title: Magadheera

text: Production for the film was officially launched on 2 March 2008 at Film Nagar Cultural Center (FNCC) in Hyderabad. B. V. S. N. Prasad co-produced the film with Allu Aravind under his production banner, Geetha Arts. M. Rathnam was announced as the dialogue writer while Rajamouli's usual collaborators K. K. Senthil Kumar, Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao, and M. M. Keeravani worked on the film's cinematography, editing and music respectively. After many potential titles, "Magadheera" was considered and finalised in early February 2009.


title: Magadheera

text: After considering several actresses (including Tamannaah) for the princess role, Kajal Aggarwal was selected by Rajamouli as the female lead opposite Ram Charan after conducting a photoshoot in his office. Rajamouli said that he wanted to cast her as the female lead in "Yamadonga" (2007) after her Telugu debut "Lakshmi Kalyanam" (2007), but she was unavailable. He added that he wanted somebody "good looking, who would look like a princess and who had dates available" and finalised her because she met all of these prerequisites. After conducting her photoshoot, Rajamouli explained the story and Mithra's characterisation to her in 45 minutes. He said she needed to treat the hero arrogantly, but do so out of love for the hero. Kajal kept this in mind and acted accordingly while playing the dual roles of a princess from 400 years ago and a modern-day college student. Kajal called both her roles "unique and challenging".


title: Magadheera

text: Dev Gill was selected to portray the film's antagonist. Rajamouli was criticised for selecting him considering Gill's previous film, "Krishnarjuna" (2008), but remained adamant about casting him. He said that he had to cast a good looking man as the film's villain because the heroine needed to find him trustworthy. For this film, Gill had to practice horse riding in Ramoji Film City; Ram Charan was already an experienced equestrian. Srihari was cast in his role in the film in early April 2008. Kim Sharma was selected to perform one of the two item numbers in the film in early June 2008. Saloni Aswani made a cameo appearance in the film and shot for three days. She was subsequently signed for Rajamouli's next project, "Maryada Ramanna" (2010), before "Magadheera" was even released.


title: Magadheera

text: Rao Ramesh was cast as a tantrik who helps Gill's character in the present era. Mumaith Khan was selected for another item number, a remix version of the hit song "Bangaru Kodipetta" from "Gharana Mogudu" (1992); "Gharana Mogudu"'s music was also composed by M. M. Keeravani. Chiranjeevi made a special appearance after the song, making "Magadheera" the first film he appeared in after his entry into politics. When Rajamouli suggested the idea of a cameo appearance, Chiranjeevi was initially hesitant till the director narrated the complete sequence and the importance of the song.


title: Magadheera

text: Regarding his looks in the film, Ram Charan said, "Personality wise there isn’t really much difference to Kala Bhairava but I have to tell you minor changes like the shape of my mustache, a slight voice modulation, the background scale, the atmosphere and even the ‘Chandrabindu’ worked wonders on screen and gave a totally different look and feel and I felt like it was an altogether different side of me. When I was told of the characterization of ‘Kala Bhairava’, I had an impression of a young, passionate soldier and naturally it had to have a great body and an authoritative voice. So, we also worked on it. We actually went to Rajasthan and observed the local culture and their way of dressing, we researched a lot about their costumes, history and great personalities 400 years ago and planned it accordingly." Ram Charan sported a long hairdo for both of his characters in the film.


title: Magadheera

text: To design the armour used by Charan in his role as Kala Bhairava, art director R. Ravinder wanted the precise measurements of Charan's body; they used plaster of Paris to make a mould of Charan's body shape from which they created a statue. They designed costumes for the statue and had Charan try them on once they were satisfied with the designs. In an interview with Radhika Rajamani of Rediff.com, the film's stylist, Rama Rajamouli, said that it took one month to develop the right look for the olden period before she began working on the materials and costumes for the film. She added that all of the film's costumes were designed by her and stitched in Hyderabad, and that Kajal's costumes were heavily detailed as she needed to look rich, elegant and bright. Rama Rajamouli had some disagreements with cinematographer K. K. Senthil Kumar over the colours of the costumes. Her decision of having Kajal wear a dress of baby pink and pista green during the war sequence at Bhairavakona was initially opposed by Rajamouli, but later agreed to after the director saw the final edit. She also used minimal jewellery for the princess' outfits.


title: Magadheera

text: The film's principal photography was expected to begin on 26 February 2008, and then on 15 March 2008, but finally began on 19 March 2008 in Rajasthan. Initial shooting occurred for 10 days in Rann of Kutch, Gujarat. Art director Ravinder went to Chennai and gave details of their requirements to a prominent chariot-making specialist. After rejecting the maker's first iron skeletons, Ravinder opted to design them himself, and prepared three models of chariots with different heights to be used, depending on the camera's location and other technical requirements. He used fibre material for the iron skeleton's exteriors. For a scene in which neither the hero nor the villain was present on the chariot, Ravinder measured a short person and designed a hidden chamber in which he could sit and secretly control the horses. While the chariot race sequence was shot in Dholavira, the sequence in which the chariot sinks in quicksand was shot at a set comprising three acres in Ramoji Film City.


title: Magadheera

text: K. K. Senthil Kumar scouted for locations in Gujarat, looking for dry, open lands to shoot the chariot race sequence. They found salt lands with white sands in Dholavira. To shoot the sequence there, they wanted a light weight vehicle to follow the horses; they bought a Maruti van, removed the vehicle's top and mounted the camera along with a jimmy jib atop it. A part of the song "Dheera Dheera" was also shot there, requiring filmmakers to plant a dry tree and a couple of oxen for use in the song's backdrop. An item number featuring Kim Sharma and Ram Charan was shot in late June 2008 in a specially erected fishermen colony. It was set up on the first floor of Annapurna Studios and cost less than 30 lakh. Ravinder explained, "The set should look like an outdoor location, but need to be constructed in an indoor floor. I constructed exteriors of around 28 houses in that floor with detailed interior plan for the house of Srihari. I also constructed a small boat and a big wheeled fish with thermocol. When director wanted smoke-effect for a shot I held the heavy smoke machine on my shoulders in a low angle for the required effect."


title: Magadheera

text: After filming key parts of the film in Rajasthan, suburbs of Hyderabad, and at Badami in Karnataka, filming continued in Ramoji Film City in a specially erected set named Bhairavakona in late October 2008. Two more schedules, one from 3–10 December and one in January, were also shot at the Bhairavakona set. The sequence of Charan killing 100 warriors, also at Bhairavakona, included a bridge. As the set did not permit for shooting with low angles, a separate half-bridge was erected at Bhoot Bangla in Road No. 22 of Banjara Hills. The bridge, which had a height of and a length of , was constructed on top of a rocky hill using steel beams as the skeleton and wooden material as support. It was built in around 20 days by over 60 men amid heavy rains. 20 trucks of black soil were transported from Ramoji Film City for the bridge set, as that type of soil was only available in the former location.


title: Magadheera

text: After the completion of shooting at the arena set in Ramoji Film City, the arena set was demolished and a set for heroine's house was constructed in its place. This was the last set constructed for this film. By late September 2008, 70% of the film's shoot was complete. The remix version of "Bangaru Kodipetta" was shot by Ram Charan and Mumaith Khan under the supervision of Prem Rakshith at Chennai Port, although Visakhapatnam Port was first considered. Filming continued in and around Hyderabad very discreetly in November 2008. Stunt sequences by Ram Charan and some stuntmen were shot in mid-December 2008 at Hyderabad. By mid-February 2009, the film's scripted part had been wrapped up, with only some songs left to shoot. The song "Nakosam Nuvvu" was shot in Switzerland while "Panchadara Bomma Bomma" was shot at Golconda Fort in Hyderabad. Both songs were duets featuring Ram Charan and Kajal. K. K. Senthil Kumar said in an interview that "Magadheera" could not have been made in eight months because of its long pre-production and post-production phases. Over two lakhs worth of props, including swords, daggers, knives, bows and arrows, pouches, armour, footwear and other accessories, were used in the film. They were designed by 160 workers, including welders, molders, carpenters, painters, cobblers, artists, tailors and leather men, who worked for two months in the Geetha Arts Studio. Five people were appointed exclusively to look after these props. However, during the film's shoot both Peter Hein and Ram Charan suffered major injuries. The former fell down from a height of 8090 feet during the composition of a stunt and was advised a bed rest for four months. Charan faced severe leg fractures, while Rajamouli said that Peter "met with an accident on the sets, had two broken ribs, fractured hands and jaw and lost all his teeth. Within a month, he was back on the sets with his face and body covered in bandages and plaster. He could barely lift his hands to shoot."


title: Magadheera

text: R. C. Kamalakannan was the VFX producer of this film. "Magadheera" was the first Telugu film in which the position of "Visual Effects Producer" was used in the credits. He was assisted by a team of five experts from abroad and 62 dedicated group members apart from 130 people from the company EFX in Chennai and Hyderabad. Special effects and CG was used for about 1 hour and 40 minutes out of the total 2 hours and 35 minutes in the film. 15% of the frames in the film's scenes of Udaigarh city were actually shot with a camera; the rest were CG extension. For the scenes in the stadium, CG extension was slightly above 50%. For the stadium, Italian concept artist Marco Rolandi began with a CAD drawing and made his first 3D concept in 5 days. It took five months for Marco Rolandi to reach the design shown in the film and as imagined by Rajamouli. Simultaneously, Iranian 3D technical director Adel Adili, who worked with Kamalakannan for "Anji" (2004), "Yamadonga" and "Arundathi" (2009), was working on the 3D Udaigarh city. He started with a city-plan and added streets, buildings, mountains, temples, palaces, water bodies, a huge waterfall, rivers, gates, a moat and trees, all of which were planned and received Rajamouli's approval before being executed to full scale. Adili redesigned Marco's 3D stadium to suit Indian aesthetics and made it fit perfectly within the city.


title: Magadheera

text: Pete Draper, who worked with Kamalakanna in "Ghajini" (2008), was selected as the pipeline technical director of the film. At that time, Kamalakannan was in Iran finalising the CG stadium and City with Adili. The majority of the film was shot in anamorphic format, but a Super 35 camera gate and lens were used for the stadium episode to minimise distortion. Post-production of the stadium scenes were given to Prasad EFX, and the film set up their own render farm in Chennai. The post process was done in several stages after the scan. The live stadium had only 7 steps, in which live people were positioned in 6 steps while the remaining 12 steps were CG extension. Adili created 3D CG people to fill the CG steps and their actions in a library of 3000 frames.


