Martin (2024 film)

Martin is a 2024 Indian Kannada-language action thriller film directed by A. P. Arjun, from a story by Arjun Sarja, and produced by Uday K. Mehta and Suraj Uday Mehta. It stars Dhruva Sarja in a dual role, alongside Vaibhavi Shandilya, Anveshi Jain, Sukrutha Wagle, Achyuth Kumar and Nikitin Dheer. The songs and background score were composed by Mani Sharma and Ravi Basrur, while cinematography and editing were handled by Satya Hegde and K. M. Prakash.

Martin
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	A. P. Arjun
Screenplay by	A. P. Arjun
Story by	Arjun Sarja
Dialogues by	Gopinath Krishna Murthy A. P. Arjun
Produced by	Shrinivas Timmapur Suraj Uday Mehta
Starring	Dhruva Sarja Vaibhavi Shandilya Anveshi Jain
Cinematography	Satya Hegde
Edited by	K. M. Prakash
Music by	Mani Sharma (songs) Ravi Basrur (score)
Production companies	Vasavi Enterprises Uday K Mehta Productions
Distributed by	Mythri Movie Makers (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) KVN Productions Invenio Origin M S Films (Tamilnadu)
Release date	11 October 2024 (2024-10-11)
Running time	144 minutes
Country	India
Language	Kannada
Budget	₹120 crore
Box office	₹25.30 crore (net)

Martin was theatrically released on 11 October 2024 to widespread negative reviews from critics, and became a box office bomb.

Plot

In Pakistan, a mysterious person is injected with drugs, where he loses his memory and becomes aggressive. The person's aggressiveness leads him to get captured and imprisoned. Still, he escapes from the prison and manages to regain some memories with the help of Pakistani locals, whom he had met including a lollipop seller kid, a weapons dealer, and an ally Regina. The person learns that he is actually Arjun Saxena, an IRS officer. However, Regina gets assassinated by Martin, an international gangster, who is known for his trademark of killing his opponents in the left eye.

Arjun contacts his friend Parashuram, an IPS officer, and learns that his friend Vivek, an MMA fighter, is in danger from Martin. Arjun arrives in Mumbai through a cargo boat and arrives at Andheri Railway Junction to meet Parashuram, but he gets attacked and Parashuram is killed by Martin's henchmen. Arjun tries to inform Vivek, who is in a MMA match, but Vivek is also killed. Arjun reunites with his friend Sathya and his fiancèe Preeti, where he plans to lure and capture Martin in Mangalore using Preeti as bait. Arjun and Sathya protect Preeti and fend off masked attackers, and he regains his memory back. During this time, Arjun injures Sathya and reveals himself as Martin. It is revealed that Arjun and Martin are actually doppelgängers and that Arjun was in a coma in Pakistan for 15 days under the care of Regina's friend, Shabnam, a Pakistani ally and an undercover officer. Shabnam reveals to Arjun that Martin has escaped to India.

Past: Arjun seizes an illegal shipment, containing defective and hazardous medicines from Mushtaq, who runs a pharmaceuticals racket. Arjun captures and imprisons Mushtaq's men, as a result of which, Mushtaq seeks Martin's help. Martin calls Arjun and tries to manipulate him in releasing Mushtaq's container. Eventually, Martin frames Arjun for killing Mushtaq's henchmen and gets him suspended, where he also threatens him in killing Preeti if he tries to go after him. Arjun interrogates Martin's henchman, Munna, with Parshuram's help, and learns that Martin has left for Pakistan. Martin spots Arjun from a news footage and kills Regina. Martin attacks Arjun in an under-construction site meeting, where he overpowers Arjun. However, Arjun leaves a bullet mark on his body to prove that he and Martin are physically different.

Present: Arjun arrives in Mangalore, where Martin is with Sathya and Preeti in a hospital. Arjun reaches the hospital, but Martin kidnaps Preeti and takes her to his hideout on a cruise ship. Arjun plans to destroy the containers, while Martin reveals himself to Preeti. Martin threatens Arjun for killing Preeti if the containers are not returned, while Arjun threatens to destroy the containers. Martin and Mushtaq plan to intercept Arjun and the cargo trucks. Arjun fends off the bikers, but he gets attacked by artillery jeeps. To Arjun's surprise, Martin destroys the jeeps and reveals that Vivek, Parashuram, and Regina were actually working with Mushtaq, who not only sells hazardous medicines but also supplies illegal arms for spreading terrorism in the country. He also reveals that Mushtaq had tried to overtake him to take the containers. Martin makes a deal with Arjun, in which he returns Preeti to him and they both kill Mushtaq and destroy the containers, in exchange for money and erasing Martin's identity.

