Major

<p>The movie starts with Sandeep Unnikrishnan entering the , which the considers a threat and orders him to retreat. When questioned by the Indian Army Officials on why he did it and that the area belongs to Pakistan, he replies “It is ours”. Young grows up with his sister, Sandhya, and his parents Unnikrishnan and Dhanalakshmi, in , . As a child, he was very curious about the world around him. When Unnikrishnan took him to see a with flying in the sky Sandeep developed an early fascination with the life of a soldier. In his later years as a student, Sandeep falls in love with his classmate, Isha. Sandeep applied to join the without telling his parents, much to the fury of Unnikrishnan. However, the Navy rejected Sandeep’s application, causing Sandeep to train at the and ultimately join the . As the years progressed, Sandeep rises ranks to become an training officer. In 2008, Sandeep is well established in his career as a training officer for the of the NSG and is married to Isha, but their marriage is in trouble. Sandeep asks for leave to try and save his marriage. On the same day as Sandeep’s leave though, Pakistani terrorists arrive in by boat and they proceed to orchestrate in the city. Desperately crowds start heading to the for safety but the terrorists also enter the hotel and start shooting at staff and guests spontaneously. The local police are called to the scene but they are ill-equipped to deal with the threat. Upon discovering the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Sandeep requests Shera to allow him to participate in the NSG mission to neutralize the terrorist threat. They leave for Mumbai and commence the military operation: , but the NSG encounters numerous obstacles and problems upon arriving at the scene. They lack surveillance cameras to discover the number of people inside the building. The terrorists have installed deadly booby traps and tripwires with bombs throughout the premises. Several hotel staff and guests end up crowded together in a locked room, all bound and gagged on the floor. To make matters worse there is an intrusive media circus swarming outside the hotel reporting the NSG’s known operations and movements, information which the terrorists use. Meanwhile, a guest named Pramoda Reddy, who is trapped on the fifth floor, manages to keep herself hidden from the gunmen. She ultimately takes responsibility to rescue a British tourist’s young daughter, named Shirley. Sandeep talks to Isha over the phone. She is applying for divorce and scolds Sandeep for not being there with her when she had a , but she is horrified when she discovers that Sandeep is at the Taj Hotel. As the NSG rescue more hostages (several of whom remain tied up inside a locked banquet hall) and starts closing in on the remaining terrorists, Pramoda calls the downstairs lobby using a from one of the dead security guards. Sandeep ultimately decides to go to the 5th floor to save them, saying that he would never be able to forgive himself if he did not save her. His colleagues subsequently use and Sandeep races up to the 5th floor. He ultimately rescues Pramoda and Shirley and heroically kills almost all of the terrorists single-handedly but is shot and stabbed multiple times in the process. However, when his CO asks him whether he needs reinforcement or not, he refuses. His last words are “Do not come up, I will handle them.” But as fate would have it, he finally dies from his wounds, all alone, laying down his life for his country. Major Sandeep’s parents watch in horror as the shows that Sandeep was killed in action. They had thought that since Sandeep was a training officer he was not involved in the rescue mission at the Taj Hotel. After his death, there is a large and a crowd of well-wishers gather to mourn Sandeep’s passing. Isha is devastated at Sandeep’s death and discovers that he never signed the divorce papers. Later, a 10-year commemoration ceremony in 2018 honoring the lives taken during the attack is held at the Taj Hotel. During the commemorations, Pramoda is reunited with Shirley whose life she had saved. Mr. Unnikrishnan gives an impassioned speech in which he says that Sandeep should be remembered not for how he died, but for how he lived. As Unnikrishnan recalls during his speech, a flashback shows the continuation of the beginning of the movie. It is shown that Sandeep was playing cricket with the children from PoK, and when he was called back, he waves goodbye and promises the children that he would come to play another time. has registered two titles, and with the producers’ association, in their endeavour to make a biopic on his life. The studio entered talks with the family of Major Sandeep in January 2019 to get the rights with an aim to pay tribute to the soldier’s life. The film was announced in February 2019, with Adivi Sesh in the lead role. The film is produced by actor under his studio , in collaboration with Sony Pictures International Productions and A+S Movies. is in and languages. Despite consisting of a predominantly Telugu cast and crew, director Sashi Kiran Tikka said that they opted to shoot the film in Hindi as well since the film is set in where Hindi is the dominant language. began in February 2020. But the filming was put on hold in March 2020 due to the . By September 2020, more than 50% of the film had been shot, and further shooting is planned to take place in in October 2020. Sobhita Dhulipala filming completed her portions in November 2020. In August 2021, Sesh began filming the final schedule of the film. In December 2021, the shooting of the film was completed and the post-production work began with Sesh dubbing for the Hindi version. was shot in 120 days and was filmed in over 75 locations. The and of the film is composed by . The music rights were acquired by the . The first single titled “Hrudyama” was released on 6 January 2022. The second single titled “Oh Isha” was released on 18 May 2022. had starting from 24 May 2022 with special pre-release screenings in selected cities across India including , , , , , , , , , and . was theatrically released worldwide on 3 June 2022 in , , and languages. Earlier, it was supposed to release on 2 July 2021 but was deferred to the . Later, the release was rescheduled for 11 February 2022, but the release date was postponed due to uncertainty prevailing about the reopening of cinemas due to the spread. Later in February 2022, the film was rescheduled to release on 27 May 2022 before being pushed back to 3 June. has undergone pre-release theatrical business of 15 excluding the . The rights were acquired by in all languages and the film was digitally streamed on Netflix from 3 July 2022. and the satellite rights of the Hindi and Telugu version were sold to and respectively. received positive reviews from critics. On the website , 75% of 8 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10. Neeshita Nyayapati of rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote: “Major might be an action drama for the most part where guns and bombs become the norm after a certain run-time, but the film does a good job of opting for a personal tone instead of a jingoistic one.” Swati Chopra of rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, “Adivi essays the role of a Major almost effortlessly. The screenplay and direction work for the film. This action-drama is not preachy, and the film does not lead with a patriotic tone.” A critic for rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, “Major movie is a fitting tribute to Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan. It’s a classic film version of a story that deserves to be told!” Manoj Kumar R of rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, “Major is far from being perfect. Nevertheless, it’s an effective homage to the hero of 26/11.” Leslie Felperin of rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, “A hero of the 2008 Mumbai hotel siege gets a relentlessly entertaining biopic, going all-out with the hagiographic bells and whistles.” Arvind V of rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, “Major’ works because it is inspired by the life of a real hero. It’s a masterstroke at one level.” Mayank Shekhar of rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, “It recreates 26/11 with just enough creative liberties to remain believable still. It moves you, with a fine measure of empathy and patriotism.” Shubham Kulkarni of rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, “With some flaws, you can give Major a chance for its gripping second half.” Sukanya Verma (Suku) of rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, “Major is in a perennial state of exaggeration. The sighs, the misty eyes, the mushy speeches, its details are invested in highlighting all things in-your-face.” grossed crore gross worldwide. The film amassed a distributor share of 33.35 crore and emerged a blockbuster at the . On its opening day, grossed with a distributor’s share of crore. According to trade analyst , the film made a net collection of crore domestically from the Hindi version in its first weekend. As of 10 June 2022 the film grossed (US$6.0 million). After 13 days of its release, the film grossed worldwide as reported by .</p>