title: Magadheera

text: Draper designed the birds in two flows: one flow kept flying around the stadium, while the other flow took off from a position dome and landed on a target dome. Rajamouli used those birds in several shots. Upon finishing the stages of the stadium composite, Kamalakannan flew to Iran again to work with Adel for the 3D city shots which were created entirely in CG. Adili designed 3D horses for the hero and villain and Draper designed the 3D people flocking behind the horses. About Adili's work, Kamalakannan said, "When we started the city-shot renders, it has taken several hours to render one frame. But Adili re-corrected the geometry and applied several path breaking ideas, so even on 24 July, just a week before the film release, we were able to do corrections, render and submit." was spent solely on VFX for "Magadheera".


title: Magadheera

text: During the film's shoot at Ramoji Film City in late November 2008, a film can, containing two or three scenes, was discovered missing from Rainbow lab. The filmmakers filed a case at Hayathnagar police station. Security personnel and film unit members searched, but failed to recover the reels. Rajamouli's unit said it was not important if the scenes from the can were aired online since they were not crucial scenes, were all on a blue matte and lacked finishing. Later, raw footage from the film was seen on the internet but no details about the culprits were found. After the photographs and small video clips were leaked on the Internet, some of the film unit members felt that the loss might have been a ploy on the part of the producers to create hype.


title: Magadheera

text: The film is based on the concept of reincarnation and eternal love. According to Rediff, the rewritten script's basic storyline is that "Love remains eternal and it will follow generations and generations. There is always a big victory for Love." The film's flashback sequences were used as a flip switch between the film's olden and present day eras. Initially the film featured a scene in which the present day heroine accidentally receives a dupatta preserved in a museum that is used in the flashbacks as the dupatta Bhairava and Ranadheer race for. However, separate dupattas were used in the film as Rajamouli felt that getting the dupatta from the flashback would complicate the narrative.


title: Magadheera

text: In her book "Bimal Roy's Madhumati: Untold Stories from Behind the Scenes", writer Rinki Bhattacharya compared the reincarnation theme of "Magadheera" with that of "Madhumati" (1958), "Karz" (1980), "Karan Arjun" (1995) and "Om Shanti Om" (2007). Touching the heroine unleashes locked memories within the hero that transport him to Rajasthan in 1609 from contemporary Hyderabad. Bhattacharya also compared "Magadheera" to another Telugu film, "Mooga Manasulu" (1964). Rajamouli told Subhash K. Jha that he was inspired by "Karan Arjun" to make films based on reincarnation.


title: Magadheera

text: M. M. Keeravani composed the film's soundtrack. Kalyani Malik had done the Sound suvervision. It features six songs including the remixed version of his own composition "Bangaru Kodipetta" from the 1992 film "Gharana Mogudu." The soundtrack of the Tamil dubbed version, "Maaveeran", had three additional tracks. The Telugu soundtrack was launched at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad on 28 June 2009. The Tamil version was launched on 25 April 2011 in Chennai.


title: Magadheera

text: Geetha Arts released the film on 31 July 2009, with 625 digital UFO Moviez prints in 1250 theatres across the globe, making "Magadheera" the biggest release for a Telugu film in history. Its release included more than 1000 screens in Andhra Pradesh alone. The film opened up with 25 prints overseas in almost 40 locations. "Magadheera" was the first Telugu film to be released on 21 screens in North America. Huge vinyl posters featuring Ram Charan and his father, cameo performer Chiranjeevi, were put up at all of the theatres in Krishna District. Posters also featured the head of Chiranjeevi's political party, former MLA Vangaveeti Radhakrishna, which added political importance to the release.


title: Magadheera

text: Tamil and Malayalam dubbed versions were planned in mid February 2009. The film's Tamil dubbed version was titled as "Maaveeran", named after the 1986 Tamil film. Geetha Arts collaborated with Udhayanidhi Stalin for the Tamil version and distributed it under his production banner, Red Giant Movies. K. Bhagyaraj wrote the dialogues for "Maaveeran". The Malayalam version was titled "Dheera—The Warrior" and was distributed by Pallavi films. The Tamil dubbed version "Maaveeran" and Malayalam dubbed version "Dheera—The Warrior" were released in more than 100 screens and 50 screens respectively on 27 May 2011.


title: Magadheera

text: Raju Hirwani, the owner of Supreme Music, ventured into overseas distribution with "Magadheera". He distributed the film in the USA via Blue Sky Cinemas Inc. The distribution rights of non-US countries, including the UK, Ireland, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, were acquired by Krishna Productions. The theatrical rights of Australia and New Zealand were sold to Tollyfilmz. The film's Singaporean rights were sold to Pragati films. Gulf and Kuwait theatrical rights were sold to K. A. Chowdary and Basheer respectively. Red Giant Movies distributed "Maaveeran" while Pallavi films distributed "Dheera—The Warrior". The film's Karnataka distributor, Vijayakumar, was disciplined for breaking the rules of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce by simultaneously releasing a non-Kannada film in more than 21 screens in the state. The proceeds of 21 screens were given to him while the rest was confiscated by the Chamber of Commerce. The KFCC also suspended Vijaykumar, who was KFCC's secretary for distribution, from its executive committee.


title: Magadheera

text: Joint collector Gaurav Uppal convened a meeting of film exhibitors and distributors, warning them against black-marketing tickets to "Magadheera". This was after local leaders, attempting to acquire a maximum number of tickets, blocked and booked tickets to the film in advance, to enthuse their supporters during the local civic polls in Guntur. Special teams of revenue, police and commercial tax officers were appointed to keep watch at ticket counters and ensure that each person was issued only one ticket. Priority was ordered to be given for the sanitation, safety and comfort of the viewers. Authorities in Vijayawada ensured the strict checking and prevention of black-marketing of tickets. However, Ram Charan's fans resorted to sloganeering and an impromptu protest demonstration in the office of Revenue Divisional Officer K. Hymavathi in Machilipatnam. They demanded the screening of a benefit show and the advance sale of tickets after being rejected by the management of the twin theatres, Siri Venkata and Siri Krishna, where the film was screened. Their plea was rejected by the officer, who said that the tickets would be issued only to those who came in queue and that no special concessions would be made for fans.


title: Magadheera

text: On 9 August 2009, two persons, identified as NIT student M. Praveen Kumar and Ganesh, were killed and 15 others sustained severe injuries after being electrocuted while jostling for tickets for "Magadheera" at the theatre Bhavani in Kazipet, Warangal. The screening of "Magadheera" at theatres in Vizianagaram was prohibited by the then minister Botsa Satyanarayana until safety measures were complied with. Satyanarayana's announcement followed the death of five people in Salur Village due to an electrical accident at the Lakshmi theatre screening "Magadheera".


title: Magadheera

text: Folk lyricist Vangapandu Prasada Rao alleged that his 40-year-old folk song "Em Pillado Eldamostavaa", which was featured in T. Krishna's "Ardharathri Swatanthram" (1986), was used by film director Rajamouli and Allu Aravind in the "Magadheera" song "Jorsey" without Rao's consent. Activists of PDSU, POW and PYL staged a protest demonstration in front of the Ashok 70 MM theatre in Nizamabad, where the film was screened, to demand the removal of the song. The protesters said that the song was written by Rao during the famous Srikakulam armed struggle four decades prior and had been misused to portray an obscene duet in the film. They added that the song was used without the permission of the writer and that the depiction defeated the very purpose of the song, which was written in a revolutionary spirit. They demanded a public apology by the makers to Rao. A few reports stated that Rao demanded Aravind pay him compensation of 50 lakh.


title: Magadheera

text: After the completion of the film's 175-day run, novelist S. P. Chary accused the film of being based on a novel that he had written and published as a serial under the title "Chanderi" in a monthly magazine in 1998. He demanded that filmmakers compensate him for using his idea without consent, and threatened to take legal action if the producers did not heed his demands, or remade the film in another language. He added that he deserved to be credited for the story and alleged that Allu Arjun and Allu Sirish were trying to postpone his acknowledgment by discussing the issue with him.


title: Magadheera

text: "Magadheera" was the first Telugu film in India to have a home media release on the Blu-ray format. During the release announcement, Allu Sirish said that although they initially were reluctant to go for it, given the fact that there were approximately only 2500 Blu-ray devices in Andhra Pradesh, the overwhelming demand for it made him rethink the decision. He added, "Sharing this vision with us was Sri Balaji Videos, the largest home-video label in Andhra Pradesh. Together, we're bringing out Magadheera on Blu-ray. Though Bhavani Videos released Nagarjuna's "King" (2008) on Blu-ray, it was only for the overseas market. This makes "Magadheera" the first Blu-ray film to be released in India and with a bonus disc with additional footage. We're also a holding a press event on this regard to officially announce the launch of the movie on DVD and Blu-ray."


title: Magadheera

text: A press note announced that the DVDs would be available beginning the third week of March 2010 while the Blu-ray would be available two weeks later. The launch ceremony took place in a Marriott Hotel on 27 February 2010. The first DVD was released by M. M. Keeravani and was presented by journalist Pasupuleti Ramarao. The DVD was released in NTSC video format and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio format on 5 March 2010. The Blu-ray disc released on 13 April 2010. "Magadheera" held the top position in sales for its 720p Blu-ray edition with 5.1 Dolby digital sound format as of July 2014.


title: Magadheera

text: Suresh Krishnamoorthy of "The Hindu" summarised, ""Magadheera" is not for the weak-hearted, those who do not like the sight of blood and neither is it for those who like movies with storylines that are much-closer-to-everyday- reality. But Rajamouli excels in story-telling. The way he has used the flashback as a flip switch, going back and forth and taking the viewer through a 400-year journey in a jiffy is interesting. The rest is about how well technology, creativity, imagination and innovation are leveraged to present what is an eye-pleasing experience for viewers." B. V. S. Prakash of "The Times of India" wrote, "Despite a few narrative lapses, the much-hyped semi-periodic epic lives up to expectations. Unlike his previous action-centric films, director Rajamouli dishes a heart-touching love story in a lavish canvas convincingly. Also kudos for the way he has visualised and presented the film." He added, "After not-so-impressive Chirutha, Ram Charan Tej returns as a valiant soldier and breathes life into the larger-than-life role with ease. Similarly, Kajal known for simple lover girl roles transforms into a determined princess and truly impresses. Dev Gil is adequate as the ruthless villain", and rated the film 3 out of 5.


