Raja the Great is a 2017 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film written and directed by Anil Ravipudi and produced by Dil Raju on Sri Venkateswara Creations banner.[2] The film stars Ravi Teja as a visually impaired man, alongside Mehreen Pirzada and Radhika. Vivan Bhatena (in his Telugu Debut), Rajendra Prasad, Prakash Raj and Sampath Raj play supporting roles with music composed by Sai Karthik.[3] The film marks the debut of Teja's son Mahadhan as child actor.[4]
| Raja the Great | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Anil Ravipudi |
| Written by | Anil Ravipudi |
| Produced by | Dil Raju |
| Starring | Ravi Teja Mehreen Pirzada Radhika |
| Cinematography | Mohana Krishna |
| Edited by | Tammiraju |
| Music by | Sai Karthik |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 150 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Box office | est. ₹52 crore[1] |
The film began its production began in April 2017 with filming taking place in Hyderabad and Darjeeling. Released worldwide on 18 October 2017, the film received mixed reviews from critics and audience with praise towards the cast performances, action sequences and entertainment value but criticism for writing and uneven tone. It was a commercial success grossing more than ₹50 crore, becoming the highest-grossing film in Teja's career.[5]
Plot
editLucky is a very protected and pampered daughter of SP Prakash. In one of his operations, Prakash encounters the brother of a powerful gangster named Devaraj, for which Lucky is one of the reasons. Enraged, Devaraj kills Prakash and targets Lucky. Lucky runs away to Darjeeling and hides in her father's friend Prasad's house to evade an attempt on her life. Later, the police department looks for a special team to provide security for Lucky.
Meanwhile, Raja is a blind man who is trained by his head constable mother, Anantha Lakshmi, to use his disability to his advantage. Anantha Lakshmi's ambition is to make her son a police officer. She obliges IG Viswaraj to include her blind son in the mission. After several incidents, he agrees to send him, but only to cook food for other officers—Raja, with his friend Bujji and three other officers, heads to Darjeeling. Raja meets Lucky and starts changing the depressed Lucky into making her have a happy mood with a few tricks. He also learns about Prasad's difficulties and solves their problems. Lucky comes out of her depressed state and starts celebrating her life with Raja's help. Meanwhile, Devaraj learns about Lucky's location and orders his goons to attack her. Knowing this, Viswaraj and his team protect Lucky by sending her abroad.
Raja tells her not to run and fight back, but Viswaraj neglects him and takes Lucky away. Devaraj's goons attack Viswaraj and his team on the way and try to kill Lucky, but to everyone's surprise, Raja rescues them by defeating the goons. Lucky gains confidence in Raja, and she agrees to stay with him and fight back. Lucky and Raja go to her uncle's house in Madhira, but her uncles do not accept her for a brief period. Raja makes them realize their mistakes. On Lucky's birthday, she learns about her father's wish to educate poor girls by adopting them, making her father's wish her ambition.
Meanwhile, a cat-and-mouse game ensues, and Raja defeats Devaraj's goons. Raja gives a strong warning not to trouble Lucky again. Devaraj kidnaps Anantha Lakshmi and Lucky. However, Raja saves his mother and Lucky with his intelligence. While escaping with Lucky and Bujji from Devaraj's factory, Raja gathers evidence against Devaraj. Viswaraj grants a warrant against Devaraj. When the police arrive at Devaraj's house to arrest him, he injures Raja and insults him (that he is scared of facing him alone and all), which raises Anantha Lakshmi's anger, and she challenges Devaraj to fight her son. Raja fights and defeats Devaraj, but he does not kill him. Viswaraj encounters Devaraj and involves Raja in future police operations.
Cast
edit- Ravi Teja as Raja, Lucky's love-interest and Constable Anantha Lakshmi's son
- Mahadhan Bhupathiraju as Young Raj
- Mehreen Pirzada as Lucky, Raja's love-interest and SP Prakash's daughter
- Samskruthi as Young Lucky
- Radhika as Constable Anantha Lakshmi, Raja's mother
- Vivan Bhatena as Devaraj (Voice dubbed by Vedala Hemachandra)
- Rajendra Prasad as in dual role as Prasad and Prasad's Father
- Prakash Raj as SP Prakash and Lucky's Father
- Sampath Raj as IG Viswaraj
- Tanikella Bharani as Mailaramgadda, Devaraj's father
- Ali as Kabaddi Team Player
- Posani Krishna Murali as Lucky's uncle
- Raghu Babu as SI Babu Rao
- Pruthviraj as Bank Manager Babji
- Jaya Prakash Reddy as Devaraj's henchmen
- Srinivasa Reddy as Bujji, Raja's friend
- Sai Kumar as Surya Murthy
- Rajiv Kanakala as Police Officer
- Ravi Prakash as Police Officer
- Bharath Reddy as Police Officer
- Banerjee as Kung Fu Coach
- Surya as Raja's father
- Gautham Raju as Sahaayam
- Satyam Rajesh as Lucky's uncle
- Prabhas Sreenu as Lucky's uncle
- Chitram Seenu as Lucky's uncle
- Annapurna as Prasad's mother
- Pavitra Lokesh as Gayatri and Prasad's wife
- Vidyullekha Raman as Pandu, Lucky's friend
- Karate Kalyani as Servant Saraswathi
- Hari Teja as Lucky's aunt
- Surekha Vani as Lucky's aunt
- Shanoor Sana as Lucky's aunt
- Rajitha as Viswaraj's wife
- Raghu Karumanchi as Kabaddi Team Player
- John Kokken as Devaraj's henchmen
- Bithiri Sathi as Kabaddi Team Player
- Chammak Chandra as Bank Cashier Siddharth
- Ramachandra as Swamiji
- Racha Ravi
- Viva Harsha, Devraj's goon
- Viva Raghav
- Sampoornesh Babu as Peter
- Saptagiri as Seenu
- Thagubothu Ramesh as Sastry
- Raashi Khanna as a special appearance in the song "Naake Ne Nachestunna"
- Anil Ravipudi (cameo appearance in the song "Raja The Great")
Production
editAnil Ravipudi had the idea to make a film with visually impaired character as a lead as he was fascinated by the talents they have. Ravipudi however didn't want the film to be art film and wrote the script in a commercial format.[6] Ravipudi approached Ram Pothineni and N. T. Rama Rao Jr. for the film but Ravi Teja was finalized.[7] Mehreen Pirzada was cast opposite Teja.[8]
Principal photography of the film began in April 2017 in Hyderabad.[9] The production moved to Darjeeling later that month.[10] 70% of the shoot was completed by July 2017.[11]
Release
editThe film was released on 18 October 2017.[11] The film was later dubbed and released in Tamil as Raja Raja Dhan in 2019 and the film was dubbed in Malayalam under the same title in 2021. The Hindi dubbed version was directly premiered on Goldmines TV channel on 3 July 2022.
