Krishnarjuna Yudham
| Krishnarjuna Yuddham | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Merlapaka Gandhi |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by | Merlapaka Gandhi |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Hiphop Tamizha |
| Cinematography | Karthik Ghattamaneni |
| Edited by | Sathya G |
Production company |
Shine Screens |
| Distributed by | Sri Venkateswara Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 154 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
Krishnarjuna Yudham (English: War of Krishna and Arjuna) is a 2018 Telugu action comedy film, written and directed by Merlapaka Gandhi and produced by Sahu Garapati & Harish Peddi under Shine Screens banner. The film stars Nani, Anupama Parameswaran, Rukshar Dhillon in lead roles.[1][2] This is the third instance of Nani playing a dual role in a film after Janda Pai Kapiraju & Gentleman. Part of the film was shot in Prague, Czech Republic.[3] The film opened worldwide on 12 April 2018 to mixed reviews with praise directed towards Nani's acting and screenplay and criticism despite for its strong storyline. The film failed at the box office, and was Nani's first flop after 8 successful movies at the box office as it failed to compete with its current successful movies Bharat Ane Nenu & Rangasthalam.
Plot
Krishna and Arjun Jayaprakash aka Arjun (Nani) are lookalikes hailing from Akkurthi village in Chittoor and the other from Prague, respectively. While the the latter is a happy go lucky individual, the former is a rockstar and a play boy . Krishna falls in love with the village president's (Nagineedu) grand daughter Riya (Rukshar Dhillon) a doctor and Arjun loves a traditional Indian girl called Subbalakshmi (Anupama Parameswaran) who is a wild life photographer working at Hidden planet. In the village Riya falls in love with Krishna and Riya's Grandfather who comes to know about their relationship sends her back to Hyderabad forcefully. Krishna upon finding out that Riya had been sent back to Hyderabad follows her there. Meanwhile, Subbalakshmi starts to hate Arjun because of his playboy nature. In a certain incident her professional camera is damaged by Arjun's friend cum manager Brahmaji (Brahmaji) which contains a rare photograph. Arjun meanwhile realizes he really loves her and goes to her aunt's (Devadarshini) house to convince her, but she thinks it is one of his tricks to make her fall in love with him. Heartbroken Subbalakshmi leaves Prague and returns to India. Arjun too follows her back to India. Meanwhile, in Hyderabad both Riya and Subbalakshmi are kidnapped by a trafficking gang who plan on sending them off to Dubai. Upon reaching Hyderabad both Krishna and Arjun realize that neither of the girls have reached home and begin searching for them. How Krishna and Arjun try to track down the traffickers to rescue the girls forms the crux of the story.
Cast
- Nani as Krishna and Arjun
- Anupama Parameswaran as Subbalakshmi
- Rukshar Dhillon as Riya
- Ravi Awana as Bhai
- Brahmaji as Arjun's Manager
- Nagineedu as Riya's Grandfather
- Devadarshini as Subbalakshmi's Aunt
- Alapati Lakshmi as Krishna's mother
- Prabhas Sreenu as Shankar
- Hari Teja as Shankar's wife
- Vidyullekha Raman as callcenter girl
- Pooja Ramachandran as Nikki
- Chatrapathi Sekhar as Bhai's henchmen
- Mirchi Hemanth as TV journalist
- Kalpalatha as Riya's mother
- Neelya Bhavani as a doctor
- Ruhika Dass as Jessy
- Sudhakar
- Rajeshwari Pamidighantam
Soundtrack
| Krishnarjuna Yudham | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Hiphop Tamizha | ||||
| Released | 2018 | |||
| Recorded | 2018 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Hiphop Tamizha chronology | ||||
| ||||
The duo Hiphop Tamizha have composed music for the film.This is their second Telugu film after Dhruva. 'Turn This Party Up' is a peppy rock number. 'Dhaari Choodu' is a folk song which has typical Chittoor dialect.' I Wanna Fly' is a soothing melody which has two versions composed parallelly. 'Ela Ela' is a heartbreak montage love song. 'Urime Manase' is yet another breakup number. 'Thaaney Vachhindhanaa' is a slow and pleasant melody.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Wanna Fly" | Sreejo | LV Revanth, Sanjith Hegde | 3:53 |
| 2. | "Urime Manase" | Sreejo | Raghu Dixit | 4:37 |
| 3. | "Dhaari Choodu" | Penchal Das | Penchal Das | 3:12 |
| 4. | "Turn This Party Up" | Hiphop Tamizha | Hiphop Tamizha, Brodha V | 3:26 |
| 5. | "Ela Ela" | Sri Mani | Yazin Nizar | 3:45 |
| 6. | "Thaaney Vachhindhanaa" | K.K. | Kaala Bhairava, Padmalatha | 4:38 |
| Total length: | 22:15 | |||
Release
Marketing
Dil Raju acquired distribution rights for the film in the Telugu states. In its pre-release business, the film earned Rs 35 crore from its global theatrical rights, Rs 7 crore from its satellite rights sold Gemini TV, Rs 4.50 crore from its Hindi dubbing rights and Rs 50 lakh from its music and other rights.[4]
Magnus Media acquired overseas theatrical rights for Rs 3.50 crore and arranged 600 shows in the US, on its release day.
