film would focus on the tensions between Indian rituals and spirituality. In the film, the deity involved, Krishna, teaches the atheist protagonist to use the principles of the , and to win his case. A song introducing the atheist’s character, his family and his views on rituals was added in which was not a part of the original. Several new scenes were included in the Telugu version, including two songs. The film also deals with the issue of fake godmen. Daggubati Venkatesh said in an interview with Suresh Kavirayani of the “We all know about these people. Media also publishes stories about them all the time. We wanted to create some awareness among the people, so we touched on the theme of fake godmen. But there are genuine people too, who give wonderful messages and enlighten people with their preaching”. The lyrics of the song question the superstitions people believe in. Dialogues written for and uttered by Kalyan’s character in the film were linked to the politics of . Comments such as “Nenu time ki raavadam kaadu tammudu, nenu vachake time avutondi” (“I don’t come on time; time starts when I come”) and “Samardhulu intlo undipothe asamardhulu rajyamelutaru” (“The incompetent will rule if the competent stay at home”) appeared to refer to the change in government and Kalyan’s own entry into politics. was signed in on to compose the film’s soundtrack and score in June 2014. Before the official launch of the film, Rubens completed composing a song and was said by the makers to complete composing all the songs in a week’s time from the launch. The soundtrack consisted of 4 songs whose lyrics were penned by , and . acquired the soundtrack’s marketing rights in mid-August 2014. The soundtrack was released on 25 December 2014, and achieved high chart rankings. The film was planned for release in either September or October 2014, but a January 2015 release was announced in July 2014. acquired the film’s television broadcast rights in early December 2014. Suresh Babu sold the rights for an amount of (US$2.4 million) as a three film package including and , both co-produced by him. The release date was confirmed as 9 January 2015. United States theatrical rights were acquired by BlueSky Cinemas Inc. The release date was postponed to 10 January 2015. Because of the demand for the film’s tickets, 20 more theatres were added to the original list. The film was released in 1400 screens (1200 theatres) worldwide; 1100 theatres in India, out of which 850 theatres were in the AP/Nizam region, more than 100 theatres in United States and 50 theatres in the rest of the world. A charity performance was held at Shiva Parvathi theatre in Kukatpally, Hyderabad on 10 January 2015 at 2:30 AM. Photos featuring fans celebrating the film’s release were widely circulated on Twitter. The film’s poster was unveiled on 28 November 2014, designed by Anil and Bhanu of AB Core Design. It began trending on social networking sites within few hours and became a worldwide trending topic. Anoop Rubens received acclaim for his background score in the poster. Another poster featuring Kalyan and Venkatesh on a motorcycle was unveiled on 16 December 2014. The theatrical trailer was unveiled on 4 December 2014 at the audio launch event. It began trending instantly on and within two days, it reached the first position in India’s Top Trending videos on YouTube displacing from first place with a view count of nearly 0.5 million. Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi submitted an appeal to the regional director of Central Board of Film Certification on 31 December 2014 claiming that the film had objectionable scenes which hurt the religious sentiments of Hindu people. In a statement to IANS, they said that they had sought action before the release of the movie as any protest later would be futile. In an interview with Suhas Yellapuntala of Venkatesh said “It’s natural for certain people to react and they are free to express their views but once they see the film they won’t look at it that way. In case, there are any unfortunate incidents, we will convince them and it’ll be fine. Because whatever the scriptures tell, that’s what I tell in the film”. Raghunadha Rao filed a similar case against the film at Saifabad police station on 10 January 2015. Telangana lawyers lodged a complaint with the law minister A. Indrakaran Reddy on 16 January 2015 and requested him to take immediate steps to delete objectionable scenes from the film. The division bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P. V. Sanjay Kumar of the Hyderabad High Court pointed out that it could not grant any order without making the producer and director of the film a party to the case. Raghunadha Rao then was permitted to file a fresh petition seeking a ban on the screening of the film. The film received positive reviews from critics as well as audience according to . Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of wrote, “To a large extent, stays true to the essence of and it’s heart-warming to see a Telugu film backed by big stars taking up the idea of spirituality versus superstitious beliefs”. Veena N. of rated the film 4 out of 5 and stated “Even though its a remake movie, is a must watch as it is a hilarious entertainer. Watch it for Power Star and Venkatesh”. Karthik Keramalu of rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote, “Like the recently-released Hindi film , too challenges blind faith. Watching the two actors light up the screen, who, for many years have starred in successful remakes, is a nostalgic tribute. Pawan Kalyan with a charming smile confesses that dharma supports rightfulness; however, in no manner, does it mean to curb the will to criticize religion and its beliefs”. Hemanth Kumar of rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote ” begins as a story about an atheist, who seems to offend a lot of people around him, and in the end, the film drives home the point that when you help others, it is as good as worshiping God himself. And in doing so, the film churns out plenty of thought provoking questions which force you to look for answers within yourself and this is perhaps the film’s biggest achievement. The entire film turns out to be quite a gratifying experience if you play close attention to the dialogues and conversations between the lead characters, played by Venkatesh and Pawan Kalyan”. Suresh Kavirayani of the rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote “In the second half, the film drags a bit, especially the swamijis’ scenes. The climax is also a bit boring. But, if you haven’t seen the original Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar starrer , then you must watch . Pawan Kalyan fans will love the film and it’s a treat for them with two big stars sharing screen space”. In contrast, rated the film 2.5 out of 5 and wrote, “It would’ve been nice if the core plot was retained and changes were made to the film and its characters. But you can’t watch with such expectations because it successfully reproduces scenes and characters from the original as though remaking is misunderstood as copying frame-to-frame. One way it’s commendable that the makers didn’t try to make many changes since the remake features popular stars such as Daggubati and Pawan, who usually play to the gallery. But all this has been done at the cost of creativity and that’s what makes the remake less exciting, if not boring.” The film earned a share of around 9.19 crore on the opening day and emerged as the fourth highest opener of all time in the AP/Nizam areas. It stood in the fourth spot in the list of top ten opening day shares at the AP/Nizam box office behind (2013), (2014) and (2013). The film collected $0.6 million in two days at USA box office and was expected to cross the $1 million mark soon. The film collected a share of 4 crore on its second day, taking its two-day AP/Nizam box office total to 13.5 crore. With the inclusion of takings from Karnataka, Rest of India and overseas markets, the two-day worldwide box office collection was valued at 19.5 crore. The film’s trade witnessed a huge drop on its third day by collecting nearly 2 crore at AP/Nizam Box office. But it topped the weekend box office followed by and . It also stood in the top spot at Chennai box office followed by and . The film also took good openings in the United States where it collected 4.37 crore in the weekend of 9–11 January 2015. The film collected 17 crore in the first five days at AP/Nizam box office and 26.5 crore at the worldwide box office. With this, it surpassed the opening weekend figures of at AP/Nizam box office, but failed to surpass its worldwide three-day collections. The film collected a worldwide share of 29.85 crore in six days surpassing the first week collections of (2013) and (2013). The six-day AP/Nizam area share was 23.08 crore with which it surpassed the first week AP/Nizam share of (2012). According to , the film collected huge shares and headed towards record collections overseas, expected to cross 30 crore mark. The film collected a share of 26.15 crore at AP/Nizam box office and nearly a share of 33 crore at the worldwide box office in seven days and surpassed the first week collection of (2013) at AP/Nizam box office and , (2012) at the worldwide box office. The film collected a gross of 59 crore and a share of 37.9 crore in nine days at the worldwide box office thus surpassing the lifetime collections of (2006) and took the 18th spot in the list of all-time top 25 Telugu films with highest worldwide share. The film also created a new record in Mandapeta in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh by collecting 0.208 crore in nine days, breaking the record set by (2009) in its lifetime run. The film witnessed a drop in its collections at AP/Nizam box office and earned around 31 crore share in ten days. However the film crossed 40 crore mark at the worldwide box office overtaking the totals of and , the Telugu dubbed version of (2010). Due to stiff competition from , and the film collected a gross of 88.1 crore and a distributor share of 41.1 crore at the worldwide box office during its lifetime run. The film passed the 50 crore gross mark (₹51.15 crore) and collected 33.5 crore share in its lifetime at the AP/Nizam box office alone.</p>