Maharshi (2019 film)
Maharshi () is a 2019 Indian Telugu-language action drama film directed by Vamshi Paidipally and produced by Sri Venkateswara Creations, Vyjayanthi Movies, and PVP Cinema. The film stars Mahesh Babu, Pooja Hegde, and Allari Naresh while Jagapathi Babu, Kaikala Satyanarayana, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Prakash Raj, and Jayasudha play supporting roles. The soundtrack and score of the film were composed by Devi Sri Prasad, while K. U. Mohanan and Praveen K. L. handled the cinematography and editing respectively. The film was released on 9 May 2019. The plot follows Rishi (Babu), an American NRI businessman and CEO of  a US-based IT company. When his attention is drawn towards the plight of downtrodden farmers by his friend Ravi (Naresh), he sets out to help them. Made on a production budget of 100130 crore, the film grossed about 187200 crore worldwide, thus became the third highest grossing Telugu film of the year. "Maharshi" received positive reviews from critics. Although Babu's performance, the story, and emotional scenes were praised, the film was criticized for its slow and lengthy narration. The film ranks among the highest grossing Telugu films. "Maharshi" received two National Film Awards, including Best Popular Film Providing  Wholesome Entertainment and Best Choreography. The film also won five South Indian International Movie Awards and two awards at Zee Cine Awards Telugu. Plot. K. Rishi Kumar, an Indian man, becomes the CEO of a US-based software company, "Origin" and a powerful billionaire businessman. One day, he meets his closest friend Kanna, his college friends and lecturers at a surprise party in New York. Rishi and Kanna reminisce. Seven years ago, hailing from a middle-class family in Hyderabad, he dreamt to make it big in the software industry and had a tense relationship with his father, K. Satyanarayana , a clerk in a private company who was constantly pressurized by moneylenders. Rishi moved to Vizag for his post-graduation in IIET and befriends his classmates Pooja and Ravi Shankar. Ajay, who is a topper in the college's entrance exam, becomes jealous after seeing Rishi surpass him in all the exams. MP Bhanu Prasad, a politician and minister who is Ajay's father offers Rishi money in exchange for stepping down as the topper, but Rishi refuses and also thrashes his henchmen. Later, Rishi declines Pooja's marriage proposal, feeling that it would hinder his career, and tells her  that she is a burden in his heart and it affects his career ambitions. They break up, and Rishi's friendship with Ravi, who tried to mend their relationship also gets spoiled. Ajay is selected by a top company, "Origin", with the highest package in the college. However, he learns that Rishi developed an AI-based operation system and used it to get a much better opportunity in the same company. Ajay conspires to stop Rishi from attending the campus interview by accusing him of stealing the examination papers. However, Rishi is found innocent and allowed to write his exams . Within a short time, he moves to New York and becomes a leading executive in "Origin". However, the sudden demise of his father leaves him shattered, following which he takes his mother to the US. The film returns to the present, where Rishi is devastated to learn from his professor Chandrasekhar that Ravi took the blame for stealing the examination papers in order to save him and Ravi also made the professor promise not to let Rishi know about it. Ravi's father committed suicide after hearing the news of Ravi's rustication, and his marriage with his girlfriend Pallavi  is called off. Rishi reunites with Ravi in the latter's hometown, where he learns that Ravi has been protesting alone against a company that plans to take away the village farmland for laying oil pipelines. Rishi asks Vivek Mittal, an Indian businessman behind the project, to exclude the village, but the latter declines, saying that it's government project. Hence, Rishi sets up his own office in the village to attract media attention and to set a stage for Ravi to express his concerns. Pooja, now working in a gaming company, is sent by her boss, along with an  assistant, to meet Rishi regarding sponsorship for a new game which she reluctantly agrees. Rishi talks to Pallavi's father and helps fix the broken alliance. Ravi is then made the village leader to express their concerns of the people to the government. Vivek offers more money as compensation to the villagers and also gives money to one of the neighboring villagers to stop further growth of the issue. His henchmen also try to eliminate Ravi, but Rishi saves him. Ravi is hospitalized, and Vivek uses the opportunity to tarnish Rishi's good intentions and make him leave the