title: Magadheera

text: Upperstall.com stated "Magadheera is not an epic, not a legend, not even a cult movie, but it is certainly an artistic extravaganza and a sensory treat. Like we said before, a must watch! A mast watch!". Radhika Rajamani of "Rediff.com" called the film "technically brilliant" and wrote "A reincarnation story is not often seen in Telugu cinema and SS Rajamouli uses this theme for Ram Charan Teja's second film Magadheera. It's a magnum opus production with great technical work. The graphics are excellent for a Telugu movie. Overall, the movie is a mainstream one with good packaging." She rated the film 3 out of 5. "Sify" called the film a "brilliant entertainer" and wrote, "Set against the backdrop of an eerie theme — reincarnation — Magadheera unfolds on the screen with multiple shades of entertainment. When the movie was launched last year, director Rajamouli dared to reveal the central theme of the story. He has succeeded in his attempt, as he was able to keep the screenplay and narration gripping from start to finish. The second half has the soul in it." Sify summarised, "In short, the movie encompasses some of the best commercial elements that Telugu audience have seen in the recent past."


title: Magadheera

text: "IndiaGlitz" called the film "royal and spellbinding" and opined, "The film deserves a special credit for many reasons, notable among them is the grandeur of the movie and the amazing technical aspects. This is surely a path breaker in terms of Telugu film making and with the likes of 'Arundhati', Tollywood sure is proud to have this one in its league. It is a valiant attempt to bring such genre to the modern day audience and present it with finesse so that it fits the historical angle and the today's angle." However, Rajamouli was accused of lifting scenes from films like "Gladiator" (2000), "Troy" (2004), "The Myth" (2005) and "300" (2007).


title: Magadheera

text: The film collected a share of approximately in its first week in Andhra Pradesh alone, of which a share of was collected in Nizam region. Sixteen centres collected , each of which was an all-time state record. It collected a share of in 21 days in Andhra Pradesh. By the end of its four-week run, the film was declared a blockbuster and collected a share of in 28 days and in 35 days. The film completed a 50-day run in 302 centres on 18 September 2009. By then, the film had collected and stood strong.


title: Magadheera

text: The film completed its 100-day run in 223 centres. By then it had surpassed Rajinikanth's "Sivaji" (2007), which grossed in Tamil Nadu, and stood second to "Ghajini" (2008), which reached . The film completed a 175-day run in 3 centres and, by then, collected a share of . The film completed a 365-day run in Vijayalakshmi theatre in Kurnool on 31 July 2010 and a 1000-day run in the same theatre on 26 April 2012.


title: Magadheera

text: More than 50% of the film's lifetime collections were from the Nizam region. The film also did well in the overseas box office. It was released in New Jersey with three prints on three screens and collected a record share of more than 150,000 dollars, turning the highest amount raised overseas by a Telugu film; the previous record holder was Trivikram Srinivas' "Jalsa" (2008), which collected more than 100,000 dollars. It grossed 102,000 dollars in its first two days in New Jersey and a share of 95,000 dollars in Virginia with two prints as of mid August 2009. It collected a share of 78,000 dollars in the San Francisco Bay Area with a single print. It managed to sell 2300 tickets in Minneapolis; the previous record for tickets sold there for a Telugu film was 1200. The film's overseas records were beaten two years later by "Dookudu" (2011), although disputes have arisen over which film holds the Tollywood all-time sales record.


title: Magadheera

text: The film was dubbed in Japanese and released there in 2018. This version earned an additional $1million, the second highest for an Indian film after "Muthu" (1995), which earned $1.6 million after being released in Japan.


title: Magadheera

text: "Magadheera"'s success turned Kajal into one of the most sought-after actresses in Telugu cinema and catapulted her into the foray of leading Telugu actresses. The film was also considered a fate changer in the career of Ram Charan. The role of Sher Khan played by Srihari was considered as one of the best roles in his career and also catapulted S. S. Rajamouli to stardom. Dev Gill attained stardom with this film and went on to work in several South Indian films as an antagonist. After the release of "Magadheera", people began recognising him as Ranadheer. According to writer Gopimohan, "Magadheera" started a trend of experimentation with period, socio-fantasy and spiritual themes that was continued in films like "Panchakshari" (2010), "Nagavalli" (2010), "Anaganaga O Dheerudu" (2011), "Mangala" (2011), "Sri Rama Rajyam" (2011) and "Uu Kodathara? Ulikki Padathara?" (2012).


title: Magadheera

text: The props used in this film, including weapons like swords and shields, were auctioned by Movie Artists Association. Actors, technicians, and the general public were invited to bid and the proceeds were used to aid poor artists in the Telugu film industry. Actor Sivaji Raja started the bidding by offering 50,000 for the sword that Ram Charan used and comedian Venu Madhav started the bidding for the shield with 25,000. B. V. S. N. Prasad bid for both the sword and knife for 100,000. The bidding started on 7 May 2010 online in the association's official website and ended on 16 May. The winners were declared on 20 May 2010. After "Magadheera", S. S. Rajamouli worked on a small budget film "Maryada Ramanna" (2010) which, according to Crazy Mohan, was similar to the act of S. S. Vasan directing the small budget film "Mr. Sampat" (1952) after "Chandralekha" (1948). Rajamouli explained his decision by saying, "I decided that my next project would be "Maryada Ramanna" during the "Magadheera" shooting itself because it is a one and half year project that demands a lot of physical labour and mental strain. I didn't want to commit another physically exhausting film immediately after "Magadheera". "Maryada Ramanna" gave us time to recharge our batteries so that we could come up with another huge project." He revealed "Maryada Ramanna"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s plot before its launch to minimise the expectations of his audience after "Magadheera"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s success.


title: Magadheera

text: Tammareddy Bharadwaja said "Ever since "Arundhati" and "Magadheera" did well at the box office, the rest of the industry started following their footsteps. Also, since there is an irrational craze to make high budget films right now, producers are turning towards mythological films. It is the only genre where you can boast of spending crores for creating the sets and the look of the film. But what they don't realize is that if these films flop, the blow to the producer will be severe." Films like "Anaganaga O Dheerudu" (2011) and "Sakthi" (2011) were commercial failures and "Badrinath" (2012) was an average grosser; all being fantasy films in which the protagonist is a warrior. The promos of "Badrinath" looked similar to "Magadheera" and the former's director V. V. Vinayak along with its male lead Allu Arjun kept insisting that "Badrinath" is dissimilar to "Magadheera". Producer Natti Kumar said "If a hero delivers a hit, producers run after him for five years and burn their fingers only after six or eight flops. It's the same story with movies. Since "Magadheera" became a hit, every other hero and director wants to do a period film where there is scope to spend crores. They don't work on the script, story or relevance. It is a pure display of graphics, heroes' abs and grandeur. The plot is lost. "Magadheera" worked because it was a novel genre then, but why will people want to see the same things again?"


title: Magadheera

text: Matt Groening, the creator of the television series "The Simpsons" and "Futurama" while discussing his inspiration for "Disenchantment" said, "In a given show there might be homages to Buster Keaton and to an Indian filmmaker named S. S. Rajamouli, who has made some of my favorite films of the last decade. I particularly recommend a movie called "Magadheera." I’m getting very obscure now. But this stuff just makes me so happy."


title: Magadheera

text: Janani Iyer cited the character of Mithravinda played by Kajal in the film as one of her dream roles. Ram Gopal Varma refused to call "Magadheera" a film and instead termed it as an event that comes "once in a blue moon". While commenting on Mahesh Babu's "Aagadu" (2014), he said that "Magadheera" looked like a 750 crore film when compared to "Aagadu" if the latter was a 75 crore film and added, "My comparison between ""Aagadu"" and ""Magadheera"" is mainly because they both are the most expensive films for their own individual times." Reviewing the Tamil film "Anegan" (2014), few critics opined that the film had traces of "Magadheera" mainly due to the theme of reincarnation. The Tamil dubbed version of the Telugu film "Yevadu" (2014), which featured Charan in one of the lead roles and Kajal in a crucial cameo, was titled "Magadheera".


title: Magadheera

text: The film was dubbed into Tamil as "Maaveeran" and into Malayalam as "Dheera: The Warrior" and was released on 27 May 2011. Both the dubbed versions were big hits and earned a good fan base for Ram Charan in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.


title: Magadheera

text: The film won the National Award for Best Choreography and Best Special Effects at the 57th National Film Awards. The film also won six Filmfare Awards, nine Nandi Awards, and ten CineMAA Awards.


title: Magadheera

text: Charan decided not to debut in Hindi film with "Magadheera"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Hindi language remake, as he believed the film might not be recreated well. In an interview with "The Times of India", Charan said, "When I met Anil Kapoor some time back, he told me I will ask Boney Kapoor to remake "Magadheera" with you in Hindi. But I said I don't know if I would want to do the remake. "Magadheera" is a lovely film which can't be recreated." The film was remade in Bengali as "" in 2014; it was directed by Raj Chakraborty with Dev and Mimi Chakraborty playing the lead roles. The 2014 Kannada film "Brahma", according to its director R. Chandru, was on the lines of "Magadheera" but was not a remake. The film was dubbed in Hindi under the same name by Goldmines Telefilms and released in 2015.


title: Samhain

text: Samhain ( , , , ; ) is a Gaelic festival on 1 November marking the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or "darker half" of the year. Celebrations begin on the evening of 31 October, since the Celtic day began and ended at sunset. This is about halfway between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals along with Imbolc, Beltaine and Lughnasa. Historically it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, Galicia and the Isle of Man (where it is spelled Sauin). A similar festival was held by the Brittonic Celtic people, called "Calan Gaeaf" in Wales, "Kalan Gwav" in Cornwall and "Kalan Goañv" in Brittany.


