Guntur Kaaram

<p>In 1998, in , brothers Dokka Marx Babu and Lenin Babu, notorious hooligans, burn down Bhogineni Satyam’s mirchi factory. During the chaos, Satyam’s brother-in-law, Rangam, accidentally kills Lenin, leading Satyam to take the blame and get imprisoned for 12 years. Satyam’s son, Ramana, loses partial vision in his left eye due to the explosion. Following this, Satyam’s wife, Vasundhara, leaves him and moves back to , eventually marrying her cousin, Narayana. In 2023, Vasundhara becomes the Minister of Law under her father, Vyra Venkata Swamy’s political party. However, her past and her son Ramana become a liability when Kata Madhu, a rival politician, threatens to expose Ramana’s identity. Venkata Swamy pressures Ramana into signing a legal document to sever ties with Vasundhara in exchange for money, but Ramana refuses unless he can meet his mother. Tensions rise as Venkata Swamy’s lawyer, Paani, and assistant Balu try to coerce Ramana into submission. To force Ramana’s hand, Venkata Swamy orders a false accusing Ramana of destroying property and assaulting guards. Despite Balu’s empathy and efforts to help Ramana get bail, the situation escalates, culminating in Ramana confronting Venkata Swamy. Ramana’s confrontation with his mother, Vasundhara, leads to a slap that compels him to sign the document. Kata Madhu, seizing the opportunity, exposes Ramana’s identity to the media, revealing his lineage with Vasundhara. Venkata Swamy’s attempts to arrest Ramana fail, and Satyam, from prison, unveils painful truths about Vasundhara’s past decisions, including her role in the trial that led to Satyam’s wrongful conviction. Ramana, devastated by the revelation, is later kidnapped by the blind contract killer “Gelatin” Babji, who reveals that Venkata Swamy and Narayana had plotted to have Ramana killed. Elsewhere, Vasundhara is struck by a lorry and is hospitalised. Ramana rushes to see her; Venkata Swamy reveals to him that Hari Das, a rowdy, and Kata Madhu planned to murder Vasundhara under the guise of the accident. He convinces Ramana to kill them to prove that he is Vasundhara’s son. In the process, he also reveals to Paani that he orchestrated the attack on Satyam’s factory in 1998 to bring his daughter back, as he lost the elections then due to Vasundhara marrying Satyam, who was from another caste. When Ramana goes to confront Hari Das, he reveals that he never planned the murder with Kata, but his vengeance is towards Venkata Swamy, with whom he set up a business 25 years ago and was eventually backstabbed by him. As the story unfolds, it’s revealed that Narayana and Venkata Swamy orchestrated the supposed accident on Vasundhara to further their political ambitions. In the final confrontation, at an event to make Raja Gopal, Vasundhara’s son with Narayana, an , Narayana reveals to Venkata Swamy that Gopal is not their biological son but was merely adopted by Vasundhara to fool her father so that Ramana can be saved from harm. Even though they are married, they never consummated and slept separately in their bedroom. Ramana learns of a larger conspiracy involving his mother’s sacrifice and his grandfather’s manipulation. He becomes enraged at his grandfather, but Vasundhara stops him and they both go back to Guntur, where she reunites with Satyam and Bujji. In early April 2021, it was reported that , who had successful collaborations with both and after working with the former in (2005) and (2010); the latter in (2018) and (2020), would collaborate with both Babu and Hegde for his next directorial before his venture with . He reportedly had narrated the script before the final script works which impressed the actor and actress and made them agree to work on the venture, in their third respective collaboration with the director. On 1 May, the collaboration of Babu and Trivikram was officially announced, under the . Production was set to begin in November 2021 as Babu reportedly finished filming by then for (2022). Trivikram repeated his norm technicians from and : cinematographer , editor , music composer , and art director , were finalised as the technical crew. The film was bankrolled by , under Haarika & Hassine Creations. A ceremony was held on 3 February 2022 at in Hyderabad with the film’s cast and crew. The film was initially promoted as an action thriller. However, after the completion of the first schedule, reports surfaced about conflicts among crew members and the cast. Subsequently, the production of the film was paused, and the script was