village . Rishi's mother talks him out of giving up and Rishi returns to the village to finish what he started. After a farmer inspires him to practice farming, Rishi helps the farmers grow crops by leasing them and paying more money than Vivek. In a press meet, Rishi makes a speech emphasizing the importance of agriculture and the losses faced due to the farmer's suicides. Farmers realize the value of their land, and Pooja reconciles with Rishi. Rishi's efforts are appreciated by the Chief Minister, and Ajay, now a leading banking official, exposes Vivek saying that it's  his personal project to escape from his debtors. Thus, the project ends. Rishi resigns as the CEO of Origin and decides to stay in his homeland promoting agriculture. Production. Development. After successfully producing three films – "Munna" (2007)", Brindavanam" (2010) and "Yevadu" (2014) – Dil Raju announced his fourth collaboration with Vamshi Paidipally in early 2018, under Sri Venkateswara Creations. The film was launched under the tentative title "#SSMB25", before the title "Maharshi" was confirmed on 9 August 2018. Speaking to Hemanth Kumar of "Firstpost" about the script writing, Vamshi said "One of the toughest parts while writing the script was adding  multiple layers to the protagonist's journey. “We were quite clear that we weren’t going to tell a story. It had to be like a semi-biopic. We didn’t want to treat the character like a hero right from the beginning. It's about a character who becomes a hero in the end". Filming. After the script work was done for a long time, principal photography of the film began in June 2018. A brief first schedule of the filming took place in Hyderabad, Goa and Dehradun. The team next headed to the United States for a two -month long schedule. The major part of the film in the second schedule was shot in New York. After a delay in the U.S. schedule, filming in the region was completed by November 2018. Soon, the team resumed the shoot in Hyderabad at Ramoji Film City, where a fictional village set was constructed. Vamshi initially planned to shoot the film at a real village, but later decided to shoot it in a set, as they realized that controlling the crowd in real places is tough and risky. It was reported that the set was constructed at a cost of ₹ 8 crore. The schedule lasted until the third week of December 2018. The team then took brief break, with Mahesh Babu and his family going to Dubai for a short holiday. Filming was resumed in the second week of January 2019. The schedule took place in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, and was completed within the same month. The next schedule took place in February 2019. In February Sri Venkateswara Creations announced that the filming would be completed by 15 March 2019, except for two songs. However, the shooting of the film was wrapped up on 18 April 2019. Soundtrack. The film 's soundtrack album and background music were composed by Devi Sri Prasad. All lyrics were written by Sri Mani. The complete soundtrack album was released on 1 May 2019 at the film's pre-release event, where various music artistes performed the songs. Release. The film was originally scheduled to release on 25 April 2019. On 6 March 2019, Dil Raju announced that the film would be postponed due to delay in the post-production work. The film was released theatrically on 9 May 2019. "Maharshi" was released on 8 May 2019 (a day before its official release in India ) across 2500 screens in the United States. In Bengaluru, the film was released across 400 screens, thus becoming the first Telugu film to have a high screen count, of the time. On 8 May 2019, a day before the release of the film, a few officers from the Income Tax Department made a raid at Dil Raju's office and his house, in Hyderabad. The film's Tamil and Kannada dubbed versions titled "Ungalukkaga Oruvan" and "Veera Maharshi" respectively were released in 2020. Distribution. The film's pre-release business, which includes theatrical, overseas, satellite, digital, music and dubbing rights , were sold for ₹150 crore. The worldwide theatrical rights of the film were sold for ₹100 crore. The region-wise breakdown of the rights are: ₹24 crore (Nizam), ₹12.60 crore (ceded), ₹9.60 (Uttarandhra), ₹7.70 (Guntur) ₹7.20 (East Godavari), ₹6 crore (West Godavari), ₹6 crore (Krishna), ₹2.90 (Nellore) ₹8.3 crore (Karnataka), ₹1.7 crore (rest of India) and ₹14 crore (overseas). Hindi dubbing rights of the film were sold to Goldmines Telefilms for ₹20 crore. The other area-wise distributors are: Narasimha Reddy (ceded region), Great India Films  (United States), Southern Star International (Australia and New Zealand), Vintage Creations (East Godavari), Adhitya Films (West Godavari), Phars Film (United Arab