title: Samhain

text: Samhain is believed to have Celtic pagan origins and some Neolithic passage tombs in Ireland are aligned with the sunrise at the time of Samhain. It is first mentioned in the earliest Irish literature, from the 9th century, and is associated with many important events in Irish mythology. The early literature says Samhain was marked by great gatherings and feasts and was when the ancient burial mounds were open, which were seen as portals to the Otherworld. Some of the literature also associates Samhain with bonfires and sacrifices.


title: Samhain

text: The festival was not recorded in detail until the early modern era. It was when cattle were brought down from the summer pastures and when livestock were slaughtered. As at Beltaine, special bonfires were lit. These were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers and there were rituals involving them. Like Beltaine, Samhain was a liminal or threshold festival, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned, meaning the "Aos Sí" (the 'spirits' or 'fairies') could more easily come into our world. Most scholars see the "Aos Sí" as remnants of pagan gods. At Samhain, they were appeased with offerings of food and drink, to ensure the people and their livestock survived the winter. The souls of dead kin were also thought to revisit their homes seeking hospitality, and a place was set at the table for them during a meal. Mumming and guising were part of the festival from at least the early modern era, whereby people went door-to-door in costume reciting verses in exchange for food. The costumes may have been a way of imitating, and disguising oneself from, the "Aos Sí". Divination was also a big part of the festival and often involved nuts and apples. In the late 19th century John Rhys and James Frazer suggested it had been the "Celtic New Year", but that is disputed.


title: Samhain

text: In the 9th century the Western Church endorsed 1 November as the date of All Saints' Day, possibly due to the influence of Alcuin, and 2 November later became All Souls' Day. It is believed that over time Samhain and All Saints'/All Souls' influenced each other and eventually syncretised into the modern Halloween. Most American Halloween traditions were inherited from Irish and Scottish immigrants. Folklorists have used the name 'Samhain' to refer to Gaelic 'Halloween' customs up until the 19th century.


title: Samhain

text: Since the later 20th century Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed Samhain, or something based on it, as a religious holiday.


title: Samhain

text: In Modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic the name is , while the traditional Manx Gaelic name is . It is usually written with the definite article (Irish), (Scottish Gaelic) and (Manx). Older forms of the word include the Scottish Gaelic spellings and . The Gaelic names for the month of November are derived from "Samhain".


title: Samhain

text: These names all come from the Middle Irish "Samain" or "Samuin" , the name for the festival held on 1 November in medieval Ireland, which has been traditionally derived from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) "*semo-" ('summer'). As John T. Koch notes, however, it is unclear why a festival marking the beginning of winter should include the word for 'summer'. Joseph Vendryes also contends that it is unrelated because the Celtic summer ended in August. According to linguists Xavier Delamarre and Ranko Matasović, links to Proto-Celtic *"samon"- ('summer') appear to be folk etymologies. According to them, Gaulish "Samon"- and Middle Irish "Samain" should rather be derived from Proto-Celtic *"samoni"- (< PIE *"smHon"- 'reunion, assembly'), whose original meaning is best explained as 'assembly, [feast of the] first month of the year' (cf. Old Irish -"samain" 'swarm'), perhaps referring to an 'assembly of the living and the dead'.


title: Samhain

text: On Gaulish Coligny calendar, dating from the 1st century BCE, the month name is likely related to the word "Samain". A festival of some kind may have been held during the "three nights of "Samoni"" (Gaulish ). The month name , six months later, likely includes the word for "winter", but the starting point of the calendar is unclear.


title: Samhain

text: "Samain" or "Samuin" was the name of the festival ("feis") marking the beginning of winter in Gaelic Ireland. It is attested in the earliest Old Irish literature, which dates from the 9th century onward. It was one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals: Samhain (~1 November), Imbolc (~1 February), Bealtaine (~1 May) and Lughnasa (~1 August). Samhain and Bealtaine, at opposite sides of the year, are thought to have been the most important. Sir James George Frazer wrote in his 1890 book, "The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion", that 1 May and 1 November are of little importance to European crop-growers, but of great importance to herdsmen practising seasonal transhumance. It is at the beginning of summer that cattle are driven to the upland summer pastures and the beginning of winter that they are led back. Thus, Frazer suggests that halving the year at 1 May and 1 November dates from when the Celts were a mainly pastoral people, dependent on their herds.


title: Samhain

text: Some Neolithic passage tombs in Ireland are aligned with the sunrise around the times of Samhain and Imbolc. These include the Mound of the Hostages ("Dumha na nGiall") at the Hill of Tara, and Cairn L at Slieve na Calliagh.


title: Samhain

text: While Irish mythology was originally a spoken tradition, much of it was eventually written down in the Middle Ages by Christian monks. The tenth-century tale "Tochmarc Emire" ('The Wooing of Emer') lists Samhain as the first of the four seasonal festivals of the year. The literature says a peace would be declared and there were great gatherings where they held meetings, feasted, drank alcohol, and held contests. These gatherings are a popular setting for early Irish tales. The tale "Echtra Cormaic" ('Cormac's Adventure') says that the Feast of Tara was held every seventh Samhain, hosted by the High King of Ireland, during which new laws and duties were ordained; anyone who broke the laws established during this time would be banished.


title: Samhain

text: According to Irish mythology, Samhain (like Bealtaine) was a time when the 'doorways' to the Otherworld opened, allowing supernatural beings and the souls of the dead to come into our world; while Bealtaine was a summer festival for the living, Samhain "was essentially a festival for the dead". "The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn" says that the "sídhe" (fairy mounds or portals to the Otherworld) "were always open at Samhain". Each year the fire-breather Aillen emerges from the Otherworld and burns down the palace of Tara during the Samhain festival after lulling everyone to sleep with his music.


title: Samhain

text: One Samhain, the young Fionn mac Cumhaill is able to stay awake and slays Aillen with a magical spear, for which he is made leader of the fianna. In a similar tale, one Samhain the Otherworld being Cúldubh comes out of the burial mound on Slievenamon and snatches a roast pig. Fionn kills Cúldubh with a spear throw as he re-enters the mound. Fionn's thumb is caught between the door and the post as it shuts, and he puts it in his mouth to ease the pain. As his thumb had been inside the Otherworld, Fionn is bestowed with great wisdom. This may refer to gaining knowledge from the ancestors. "Acallam na Senórach" ('Colloquy of the Elders') tells how three female werewolves emerge from the cave of Cruachan (an Otherworld portal) each Samhain and kill livestock. When Cas Corach plays his harp, they take on human form, and the fianna warrior Caílte then slays them with a spear.


title: Samhain

text: Some tales suggest that offerings or sacrifices were made at Samhain. In the "Lebor Gabála Érenn" (or 'Book of Invasions'), each Samhain the people of Nemed had to give two-thirds of their children, their corn and their milk to the monstrous Fomorians. The Fomorians seem to represent the harmful or destructive powers of nature; personifications of chaos, darkness, death, blight and drought. This tribute paid by Nemed's people may represent a "sacrifice offered at the beginning of winter, when the powers of darkness and blight are in the ascendant". According to the later "Dindsenchas" and the "Annals of the Four Masters"—which were written by Christian monks—Samhain in ancient Ireland was associated with a god or idol called Crom Cruach. The texts claim that a first-born child would be sacrificed at the stone idol of Crom Cruach in Magh Slécht. They say that King Tigernmas, and three-fourths of his people, died while worshiping Crom Cruach there one Samhain.


title: Samhain

text: The legendary kings Diarmait mac Cerbaill and Muirchertach mac Ercae each die a threefold death on Samhain, which involves wounding, burning and drowning, and of which they are forewarned. In the tale "Togail Bruidne Dá Derga" ('The Destruction of Dá Derga's Hostel'), king Conaire Mór also meets his death on Samhain after breaking his "geasa" (prohibitions or taboos). He is warned of his impending doom by three undead horsemen who are messengers of Donn, god of the dead. "The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn" tells how each Samhain the men of Ireland went to woo a beautiful maiden who lives in the fairy mound on Brí Eile (Croghan Hill). It says that each year someone would be killed "to mark the occasion", by persons unknown. Some academics suggest that these tales recall human sacrifice, and argue that several ancient Irish bog bodies (such as Old Croghan Man) appear to have been kings who were ritually killed, some of them around the time of Samhain.


title: Samhain

text: In the "Echtra Neraí" ('The Adventure of Nera'), King Ailill of Connacht sets his retinue a test of bravery on Samhain night. He offers a prize to whoever can make it to a gallows and tie a band around a hanged man's ankle. Each challenger is thwarted by demons and runs back to the king's hall in fear. However, Nera succeeds, and the dead man then asks for a drink. Nera carries him on his back and they stop at three houses. They enter the third, where the dead man drinks and spits it on the householders, killing them. Returning, Nera sees a fairy host burning the king's hall and slaughtering those inside. He follows the host through a portal into the Otherworld. Nera learns that what he saw was only a vision of what will happen the next Samhain unless something is done. He is able to return to the hall and warns the king.


title: Samhain

text: The tale "Aided Chrimthainn maic Fidaig" ('The Killing of Crimthann mac Fidaig') tells how Mongfind kills her brother, king Crimthann of Munster, so that one of her sons might become king. Mongfind offers Crimthann a poisoned drink at a feast, but he asks her to drink from it first. Having no other choice but to drink the poison, she dies on Samhain eve. The Middle Irish writer notes that Samhain is also called "Féile Moingfhinne" (the Festival of Mongfind or Mongfhionn), and that "women and the rabble make petitions to her" at Samhain.


title: Samhain

text: Many other events in Irish mythology happen or begin on Samhain. The invasion of Ulster that makes up the main action of the "Táin Bó Cúailnge" ('Cattle Raid of Cooley') begins on Samhain. As cattle-raiding typically was a summer activity, the invasion during this off-season surprised the Ulstermen. The "Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh" also begins on Samhain. The Morrígan and The Dagda meet and have sex before the battle against the Fomorians; in this way the Morrígan acts as a sovereignty figure and gives the victory to the Dagda's people, the Tuatha Dé Danann. In "Aislinge Óengusa" ('The Dream of Óengus') it is when he and his bride-to-be switch from bird to human form, and in "Tochmarc Étaíne" ('The Wooing of Étaín') it is the day on which Óengus claims the kingship of Brú na Bóinne.