Arjun receives appreciation and a medal for completing the mission, where he receives a call from another doppelgänger called Rhino.

Cast

• Dhruva Sarja in a dual role as:
  • Arjun Saxena, a navy officer
  • Martin / Rhino
• Vaibhavi Shandilya as Preeti
• Achyuth Kumar as Ashok Kumar, Arjun's Senior
• Anveshi Jain as Martin's girlfriend
• Sukrutha Wagle as Shabnam
• Chikkanna as Sathya
• Prathap Narayanan as Vivek
• Malavika Avinash as a Pakistani doctor
• Nikitin Dheer as Mushtaq
• Vajrang Shetty as Munna
• Nawab Shah as a Pakistani jailer
• Rohit Pathak as a Pakistani jailer
• Daniel Caltagirone
• Nathan Jones
• Rubiel Mosquera

Production

The film's shooting lasted 252 days. The climax was shot in 52 days. The film features 5000 segments with visual effects. According to Dhruva Sarja, the film was originally made on a budget of ₹80 crore and incurred a "landing cost" of ₹120 crore. Daily News and Analysis reported that the budget is ₹150 crore.

Music

Martin
Soundtrack album by Mani Sharma
Released	11 October 2024
Recorded	2023–24
Genre	Film soundtrack
Length	10:45
Language	Kannada
Label	Saregama

Mani Sharma composed the soundtrack, while Ravi Basrur composed the musical score. The soundtrack album was secured by Saregama.

The first single titled "Jeevan Neene" was released on 3 September 2024. The second single titled "Anthem of Martin" was released on 5 October 2024.

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Jeevan Neene"	A. P. Arjun	Sonu Nigam, Shruthika Samudhrala	3:56
2.	"Anthem of Martin"	A. P. Arjun	Prudhvi Chandra, Roll Rida	3:59
3.	"Jasmine Song"	Pramod Maravanthe	Harika Narayan	3:10
Total length:				10:45

Release

Theatrical

Martin was theatrically released on 11 October 2024 in Kannada, along with the dubbed versions. Invenio Origin released the film across the country.

Home media

The satellite and digital streaming rights were sold to Zee Network and ZEE5.

Reception

S. Sridevi of The Times of India gave 2.5/5 stars and termed it as "all sound and spectacle and no substance." Jagadish Angadi of Deccan Herald gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Martin is strictly for die-hard action fans."

Sanjay Ponnappa of India Today gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Martin could have been a normal action thriller with a template story, had it not been pumped with so much budget and unnecessary chutzpah. From direction to all other technical departments like VFX, CGI, editing and more, every aspect of Martin was disappointing in massive proportions." Prathibha Joy of OTTPlay gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Martin feels like a lost opportunity; Dhruva vs Dhruva had potential, but what we get is a wafer-thin plot as old as time that will, perhaps, appeal to die-hard fans of DS Boss. For the rest, well, you’ve been warned."

Calling the film a "Big-Budget Disappointment", Shashiprasad SM of Times Now gave 2/5 stars and wrote, "Instead of focusing on a compelling story, screenplay, and thoughtful filmmaking, the emphasis seems to be on grandiosity, both visually and sonically." Goutham S of Pinkvilla gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "Martin offers nothing new in terms of story. The movie once again delves into creating some awe out of a larger-than-life character, even leaving an opportunity to expand it into a franchise."

In a negative review, Vivek M.V. of The Hindu wrote "In a bid to elevate actor Dhruva Sarja’s stardom, the makers of ‘Martin’ fall short in delivering a coherent action drama. Apart from one intense chase involving cars and bikes and the high-octane climax sequence shot in a vast, desert-like landscape, the much-hyped action sequences lack style." Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "For Dhruva, this movie was meant to be a major milestone in his career but Martin has turned out to be all hype with no substance."

External links

• Martin at IMDb