Reception
Critical response
The film received negative reviews from critics.[5] Neeshita Nyayapati, from Times of India rated the film 2.5/5 and wrote 'Walking away from the film, the only memories that one takes back happy is the vision of Nani dancing to ‘Dhaari Choodu’ with childish abandon, the humorous scenes that elevate the first half and the fact that his friend spells Riya’s name as Royya. For a film that touches the subject of human trafficking, it sure bombs at making a point.'[6]
Sangeetha Devi Dundoo from The Hindu, while praising the acting performance of Nani as Krishna and the picturization of dhaari chudu song, also wrote, 'on the whole, Krishnarjuna Yuddham doesn’t get its rhythm right. There was a time, not long ago, when Nani’s name was associated with films that stood out from the clutter. This one had the potential to be a fusion of global and local music, the way Arjun wanted it to be, but ends up a mess'.[7]
Hemanth Kumar from Firstpost rated the film 2/5 and wrote, 'there’s a notion that the film has all the necessary elements - vastly different characters, a conflict, an issue it tries to address - to make for an engaging drama, but on the other side, there’s the image of me sitting in the cinema hall not knowing what to make of the film because it struggles to find its rhythm and doesn’t build the drama efficiently'[8]
Box office
The film collected $162K from its US premiers.[9] On opening day, the film collected Rs 4.58 crores in the Telugu states. This is the fourth biggest opening for Nani, falling behind ‘MCA’, ‘Ninnu Kori’ and ‘Eega’. MCA had reportedly raked in Rs 7.57 Cr on its opening day, ‘Ninnu Kori’ Rs 4.72 Cr and ‘Eega’ Rs 4.61 Cr.[10]
References
- ↑ "Nani announces his next two projects, unveils posters of MCA, Krishnarjuna Yudham".
- ↑ "Nani's Krishnarjuna Yuddham seals its release date".
- ↑ "Nani's Krishnarjuna Yudham does extraordinary pre-release business".
- ↑ Hooli, Shekhar H. "Krishnarjuna Yudham pre-release business: Film fetches record price for theatrical, satellite rights".
- ↑ Hooli, Shekhar H. "Krishnarjuna Yuddham review roundup: Critics say Merlapaka Gandhi falters in 2nd half".
- ↑ "Krishnarjuna Yuddham Review {2.5/5}: For a film that touches the subject of human trafficking, it sure bombs at making a point".
- ↑ Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (12 April 2018). "'Krishnarjuna Yuddham' review: This fusion doesn't work" – via www.thehindu.com.
- ↑ "Krishnarjuna Yuddham movie review: Nani's charming performance can't save this over-stretched film- Entertainment News, Firstpost".
- ↑ Hooli, Shekhar H. "Krishnarjuna Yuddham US box-office collection: Nani starrer fails to beat MCA record".
- ↑ "'Krishnarjuna Yudham' box office collections day 1: Nani, Anupama Parameswaran and Rukshar Mir starrer rakes in Rs 4.58 Cr in AP and TS - Times of India".