title: Samhain

text: Several sites in Ireland are especially linked to Samhain. Each Samhain a host of otherworldly beings was said to emerge from the Cave of Cruachan in County Roscommon. The Hill of Ward (or Tlachtga) in County Meath is thought to have been the site of a great Samhain gathering and bonfire; the Iron Age ringfort is said to have been where the goddess or druid Tlachtga gave birth to triplets and where she later died.


title: Samhain

text: In "The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain" (1996), Ronald Hutton writes: "No doubt there were [pagan] religious observances as well, but none of the tales ever portrays any". The only historic reference to pagan religious rites is in the work of Geoffrey Keating (died 1644), but his source is unknown. Hutton says it may be that no religious rites are mentioned because, centuries after Christianization, the writers had no record of them. Hutton suggests Samhain may not have been "particularly" associated with the supernatural. He says that the gatherings of royalty and warriors on Samhain may simply have been an ideal setting for such tales, in the same way that many Arthurian tales are set at courtly gatherings at Christmas or Pentecost.


title: Samhain

text: Samhain was one of the four main festivals of the Gaelic calendar, marking the end of the harvest and beginning of winter. Samhain customs are mentioned in several medieval texts. In "Serglige Con Culainn" ('Cúchulainn's Sickbed'), it is said that the festival of the Ulaid at Samhain lasted a week: Samhain itself, and the three days before and after. It involved great gatherings at which they held meetings, feasted, drank alcohol, and held contests. The "Togail Bruidne Dá Derga" notes that bonfires were lit at Samhain and stones cast into the fires. It is mentioned in Geoffrey Keating's "Foras Feasa ar Éirinn", which was written in the early 1600s but draws on earlier medieval sources, some of which are unknown. He claims that the "feis" of Tara was held for a week every third Samhain, when the nobles and ollams of Ireland met to lay down and renew the laws, and to feast. He also claims that the druids lit a sacred bonfire at Tlachtga and made sacrifices to the gods, sometimes by burning their sacrifices. He adds that all other fires were doused and then re-lit from this bonfire.


title: Samhain

text: Similar to Bealtaine, bonfires were lit on hilltops at Samhain and there were rituals involving them. By the early modern era, they were most common in parts of the Scottish Highlands, on the Isle of Man, in north and mid Wales, and in parts of Ulster. F. Marian McNeill says that a force-fire (or need-fire) was the traditional way of lighting them, but notes that this method gradually died out. Likewise, only certain kinds of wood were traditionally used, but later records show that many kinds of flammable material were burnt. It is suggested that the fires were a kind of imitative or sympathetic magic—they mimicked the Sun, helping the "powers of growth" and holding back the decay and darkness of winter. They may also have served to symbolically "burn up and destroy all harmful influences". Accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries suggest that the fires (as well as their smoke and ashes) were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers.


title: Samhain

text: In 19th-century Moray, boys asked for bonfire fuel from each house in the village. When the fire was lit, "one after another of the youths laid himself down on the ground as near to the fire as possible so as not to be burned, and in such a position as to let the smoke roll over him. The others ran through the smoke and jumped over him". When the bonfire burnt down, they scattered the ashes, vying with each other who should scatter them most. In some areas, two bonfires would be built side by side, and the people—sometimes with their livestock—would walk between them as a cleansing ritual. The bones of slaughtered cattle were said to have been cast upon bonfires. In the Gaelic world, cattle were the main form of wealth and were the center of agricultural and pastoral life.


title: Samhain

text: People also took flames from the bonfire back to their homes. During the 19th century in parts of Scotland, torches of burning fir or turf were carried sunwise around homes and fields to protect them. In some places, people doused their hearth fires on Samhain night. Each family then solemnly re-lit its hearth from the communal bonfire, thus bonding the community together. The 17th century writer Geoffrey Keating claimed that this was an ancient tradition, instituted by the druids. Dousing the old fire and bringing in the new may have been a way of banishing evil, which was part of New Year festivals in many countries.


title: Samhain

text: The bonfires were used in divination rituals, although not all divination involved fire. In 18th-century Ochtertyre, a ring of stones—one for each person—was laid round the fire, perhaps on a layer of ash. Everyone then ran round it with a torch, "exulting". In the morning, the stones were examined and if any were mislaid it was said that the person it represented would not live out the year. A similar custom was observed in northern Wales and in Brittany. James Frazer suggests this may come from "an older custom of actually burning them" (i.e. human sacrifice) or it may have always been symbolic. Divination has likely been a part of the festival since ancient times, and it has survived in some rural areas.


title: Samhain

text: At household festivities throughout the Gaelic regions and Wales, there were many rituals intended to divine the future of those gathered, especially with regard to death and marriage. Apples and hazelnuts were often used in these divination rituals and games. In Celtic mythology, apples were strongly associated with the Otherworld and immortality, while hazelnuts were associated with divine wisdom. One of the most common games was apple bobbing. Another involved hanging a small wooden rod from the ceiling at head height, with a lit candle on one end and an apple hanging from the other. The rod was spun round and everyone took turns to try to catch the apple with their teeth. Apples were peeled in one long strip, the peel tossed over the shoulder, and its shape was said to form the first letter of the future spouse's name.


title: Samhain

text: Two hazelnuts were roasted near a fire; one named for the person roasting them and the other for the person they desired. If the nuts jumped away from the heat, it was a bad sign, but if the nuts roasted quietly it foretold a good match. Items were hidden in food—usually a cake, barmbrack, cranachan, champ or sowans—and portions of it served out at random. A person's future was foretold by the item they happened to find; for example a ring meant marriage and a coin meant wealth. A salty oatmeal bannock was baked; the person ate it in three bites and then went to bed in silence without anything to drink. This was said to result in a dream in which their future spouse offers them a drink to quench their thirst. Egg whites were dropped in water, and the shapes foretold the number of future children. Children would also chase crows and divine some of these things from the number of birds or the direction they flew.


title: Samhain

text: As noted earlier, Samhain was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld could more easily be crossed. This meant the "aos sí", the 'spirits' or 'fairies' (the little folk), could more easily come into our world. Many scholars see the "aos sí" as remnants of pagan gods and nature spirits. At Samhain, it was believed that the "aos sí" needed to be propitiated to ensure that the people and their livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink would be left outside for the "aos sí", and portions of the crops might be left in the ground for them.


title: Samhain

text: One custom—described a "blatant example" of a "pagan rite surviving into the Christian epoch"—was recorded in the Outer Hebrides and Iona in the 17th century. On the night of 31 October, fishermen and their families would go down to the shore. One man would wade into the water up to his waist, where he would pour out a cup of ale and ask 'Seonaidh' ('Shoney'), whom he called "god of the sea", to bestow on them a good catch. The custom was ended in the 1670s after a campaign by ministers, but the ceremony shifted to the springtime and survived until the early 19th century.


title: Samhain

text: People also took special care not to offend the "aos sí" and sought to ward-off any who were out to cause mischief. They stayed near to home or, if forced to walk in the darkness, turned their clothing inside-out or carried iron or salt to keep them at bay. In southern Ireland, it was customary on Samhain to weave a small cross of sticks and straw called a 'parshell' or 'parshall', which was similar to the Brigid's cross and God's eye. It was fixed over the doorway to ward-off bad luck, sickness and witchcraft, and would be replaced each Samhain.


title: Samhain

text: The dead were also honoured at Samhain. The beginning of winter may have been seen as the most fitting time to do so, as it was a time of 'dying' in nature. The souls of the dead were thought to revisit their homes seeking hospitality. Places were set at the dinner table and by the fire to welcome them. The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night of the year and must be appeased seems to have ancient origins and is found in many cultures throughout the world. James Frazer suggests "It was perhaps a natural thought that the approach of winter should drive the poor, shivering, hungry ghosts from the bare fields and the leafless woodlands to the shelter of the cottage". However, the souls of thankful kin could return to bestow blessings just as easily as that of a wronged person could return to wreak revenge.


title: Samhain

text: In some areas, mumming and guising was a part of Samhain. It was first recorded in 16th century Scotland and later in parts of Ireland, Mann and Wales. It involved people going from house to house in costume (or in disguise), usually reciting songs or verses in exchange for food. It may have evolved from a tradition whereby people impersonated the "aos sí", or the souls of the dead, and received offerings on their behalf. Impersonating these spirits or souls was also believed to protect oneself from them. S. V. Peddle suggests the guisers "personify the old spirits of the winter, who demanded reward in exchange for good fortune". McNeill suggests that the ancient festival included people in masks or costumes representing these spirits and that the modern custom came from this. In Ireland, costumes were sometimes worn by those who went about before nightfall collecting for a Samhain feast.


title: Samhain

text: In Scotland, young men went house-to-house with masked, veiled, painted or blackened faces, often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed. This was common in the 16th century in the Scottish countryside and persisted into the 20th. It is suggested that the blackened faces comes from using the bonfire's ashes for protection. In Ireland in the late 18th century, peasants carrying sticks went house-to-house on Samhain collecting food for the feast. Charles Vallancey wrote that they demanded this in the name of St Colm Cille, asking people to "lay aside the fatted calf, and to bring forth the black sheep". In parts of southern Ireland during the 19th century, the guisers included a hobby horse known as the "Láir Bhán" (white mare). A man covered in a white sheet and carrying a decorated horse skull would lead a group of youths, blowing on cow horns, from farm to farm. At each they recited verses, some of which "savoured strongly of paganism", and the farmer was expected to donate food. If the farmer donated food he could expect good fortune from the 'Muck Olla'; not doing so would bring misfortune. This is akin to the "Mari Lwyd" (grey mare) procession in Wales, which takes place at Midwinter. In Wales the white horse is often seen as an omen of death. Elsewhere in Europe, costumes, mumming and hobby horses were part of other yearly festivals. However, in the Celtic-speaking regions they were "particularly appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were said to be abroad and could be imitated or warded off by human wanderers".


