Nani's Gang Leader (also known simply as Gang Leader) is a 2019 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film[1] written and directed by Vikram Kumar.[3] Produced by Mythri Movie Makers, the film stars Nani, Priyanka Mohan, Kartikeya, Lakshmi, Saranya Ponvannan, Shriya Kontham and Praanya P. Rao.[4] The music is composed by Anirudh Ravichander. In this film, five women seek the help of a crime novelist to avenge the death of their loved ones. The film was released on Thursday 13 September 2019, after being pushed back from previously scheduled release date of 31 August 2019. It received positive response from critics.[5] This was the last film where Mohan Cherukuri (CVM) was involved in Mythri Movie Makers and also Priyanka's first lead role and Telugu debut film.
| Nani's Gang Leader | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Vikram Kumar |
| Written by | Vikram Kumar |
| Produced by | Naveen Yerneni Yalamanchili Ravi Shankar Mohan Cherukuri (CVM) |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Miroslaw Kuba Brozek |
| Edited by | Naveen Nooli |
| Music by | Anirudh Ravichander |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 155 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Budget | ₹40 crore[2] |
| Box office | est. ₹75 crore[2] |
Plot
editSix individuals successfully complete a bank robbery worth ₹300 crore (US$36 million), following that one robber kills the rest of the five and escapes with the money. Five bereaved women related to the dead robbers - Saraswati, who lost her grandson; Varalakshmi, who lost her son; Priya, who lost her fiancé Avinash; Swati, who lost her elder brother; and Srinidhi (Chinnu), who became mute due to the shock of losing her father. They are brought together by Saraswati to avenge their loved ones. "Pencil" Parthasarathy, a small time crime novelist who rewrites the plots of American movies into local Telugu novels, is approached by the five women in hope of tracking down the culprit. Pencil initially refuses, but sensing a good and probably first original story agrees to help them. The ragtag group, who eventually name themselves as Revengers, narrow down on a main suspect: Dev.
Dev is an ambulance driver turned F1 racer, who is now the new sensation in India. Dev killed his father at a young age for the insurance to buy a sports bike. He also took up his father's job as an ambulance driver. One day, in the hospital, he joined a group of five cancer patients planning a robbery to save money for their loved ones before they die. Afterwards, he kills the five and steal the money and followed his passion of becoming a successful race driver. The Revengers orchestrate a plot to bring him to justice. They discretely follow him and finds the stashed money in the constructed building (where the five and Dev had practiced for the robbery). Dev learns that there is a gang behind him and also stole the money, He deduces Pencil's identity and also tips off the cops about the robbery and also Pencil's details in it.
Pencil successfully transfers the money before the police raid his place. However to his shock, the money was stolen by Saraswati, who reveals that her husband, who was working at a book store near the bank was killed by Dev on the night of the robbery. She convinced the gang into believing her grandson died to make her vengeance justified. The person who died is actually an orphan who decided to steal to give to an orphanage he grew up in. Then she decided to take the money from Pencil's place and donated it for developing the orphanage and tells Pencil about her decision of abandoning her vengeance, after an incident involving Chinnu. Being an orphan Pencil feels happy regarding the circumstance.
Later Pencil meets Dev at the latter's garage and fights him. He ends up killing Dev to protect his newfound family, and frames it as an accident. When he returns home, to his surprise, the gang decides to give up on the plan of Dev to bring him to justice for their revenge by believing that Dev will face his fate. Then gang then sees a news about Dev's death on TV and Chinnu finally begins to speak, thus fulfilling their revenge. Priya decides to move on from her fiancé and when she learns that Pencil killed Dev, she decides not to reveal it to anyone. Priya and Pencil get married where Pencil successfully publishes his first original novel Gang Leader based on his experiences and has dedicated it to his newfound family: His grandmother, his mother, his wife, his sister and his daughter and someone named Sravani. Director Sukumar then approaches Pencil for the rights to turn his novel into a film.
The police decide to end the investigation on the bank robbery, having no clues for the case except a dog collar with the name Sravani. It is revealed that Sravani was Pencil's pet dog, who was run over by the robber's van on the night of the robbery. Pencil has unknowingly taken his own revenge as well.
Cast
edit- Nani as "Pencil" Parthasarathy
- Kartikeya as Dev
- Priyanka Mohan as Priya
- Anish Kuruvilla as Sub Inspector
- Vennela Kishore as Santoor Senakkayala
- Priyadarshi Pulikonda as Ramakrishna
- Satya as Subramanyam, Dev's former colleague
- Naveen George Thomas as Postman
- Josh Ravi as Bulb Murthy
- Vivek Kumar as RTO Officer
- Getup Srinu as Manikyam
- Sukumar as himself (cameo appearance)
- Anirudh Ravichander as himself in the end credit song "Gang-u Leader"
Music
edit| Gang Leader | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 2019 | |||
| Recorded | 2019 | |||
| Studio | Albuquerque Records, Chennai | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Language | Telugu | |||
| Label | Sony Music | |||
| Producer | Anirudh Ravichander | |||
| Anirudh Ravichander chronology | ||||
| ||||
The soundtrack of the film is composed by Anirudh Ravichander and lyrics by Anantha Sriram and Inno Genga. The promotional song of Gang Leader title track is reused in Dharala Prabhu.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ra Ra (Roar of the Revengers)" | Anantha Sriram | Prudhvi Chandra, BasherMax | 04:05 |
| 2. | "Hoyna Hoyna" | Anantha Sriram, Inno Genga | Inno Genga | 04:52 |
| 3. | "Ninnu Chuse Anandamlo" | Anantha Sriram | Sid Sriram | 05:33 |
| 4. | "Seeti Kottaloi (Promotional Song )" | Anantha Sriram | Anirudh Ravichander | 03:28 |
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Katharaayadam Reprise" | Anirudh Ravichandar | 03:02 |
Release
editThe film was released on 13 September 2019, after being pushed back from previously scheduled release date of 30 August 2019.[5]
Reception
editCritical reception
editThe Times of India gave 3 out of 5 stars stating "Nani's Gang Leader tries to tick all the boxes but comes across as a half-hearted attempt, They succeed — but only in parts".[6]
Behindwoods gave 3 out of 5 stars stating "Gang Leader is an inventive, wildly entertaining comedy with a great ensemble performance.".[7]
The Indian Express gave 2.5 out of 5 stars stating "Gang Leader has its moments, thanks to Nani's effortless presence. He keeps the scenes lively and bright. It is not a bad film but that doesn't mean it is outstanding either".[8]
References
edit- ^ a b "GANG LEADER". British Board of Film Classification.
- ^ a b "2019లో భారీ వసూళ్లు రాబట్టిన సినిమాలివే." Sakshi (in Telugu). 31 December 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
- ^ "Nani's Gang Leader with Vikram K Kumar has THIS Chiranjeevi connection". Filmfare. 26 February 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
- ^ "Nani, Vikram Kumar team up for new film Gang Leader, watch video". The Hindustan Times. 25 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Mythri Movie Makers". Mythri Movie Makers on Twitter. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
- ^ "Gang Leader Movie Review : Gang Leader shines in parts but is let down by a haphazard screenplay". The Times of India.
- ^ "GANG LEADER MOVIE REVIEW". Behindwoods. 13 September 2019.
- ^ "Gang Leader movie review: A okayish film saved by Nani's performance". The Indian Express. 13 September 2019.