Soundtrack
edit| Raja The Great | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 4 October 2017 | |||
| Recorded | 2017 | |||
| Genre | Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 17:16 | |||
| Label | Aditya Music | |||
| Producer | Sai Karthik | |||
| Sai Karthik chronology | ||||
| ||||
The music is composed by Sai Karthik and released on Aditya Music Company. Raja The Great (Title Song) was released online, for which Ravi Teja gave his voice.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Raja The Great" | Shyam Kasarla | Ravi Teja, L. V. Revanth, K. Saketh, Sri Krishna | 3:42 |
| 2. | "Nake Ne Nachestunna" | Ramajogayya Sastry | Sameera Bharadwaj, M.L. Shruti | 3:21 |
| 3. | "Chinnari" | Ramajogayya Sastry | Haricharan, Divija Kartheek | 3:10 |
| 4. | "Allabe Allabe" | Ramajogayya Sastry | Yazin Nizar, Aditya Iyengar, Sri Krishna | 3:00 |
| 5. | "Yenniyalo Yenniyalo" | Shyam Kasarla | Sai Karthik | 4:03 |
| Total length: | 17:16 | |||
Reception
editKarthik Keramulu writing for the Firstpost rated 2.5 of 5 and wrote: "Raja The Great is an okayish entertaining affair in the theatre. However, the minute one walks out of the movie house, there’d be nothing to pull from the bed of the two-and-a-half-hour comedy to laugh about."[12] The Hindu's Sangeetha Devi stated: "Anil Ravipudi takes the mass route with a blind protagonist and the result is silly humour."[13] The Indian Express critic Manoj Kumar R who rated 2 stars, opined: "You don't go to watch a Ravi Teja film, which is directed by Anil Ravipudi, expecting a Nayakan. It's only fair that we judge his latest offering, Raja The Great, by the standards of mindless entertainers."[14]
Sequel
editRavipudi confirmed the film's sequel in one of the interviews, stating: "There is a slight tease at the very end of the rolling titles hinting at the possibility of a sequel for the actioner. The sequel will definitely happen but I can’t tell you the exact schedule of the shooting, release, and other details at the moment."[15]
References
edit- ^ Adivi, Sridhar (16 December 2017). "Raja The Great final collections: Ravi Teja starrer grosses Rs 52 crore approximately". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
- ^ "Ravi Teja's next with Anil Ravipudi". Deccan Chronicle. 8 December 2016. Archived from the original on 27 January 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
- ^ "Mehreen Kaur Pirzada for Ravi Teja's film?". Deccan Chronicle. 10 December 2016. Archived from the original on 27 January 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
- ^ "Ravi Teja's son Mahadhan to make acting debut with Raja The Great". International Business Times. 6 September 2017. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
- ^ Adivi, Sridhar (6 November 2017). "Raja The Great box-office collections: Ravi Teja movie becomes highest grosser of his career". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
- ^ Ranjith, Gabbeta. "Director Anil Ravipudi shares details of Raja The Great". Telangana Today. Retrieved 9 August 2020.[dead link]
- ^ Soumick (31 March 2018). "Why did the other stars of Tollywood give Raja The Great a miss?". Asianet News Network. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021.
- ^ Varma, Lipika (20 March 2017). "Exclusive: Phillauri's Mehreen Kaur Pirzada didn't even know when she was auditioned". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ Jonnalagedda, Pranita (5 April 2017). "Ravi Teja's Raja The Great kicks off". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ Agencies (12 April 2017). "Lights, camera, action! 'Raja The Great' starts shooting in Darjeeling". Millennium Post. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ a b "Ravi Teja's Raja The Great slated for an October 12 release". The Times of India. 17 July 2022. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022.
- ^ "Raja The Great movie review: Ravi Teja doesn't disappoint in this okay-ish entertaining affair". Firstpost. 19 October 2017. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (20 October 2017). "Raja the great: He's blind, but trained". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ "Raja The Great movie review: Another mindless entertainer from Ravi Teja". The Indian Express. 19 October 2017. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ "Raja The Great sequel ready to roll?". Cinema Express. 28 April 2021. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022.