title: Samhain

text: Hutton writes: "When imitating malignant spirits it was a very short step from guising to playing pranks". Playing pranks at Samhain is recorded in the Scottish Highlands as far back as 1736 and was also common in Ireland, which led to Samhain being nicknamed "Mischief Night" in some parts. Wearing costumes at Halloween spread to England in the 20th century, as did the custom of playing pranks, though there had been mumming at other festivals. At the time of mass transatlantic Irish and Scottish immigration, which popularised Halloween in North America, Halloween in Ireland and Scotland had a strong tradition of guising and pranks. Trick-or-treating may have come from the custom of going door-to-door collecting food for Samhain feasts, fuel for Samhain bonfires and/or offerings for the "aos sí". Alternatively, it may have come from the Allhallowtide custom of collecting soul cakes.


title: Samhain

text: The "traditional illumination for guisers or pranksters abroad on the night in some places was provided by turnips or mangel wurzels, hollowed out to act as lanterns and often carved with grotesque faces". They were also set on windowsills. By those who made them, the lanterns were variously said to represent the spirits or supernatural beings, or were used to ward off evil spirits. These were common in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands in the 19th century. They were also found in Somerset (see Punkie Night). In the 20th century they spread to other parts of Britain and became generally known as jack-o'-lanterns.


title: Samhain

text: Traditionally, Samhain was a time to take stock of the herds and food supplies. Cattle were brought down to the winter pastures after six months in the higher summer pastures (see transhumance). It was also the time to choose which animals would be slaughtered. This custom is still observed by many who farm and raise livestock. It is thought that some of the rituals associated with the slaughter have been transferred to other winter holidays. On St. Martin's Day (11 November) in Ireland, an animal—usually a rooster, goose or sheep—would be slaughtered and some of its blood sprinkled on the threshold of the house. It was offered to Saint Martin, who may have taken the place of a god or gods, and it was then eaten as part of a feast. This custom was common in parts of Ireland until the 19th century, and was found in some other parts of Europe. At New Year in the Hebrides, a man dressed in a cowhide would circle the township sunwise. A bit of the hide would be burnt and everyone would breathe in the smoke. These customs were meant to keep away bad luck, and similar customs were found in other Celtic regions.


title: Samhain

text: During the late 19th and early 20th century Celtic Revival, there was an upswell of interest in Samhain and the other Celtic festivals. Sir John Rhys put forth that it had been the "Celtic New Year". He inferred it from contemporary folklore in Ireland and Wales, which he felt was "full of Hallowe'en customs associated with new beginnings". He visited Mann and found that the Manx sometimes called 31 October "New Year's Night" or "Hog-unnaa". The "Tochmarc Emire", written in the Middle Ages, reckoned the year around the four festivals at the beginning of the seasons, and put Samhain at the beginning of those. However, Hutton says that the evidence for it being the Celtic or Gaelic New Year's Day is flimsy. Rhys's theory was popularised by Sir James George Frazer, though at times he did acknowledge that the evidence is inconclusive. Frazer also put forth that Samhain had been the pagan Celtic festival of the dead and that it had been Christianized as All Saints and All Souls. Since then, Samhain has been popularly seen as the Celtic New Year and an ancient festival of the dead. The calendar of the Celtic League, for example, begins and ends at Samhain.


title: Samhain

text: In the Brittonic branch of the Celtic languages, Samhain is known as the "calends of winter". The Brittonic lands of Wales, Cornwall and Brittany held festivals on 31 October similar to the Gaelic one. In Wales it is "Calan Gaeaf", in Cornwall it is Allantide or "Kalan Gwav" and in Brittany it is "Kalan Goañv".


title: Samhain

text: The Manx celebrate Hop-tu-Naa on 31 October, which is a celebration of the original New Year's Eve. Traditionally, children carve turnips rather than pumpkins and carry them around the neighbourhood singing traditional songs relating to hop-tu-naa.


title: Samhain

text: In 609, Pope Boniface IV endorsed 13 May as a holy day commemorating all Christian martyrs. By 800, there is evidence that churches in Ireland, Northumbria (England) and Bavaria (Germany) were holding a feast commemorating all saints on 1 November, which became All Saints' Day. Alcuin of Northumbria commended his friend Arno of Salzburg, Bavaria for holding the feast on this date. James Frazer suggests this date was a Celtic idea (being the date of Samhain), while Ronald Hutton suggests it was a Germanic idea, writing that the Irish church commemorated all saints on 20 April. Some manuscripts of the Irish "Martyrology of Tallaght" and "Martyrology of Óengus", which date to this time, have a commemoration of all saints ""of Europe"" on 20 April, but a commemoration of all saints of the world on 1 November. It is suggested that Alcuin, a member of Charlemagne's court, introduced the 1 November date of All Saints in the Frankish Empire. In 835, the 1 November date was officially adopted in the Frankish Empire. In the 11th century, 2 November became established as All Souls' Day. This created the three-day observance known as Allhallowtide: All Hallows' Eve (31 October), All Hallows' Day (1 November), and All Souls' Day (2 November).


title: Samhain

text: It is widely believed that many of the modern secular customs of All Hallows' Eve (Halloween) were influenced by the festival of Samhain. Other scholars argue that Samhain's influence has been exaggerated, and that All Hallows' also influenced Samhain itself.


title: Samhain

text: Most American Halloween traditions were brought over by Irish and Scottish immigrants in the 19th century. Then, through American influence, these Halloween traditions spread to many other countries by the late 20th century.


title: Samhain

text: Samhain and Samhain-based festivals are held by some Neopagans. As there are many kinds of Neopaganism, their Samhain celebrations can be very different despite the shared name. Some try to emulate the historic festival as much as possible. Other Neopagans base their celebrations on sundry unrelated sources, Gaelic culture being only one of the sources. Folklorist Jenny Butler describes how Irish pagans pick some elements of historic Samhain celebrations and meld them with references to the Celtic past, making a new festival of Samhain that is inimitably part of neo-pagan culture.


title: Samhain

text: Neopagans usually celebrate Samhain on 31 October–1 November in the Northern Hemisphere and 30 April–1 May in the Southern Hemisphere, beginning and ending at sundown. Some Neopagans celebrate it at the astronomical midpoint between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice (or the full moon nearest this point), which is usually around 6 or 7 November in the Northern hemisphere.


title: Samhain

text: Like other Reconstructionist traditions, Celtic Reconstructionist Pagans (CRs) emphasize historical accuracy. They base their celebrations and rituals on traditional lore as well as research into the beliefs of the polytheistic Celts.


title: Samhain

text: They celebrate Samhain around 1 November, but may adjust the date to suit their regional climate, such as when the first winter frost arrives. Their traditions include saining the home and lighting bonfires. Some follow the old tradition of building two bonfires, which celebrants and animals then pass between as a ritual of purification. For CRs, it is a time when the dead are especially honoured. Though CRs make offerings at all times of year, Samhain is a time when more elaborate offerings are made to specific ancestors. This may involve making a small altar or shrine. They often have a meal, where a place for the dead is set at the table and they are invited to join. An untouched portion of food and drink is then left outside as an offering. Traditional tales may be told and traditional songs, poems and dances performed. A western-facing door or window may be opened and a candle left burning on the windowsill to guide the dead home. Divination for the coming year is often done, whether in all solemnity or as games. The more mystically inclined may also see this as a time for deeply communing with their deities, especially those seen as being particularly linked with this festival.


title: Samhain

text: Wiccans celebrate a variation of Samhain as one of their yearly Sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. It is deemed by most Wiccans to be the most important of the four "greater Sabbats.” Samhain is seen by some Wiccans as a time to celebrate the lives of those who have died, and it often involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets and other loved ones who have died. In some rituals the spirits of the dead are invited to attend the festivities. It is seen as a festival of darkness, which is balanced at the opposite point of the wheel by the spring festival of Beltane, which Wiccans celebrate as a festival of light and fertility.