reworked. After several months of delay, Trivikram presented a new modified script that transformed the film into a family entertainer, departing from the original narrative as an action thriller. The sequences filmed during the first schedule, including fight sequences choreographed by , were intended to be discarded. The shooting recommenced with action sequences as per the modifications done to the script. was initially cast as the lead actress, paired opposite Babu for the second time after (2019) as well as in her third collaboration with director, however due to her schedule conflicts, she opted out from the venture and was subsequently replaced by . The latter was initially signed on to play the second actress role before Hegde opted out, however after that, Sreeleela took over the lead actress role and the second role was replaced by . In February 2023, was selected to play a key role in the film. In March, joined the cast to play Mahesh Babu’s grandfather in the film. Later joined the cast. In April, was reported to play “a very endearing yet scary” character. commenced on 12 September 2022 with an action sequence in , Hyderabad. The first schedule, involving high-octane stunts choreographed by duo, was later completed in the same month. However it was later confirmed by the producers that the fight was scrapped. The second schedule was planned to commence after festivities in with Hegde joining the sets. The shooting was then halted with Trivikram making modifications to the script and converted the into a “family entertainer”. The second schedule started on 18 January 2023 in , Hyderabad. Hegde joined the sets with filming taking place in Hyderabad. In February, team constructed a house set spending 10 crore at , in Hyderabad. In March, Jayaram joined the sets. The second schedule was wrapped on 6 April. After shooting more than 50% of the film, the cinematographer of the film, P. S. Vinod, left, owing to creative differences. Following this development, was announced as his replacement for the film. The third schedule began on 24 June. Principal photography on 28 December 2023. composed the and for the film, in his fifth collaboration with Babu after (2011), (2012), (2014), and (2022); third collaboration with Trivikram after (2018) and (2020). was released worldwide in theatres on 12 January 2024. Originally intended for a theatrical release on 28 April 2023, the film’s launch was first deferred to 11 August 2023, and then to 13 January 2024, coinciding with . Eventually, the release date was advanced to 12 January 2024. On 31 May 2023, first glimpse was released, on the occasion of Babu’s father ‘s 80th birth anniversary, which was attached with re-release in theatres. The film’s official trailer was released on 7 January 2024. The film digital distribution rights were acquired by and premiered from 9 February 2024 in , , , and . The film received generally negative reviews from critics criticising its direction, screenplay, plot, background score and soundtrack, but Babu’s performance was praised. Anandu Suresh of gave 2/5 stars and wrote “Mahesh Babu, in top-notch form, is the sole redeeming factor in Trivikram’s unnecessarily prolonged film, preventing it from becoming a tedious watch.” BVS Prakash from gave 2/5 stars and wrote “director Trivikram Srinvas fails to come up with a solid script to justify the larger-than-life image of Mahesh Babu.” Abhilasha Cherukuri of gave 2/5 stars and wrote “the film was a two-and-half hour-long advertisement for the Vijayawada-Hyderabad expressway. Not to mention additional brand placements for Greater Hyderabad’s outer ring road. Outside of an expansive B-roll displaying well-maintained roads in not one but two Telugu states, the rest of Guntur Kaaram is mere filler.” Neeshita Nyayapati of called it a “bland film” and wrote “Guntur Kaaram feels like a wasted opportunity. The film could’ve either been a tearjerker or a commercial masala film, but the way it is now, it just hangs in an unsatisfactory limbo. And that’s a shame because Mahesh gives the film his all. If only Trivikram could break out of the box he seems to have created for himself.” Reviewing the film, Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of wrote “Director Trivikram Srinivas and Mahesh Babu’s ‘Guntur Kaaram’ is a stale rehash of old stories”. collected a gross of (US$17 million) in India and crore worldwide on its opening day. It’s estimated total end worldwide gross is crore against a production budget of (US$24 million), becoming a .</p>