title: Samhain

text: Wiccans believe that at Samhain the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest point of the whole year, making it easier to communicate with those who have left this world.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Wall Street is a 1987 American drama film, directed and co-written by Oliver Stone, which stars Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah, and Martin Sheen. The film tells the story of Bud Fox (C. Sheen), a young stockbroker who becomes involved with Gordon Gekko (Douglas), a wealthy, unscrupulous corporate raider.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Stone made the film as a tribute to his father, Lou Stone, a stockbroker during the Great Depression. The character of Gekko is said to be a composite of several people, including Dennis Levine, Ivan Boesky, Carl Icahn, Asher Edelman, Michael Milken, and Stone himself. The character of Sir Lawrence Wildman, meanwhile, was modelled on the prominent British financier and corporate raider Sir James Goldsmith. Originally, the studio wanted Warren Beatty to play Gekko, but he was not interested; Stone, meanwhile, wanted Richard Gere, but Gere passed on the role.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: The film was well received among major film critics. Douglas won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the film has come to be seen as the archetypal portrayal of 1980s excess, with Douglas' character declaring that "greed, for lack of a better word, is good." It has also proven influential in inspiring people to work on Wall Street, with Sheen, Douglas, and Stone commenting over the years how people still approach them and say that they became stockbrokers because of their respective characters in the film.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Stone and Douglas reunited for a sequel titled "", which was released theatrically on September 24, 2010.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: In 1985, Bud Fox is a junior stockbroker at Jackson Steinem & Co. in New York City. He wants to work with his hero, Gordon Gekko, a legendary Wall Street player. After calling Gekko's office 59 days in a row trying to land an appointment, Bud visits Gekko on his birthday with a box of Gekko's favorite, contraband Cuban cigars. Impressed at his boldness, Gekko grants Bud an interview. Bud pitches him stocks, but Gekko is unimpressed. Desperate, Bud provides him some inside information about Bluestar Airlines, which he has learned in a casual conversation with his father, Carl, leader of the company's maintenance workers' union. Intrigued, Gekko tells Bud he will think about it. A dejected Bud returns to his office. However, Gekko places an order for Bluestar stock and becomes one of Bud's clients.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: After making a considerable amount of money from the Bluestar tip, Gekko gives Bud some capital to manage, but the other stocks Bud selects by honest research and advice from respected senior broker Lou Mannheim lose money. Gekko offers Bud another chance, and tells him to spy on British investor Sir Lawrence Wildman. They deduce that Wildman is making a bid for Anacott Steel. Gekko buys a large block of shares in Anacott, which Wildman is forced to buy off him at a high price, to complete the takeover.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Bud becomes wealthy, enjoying Gekko's promised perks, including a penthouse on Manhattan's East Side. He also gains a girlfriend, Gekko’s art consultant and ex-girlfriend, Darien, an interior decorator. Bud is promoted as a result of the large commissions he is bringing in and is given an office with a view. He continues to maximize inside information and use friends as straw buyers to provide more income for himself and Gekko. Unknown to Bud, several of his trades attract the attention of the SEC.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Bud pitches a new idea to Gekko: buy Bluestar Airlines and expand the company, with Bud as president, using savings achieved by union concessions and the overfunded pension. Even though Bud is unable to persuade his father to support him and Gekko, he is able to get the unions to push for the deal. Soon afterward, Bud learns that Gekko plans to dissolve the company and sell off Bluestar's assets in order to access cash in the company's pension plan, leaving Carl and the entire Bluestar staff unemployed. Although this would leave Bud a very rich man, he is angered by Gekko's deceit and wracked with guilt of being an accessory to Bluestar's impending destruction, especially after his father suffers a heart attack. Bud resolves to disrupt Gekko's plans, and breaks up with Darien when she refuses to go against Gekko, her former lover.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Bud then devises a plan to leak news of Gekko's takeover to drive the price up. This forces Gekko to buy the stock at a higher price, as he tries to secure a controlling interest. Bud then convinces the unions to pull their support, ending any prospect of Gekko completing the takeover, and causing the price to plummet. This forces Gekko to offload his stock at a considerable loss. Bud and the union presidents then secretly meet with Wildman and arrange for him to buy the stock and a controlling interest in Bluestar, at a significant discount, on the condition that he saves the company. When Gekko learns on the evening news that Wildman is buying Bluestar, he realizes that Bud has engineered the entire scheme. Bud triumphantly goes back to work at Jackson Steinem the following day, only to be arrested for insider trading; the presumption being that Gekko had turned him in.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Sometime later, Bud confronts Gekko in Central Park. Gekko punches Bud several times, berating him for his role with Bluestar, and accuses him of ingratitude for several of their illicit trades. Later, it is revealed that Bud was wearing a wire to record his encounter with Gekko for the authorities, who suggest that he may get a lighter sentence in exchange for providing evidence against Gekko. Later, Bud's parents drive him down the FDR Drive towards the New York County Courthouse, telling Bud that he "did the right thing" by cooperating with the government and paying back his illicit earnings, and urge him to accept Wildman's offer of a job at Bluestar, once he has completed his prison sentence.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: After the success of "Platoon" (1986), Stone wanted film school friend and Los Angeles screenwriter Stanley Weiser to research and write a screenplay about quiz show scandals in the 1950s. During a story conference, Stone suggested making a film about Wall Street instead. The director pitched the premise of two investment partners getting involved in questionable financial dealings, using each other, and they are tailed by a prosecutor as in "Crime and Punishment". The director had been thinking about this kind of a movie as early as 1981 and was inspired by his father, Lou Stone, a broker during the Great Depression at Hayden Stone.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: The filmmaker knew a New York businessman who was making millions and working long days putting together deals all over the world. This man started making mistakes that cost him everything. Stone remembers that the "story frames what happens in my movie, which is basically a "Pilgrim's Progress" of a boy who is seduced and corrupted by the allure of easy money. And in the third act, he sets out to redeem himself". Stone asked Weiser to read "Crime and Punishment", but Weiser found that its story did not mix well with their own. Stone then asked Weiser to read "The Great Gatsby" for material that they could use, but it was not the right fit either. Weiser had no prior knowledge of the financial world and immersed himself in researching the world of stock trading, junk bonds, and corporate takeovers. He and Stone spent three weeks visiting brokerage houses and interviewing investors.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Weiser wrote the first draft, initially called "Greed", with Stone writing another draft. Originally, the lead character was a young Jewish broker named Freddie Goldsmith, but Stone changed it to Bud Fox to avoid the stereotype that Wall Street was controlled by Jews. Reportedly, Gordon Gekko is said to be a composite of several people: Wall Street broker Owen Morrisey, an old friend of Stone's who was involved in a $20 million insider trading scandal in 1985, Dennis Levine, Ivan Boesky, corporate raider Carl Icahn, art collector Asher Edelman, agent Michael Ovitz, and Stone himself. For example, the "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good" line was based on a speech by Boesky (to the 1986 graduating class of the U.C. Berkeley School of Business Administration) where he said, "Greed is right".


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: According to Edward R. Pressman, producer of the film, "Originally, there was no one individual who Gekko was modeled on", he adds, "But Gekko was partly Milken". Also, Pressman has said that the character of Sir Larry Wildman was modeled on James Goldsmith, the Anglo-French billionaire and corporate-raider.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: According to Weiser, Gekko's style of speaking was inspired by Stone. "When I was writing some of the dialogue I would listen to Oliver on the phone and sometimes he talks very rapid-fire, the way Gordon Gekko does". Stone cites as influences on his approach to business, the novels of Upton Sinclair, Sinclair Lewis and Victor Hugo, and the films of Paddy Chayefsky because they were able to make a complicated subject clear to the audience. Stone set the film in 1985 because insider trading scandals culminated in 1985 and 1986. This led to anachronisms in the script, including a reference to the Space Shuttle "Challenger" disaster, which had not yet occurred.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Stone met with Tom Cruise about playing Bud Fox, but the director had already committed to Charlie Sheen for the role. Matthew Modine turned down the role of Bud Fox. Stone liked the "stiffness" of Sheen's acting style and used it to convey Bud's naivete. Michael Douglas had just come off heroic roles like the one in "Romancing the Stone" and was looking for something dark and edgy. The studio wanted Warren Beatty to play Gekko, but he was not interested. Stone initially wanted Richard Gere but the actor passed, so Stone went with Douglas despite having been advised by others in Hollywood not to cast him. Stone remembers, "I was warned by everyone in Hollywood that Michael couldn't act, that he was a producer more than an actor and would spend all his time in his trailer on the phone". Nevertheless, Stone found out that "when he's acting he gives it his all". Stone said that he saw "that villain quality" in Douglas and always thought he was a smart businessman. Douglas remembers that when he first read the screenplay, "I thought it was a great part. It was a long script, and there were some incredibly long and intense monologues to open with. I'd never seen a screenplay where there were two or three pages of single-spaced type for a monologue. I thought, whoa! I mean, it was unbelievable". For research, he read profiles of corporate raiders T. Boone Pickens and Carl Icahn.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Stone gave Charlie Sheen the choice of Jack Lemmon or Martin Sheen to play his father in the film, and Sheen picked his father. The elder Sheen related to the moral sense of his character. Stone cast Daryl Hannah as Bud Fox's materialistic girlfriend Darien Taylor, but felt that she was never happy with the role and did not know why she accepted it. He tried to explain the character to Hannah repeatedly, and thought that the materialism of the character conflicted with Hannah's idealism. Stone said later that he was aware early on that she was not right for the part. "Daryl Hannah was not happy doing the role and I should have let her go. All my crew wanted to get rid of her after one day of shooting. My pride was such that I kept saying I was going to make it work". Stone also had difficulties with Sean Young, who made her opinions known that Hannah should be fired and that she should play that role instead. Young would show up to the set late and unprepared. She did not get along with Charlie Sheen, which caused further friction on the set. In retrospect, Stone felt that Young was right and he should have swapped Hannah's role with hers. Stone admits that he had "some problems" with Young, but was not willing to confirm or deny rumors that she walked off with all of her costumes when she completed filming.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Stone wanted to shoot the movie in New York City and that required a budget of at least $15 million, a moderate shooting budget by 1980s standards. The studio that backed "Platoon" felt that it was too risky a project to bankroll and passed. Stone and producer Edward R. Pressman took it to 20th Century Fox and filming began in April 1987 and ended on July 4 of the same year. Parts of the film were shot in Snowbird, Utah. According to Stone, he was "making a movie about sharks, about feeding frenzies. Bob [director of photography Robert Richardson] and I wanted the camera to become a predator. There is no let-up until you get to the fixed world of Charlie's father, where the stationary camera gives you a sense of immutable values". The director saw [Wall Street] as a battle zone and "filmed it as such" including shooting conversations like physical confrontations, and in ensemble shots had the camera circle the actors "in a way that makes you feel you're in a pool with sharks".


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Jeffrey "Mad Dog" Beck, a star investment banker at the time with Drexel Burnham Lambert, was one of the film's technical advisers and has a cameo appearance in the film as the man speaking at the meeting discussing the breakup of Bluestar. Kenneth Lipper, investment banker and former deputy mayor of New York for Finance and Economic Development, was also hired as chief technical adviser. At first, he turned Stone down because he felt that the film would be a one-sided attack. Stone asked him to reconsider and Lipper read the script responding with a 13-page critique. For example, he argued that it was unrealistic to have all the characters be "morally bankrupt". Lipper advised Stone on the kind of computers used on the trading floor, the accurate proportion of women at a business meeting, and the kinds of extras that should be seated at the annual shareholders' meeting where Gekko delivers his "Greed is good" speech. Stone agreed with Lipper's criticism and asked him to rewrite the script. Lipper brought a balance to the film and this helped Stone get permission to shoot on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during trading hours. Lipper and Stone disagreed over the character of Lou Mannheim. Stone shot a scene showing the honest Mannheim giving in to insider trading, but Lipper argued that audiences might conclude that everyone on Wall Street is corrupt and insisted that the film needed an unimpeachable character. Stone cut the scene.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Stone also consulted with Carl Icahn, Asher Edelman, convicted inside trader David Brown, several government prosecutors, and Wall Street investment bankers. In addition, traders were brought in to coach actors on the set on how to hold phones, write out tickets, and talk to clients. Stone asked Lipper to design a six-week course that would expose Charlie Sheen to a cross section of young Wall Street business people. The actor said, "I was impressed and very, very respectful of the fact that they could maintain that kind of aggressiveness and drive".


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Douglas worked with a speech instructor on breath control in order to become better acclimatized to the fast rhythm of the film's dialogue. Early on in the shoot, Stone tested Douglas by enhancing his "repressed anger", according to the actor. At one point, Stone came into Douglas' trailer and asked him if he was doing drugs because "you look like you haven't acted before". This shocked Douglas, who did more research and worked on his lines again and again, pushing himself harder than he had before. All of this hard work culminated with the "Greed is good" speech. Stone planned to use a "Fortune" magazine cover in exchange for promotional advertisements, but "Forbes" magazine made a similar offer. Stone stuck with "Fortune", which upset "Forbes" publisher Malcolm Forbes, who turned down a later request to use his private yacht. Stone switched from 12- to 14-hour shooting days in the last few weeks in order to finish principal photography before an impending Directors Guild of America strike and finished five days ahead of schedule. Sheen remembered that Stone was always looking at the script and at his watch.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: The original score composed by Stewart Copeland was released on LP record in 1988, with the first five tracks from Copeland's score from the film "Talk Radio", followed by a CD version in 1993.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: The film has come to be seen as the archetypal portrayal of 1980s excess, with Gekko advocating "greed, for lack of a better word, is good". "Wall Street" defines itself through a number of morality conflicts putting wealth and power against simplicity and honesty, and an attack on the value system of extreme competitiveness where ethics and the law are simply irrelevant parts of the show.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Carl (Martin Sheen's character) represents the working class in the film: he is the union leader for the maintenance workers at Bluestar. He constantly attacks big business, money, mandatory drug screening, greedy manufacturers, and anything that he sees as a threat to his union. The conflict between Gekko's relentless pursuit of wealth and Carl Fox's leftward leanings form the basis of the film's subtext. This subtext could be described as the concept of the two fathers battling for control over the morals of the son, a concept Stone had also used in "Platoon". In "Wall Street" the hard-working Carl Fox and the cutthroat businessman Gordon Gekko represent the fathers. The producers of the film use Carl as their voice in the film, a voice of reason amid the creative destruction brought about by Gekko's unrestrained personal philosophy.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: A significant scene in the film is a speech by Gekko to a shareholders' meeting of Teldar Paper, a company he is planning to take over. Stone uses this scene to give Gekko, and by extension, the Wall Street raiders he personifies, the chance to justify their actions, portraying himself as a liberator of the company value from the ineffective and excessively compensated executives. The inspiration for the "Greed is good" speech seems to have come from two sources. The first part, where Gekko complains that the company's management owns less than three percent of its stock, and that it has too many vice presidents, is taken from similar speeches and comments made by Carl Icahn about companies he was trying to take over. The defense of greed is a paraphrase of the May 18, 1986, commencement address at the UC Berkeley's School of Business Administration, delivered by arbitrageur Ivan Boesky (who himself was later convicted of insider trading charges), in which he said, "Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself."


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: "Wall Street" is not a wholesale criticism of capitalism, but of the cynical, quick-buck culture of the 1980s. The "good" characters in the film are themselves capitalists, but in a more steady, hardworking sense. In one scene, Gekko scoffs at Bud Fox's question as to the moral value of hard work, quoting the example of his (Gekko's) father, who worked hard his entire life only to die in debt. Sir Laurence Wildman genuinely attempts to save Anacott Steel and ultimately saves Blue Star instead, although Gekko taunts him that he laid off thousands of workers in previous companies which he took over. Lou Mannheim, the film's archetypal mentor, says early in the film, that "good things sometimes take time", referring to IBM and Hilton—in contrast, Gekko's "Greed is Good" credo and his frequent references to Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" typify the short-term view prevalent in the 1980s.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: "Wall Street" was released on December 11, 1987, in 730 theaters and grossed $4.1 million on its opening weekend. It went on to make $43.8 million in the United States and Canada, earning theatrical rentals of $20 million. Internationally, it earned rentals of $21 million for a worldwide total of $41 million.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: The film has a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 61 reviews, with an average rating of 6.90/10. The consensus reads, "With "Wall Street", Oliver Stone delivers a blunt but effective—and thoroughly well-acted—jeremiad against its era's veneration of greed as a means to its own end." On Metacritic it has a score of 56 out of 100 from 16 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". In his review for "The New York Times", Vincent Canby, while quite critical of the film overall, praised Douglas' work as "the funniest, canniest performance of his career". Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and praised it for allowing "all the financial wheeling and dealing to seem complicated and convincing, and yet always have it make sense. The movie can be followed by anybody, because the details of stock manipulation are all filtered through transparent layers of greed. Most of the time we know what's going on. All of the time, we know why". "Time" magazine's Richard Corliss wrote, "This time he works up a salty sweat to end up nowhere, like a triathlete on a treadmill. But as long as he keeps his players in venal, perpetual motion, it is great scary fun to watch him work out". In his review for "The Globe and Mail", Jay Scott praised the performances of the two leads: "But Douglas's portrayal of Gordon Gekko is an oily triumph and as the kid Gekko thinks he has found in Fox ('Poor, smart and hungry; no feelings'), Charlie Sheen evolves persuasively from gung-ho capitalist child to wily adolescent corporate raider to morally appalled adult". Rita Kempley wrote in "The Washington Post" that the film "is at its weakest when it preaches visually or verbally. Stone doesn't trust the time-honored story line, supplementing the obvious moral with plenty of soapboxery". F.F. Mormani, writing for The Objective Standard, calls the film "mixed", explaining that it "accurately portray[s] some aspects of the financial profession and unjustly demonizing it, too. But," she concludes, "it is sufficiently thought provoking and philosophical to recommend watching or rewatching."


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Michael Douglas won the Academy Award for Best Actor and thanked Oliver Stone for "casting me in a part that almost nobody thought I could play". However, Daryl Hannah's performance was not as well received and earned her a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress, thus making this the only film to date to win both an Oscar and an Razzie. The "quintessential financial high-roller's attire" of Michael Douglas in the movie, designed by Alan Flusser, was emulated in the 1980s by yuppies.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: Interest in the film was renewed in 1990 when the cover of "Newsweek" magazine asked, "Is Greed Dead?" after 1980s icons like Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky ran afoul of insider trading laws. Over the years, the film's screenwriter Stanley Weiser has been approached by numerous people who told him, "The movie changed my life. Once I saw it I knew that I wanted to get into such and such business. I wanted to be like Gordon Gekko". In addition, both Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas still have people come up to them and say that they became stockbrokers because of their respective characters in the film. In 2002, Stone was asked how the financial market depicted in "Wall Street" has changed and he replied, "The problems that existed in the 1980s market grew and grew into a much larger phenomenon. Enron is a fiction, in a sense, in the same way that Gordon Gekko's buying and selling was a fiction ... Kenny Lay—he's the new Gordon Gekko". "Entertainment Weekly" magazine's Owen Gleiberman commented in 2009 that the film "reveals something now which it couldn't back then: that the Gordon Gekkos of the world weren't just getting rich—they were creating an alternate reality that was going to crash down on all of us."


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: A 20th-anniversary edition was released on September 18, 2007. New extras include an on-camera introduction by Stone, extensive deleted scenes, "Greed is Good" featurettes, and interviews with Michael Douglas and Martin Sheen.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: In reviewing the film's sequel 23 years later, "Variety" noted that though the original film was "intended as a cautionary tale on the pitfalls of unchecked ambition and greed, Stone's 1987 original instead had the effect of turning Douglas' hugely charismatic (and Oscar-winning) villain into a household name and boardroom icon – an inspiration to the very power players and Wall Street wannabes for whom he set such a terrible example."


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: In 2007, "The New York Times" reported that a sequel to "Wall Street", to be subtitled "Money Never Sleeps", was already in pre-production. Michael Douglas would reprise his role as Gordon Gekko. The film would also focus on Gekko, recently released from prison and re-entering a much more chaotic financial world than the one he once oversaw. Charlie Sheen would also reprise his character of Bud Fox, but only in a cameo role. Daryl Hannah would not be involved in the sequel.


title: Wall Street (1987 film)

text: But by April 2009, 20th Century Fox confirmed that the sequel was already in development and announced that Oliver Stone would direct. In addition, Shia LaBeouf was cast with Josh Brolin. Javier Bardem had been considered, but Bardem dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. The film was finally released on September 24, 2010 and received mixed reviews.


title: Electric battery

text: An electric battery is a source of electric power consisting of one or more electrochemical cells with external connections for powering electrical devices.


title: Electric battery

text: When a battery is supplying power, its positive terminal is the cathode and its negative terminal is the anode. The terminal marked negative is the source of electrons that will flow through an external electric circuit to the positive terminal. When a battery is connected to an external electric load, a redox reaction converts high-energy reactants to lower-energy products, and the free-energy difference is delivered to the external circuit as electrical energy. Historically the term "battery" specifically referred to a device composed of multiple cells; however, the usage has evolved to include devices composed of a single cell.


title: Electric battery

text: Primary (single-use or "disposable") batteries are used once and discarded, as the electrode materials are irreversibly changed during discharge; a common example is the alkaline battery used for flashlights and a multitude of portable electronic devices. Secondary (rechargeable) batteries can be discharged and recharged multiple times using an applied electric current; the original composition of the electrodes can be restored by reverse current. Examples include the lead-acid batteries used in vehicles and lithium-ion batteries used for portable electronics such as laptops and mobile phones.


title: Electric battery

text: Batteries come in many shapes and sizes, from miniature cells used to power hearing aids and wristwatches to, at the largest extreme, huge battery banks the size of rooms that provide standby or emergency power for telephone exchanges and computer data centers.


title: Electric battery

text: Batteries have much lower specific energy (energy per unit mass) than common fuels such as gasoline. In automobiles, this is somewhat offset by the higher efficiency of electric motors in converting electrical energy to mechanical work, compared to combustion engines.


title: Electric battery

text: In the 1930s, the director of the Bagdad Museum and Iraq Antiquities Department Wilhelm König reported the discovery of the Baghdad battery, a first century device consisting of a ceramic pot, copper, and iron. His assumption was that it was used for electroplating, but later theories suggest it may have been a medical device used for electrotherapy.


title: Electric battery

text: Benjamin Franklin first used the term "battery" in 1749 when he was doing experiments with electricity using a set of linked Leyden jar capacitors. Franklin grouped a number of the jars into what he described as a "battery", using the military term for weapons functioning together. By multiplying the number of holding vessels, a stronger charge could be stored, and more power would be available on discharge.