Emirates), Sri Venkateswara Creations (Nizam and Uttarandhra), V Movies (Guntur), Rising Star Entertainment (United Kingdom), G3 Movies (Krishna) and Swagath Enterprises (Karnataka). Marketing. A 43-second video titled "#MeetRishi" was released on 9 August 2018, coinciding with Mahesh Babu's birthday. The video revealed the character played by Babu in the film. On 10 March 2019, Mahesh Babu shared a few behind-the-scenes pictures in the social media. The official teaser of the film titled "#JoinRishi" was released  on Ugadi, 6 April 2019. To promote the film, a pre-release event was held on 1 May 2019, at People's Plaza, Necklace Road, Hyderabad. The official trailer and complete audio album of the film were released at the event. Various music artistes of the soundtrack album performed songs from the film. Vijay Deverakonda and Venkatesh were the chief guests of the event. On 16 May 2019, an interactive event titled "Maharshulatho Maharshi" was held in Hyderabad, in which Paidipally and Babu had a interaction/interview with the farmers. Later, a similar event titled "Repati Maharshulatho Maharshi" was held , in which both of them interacted with the school students of The Hyderabad Public School. Eight days after the release, an event was held at Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, to celebrate the film's success. The event, titled "Maharshi Vijayotsavam", was held on 18 May 2019. In June 2019, the event "Celebrating Maharshi" was held at Shilpakala Vedika, Hyderabad, to celebrate the film's 50 day run in 211 movie theaters across India. Home media. The satellite rights of the film were purchased by Sun TV Network for ₹25 crore, and the Telugu version was sold for Gemini TV for  ₹16.5 crore. The film's Telugu version television premiere took place on Gemini TV on 6 October 2019, coinciding with Dussehra. Its premiere on television registered a target rating point (TRP) rating of 9.3, whereas its fifth-time premiere on the channel registered a TRP rating of 10.28. On an average, the TRP ratings of other premieres are also more than 4. The film's digital rights were acquired by Amazon Prime Video for ₹11 crores, and it premiered on 3 July 2019, 54 days after the film's theatrical release. The digital and satellite rights of the  Tamil and Kannada dubbed versions of the film were acquired by Star India and Hotstar respectively. The Tamil and Kannada dubbed versions of the film, titled "Ungalukkaga Oruvan" and "Veera Maharshi", premiered on Star Vijay and Star Suvarna respectively, on 18 October 2020. Reception. Critical reception. "Maharshi" received mixed reviews from the critics who praised Babu's performance and the production values while criticising the predictable, slow and lengthy narration. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of "The Hindu" wrote, "At the heart of Maharshi is a story that could have been leveraged to make a compelling social drama that also traces the  transformative journey of an ambitious man. But there’s a huge gap between what it could have been and what it is". "The Times of India"'s Neeshita Nyayapati gave a rating of 3 out of 5 and wrote that "Watch it not just for Mahesh Babu and Allari Naresh’s performances but also for the story, if you don’t mind all the bells and whistles it comes with. It might not be entertaining all through, thanks to the draggy bits, but its heart is in the right place". Writing for "Hindustan Times", Karthik Kumar opined "Maharshi is a  problematic film with big ideas but it tugs at heartstrings. Take out the farming sub-plot, Maharshi would’ve been a tiresome watch in which Rishi just won’t shut up with his sermons on success". "Sify" criticized the film's narration and duration. The reviewer felt that the film has predictable storyline, lacks any shred of originality, the second half is totally unsatisfied and the emotional core is not convincing. "Sakshi Post" opined that acting performances of Babu and Naresh and the direction are the film's positives, while Devi's soundtrack and poor screenplay are the drawbacks of  the film. "CNN-News18" stated "Maharshi exudes a sense of comfort and happiness in the midst of the wreckage and targeting". "India Today" gave 2.5 out of 5 stars stating "Maharshi has a meaty story in between several sub-plots. If only it was crisp and to the point. If only. Mahesh Babu's Maharshi is not about a business tycoon coming back to his motherland. He has a bigger purpose here". Hemanth Kumar of "Firstpost" praised cinematography, performances of lead actors and film score, adding: ""Maharshi" is a well-intentioned drama and has some beautifully written sequences; however, it  holds back on a lot of things it wants to say for so long that it makes you feel restless at times". A critic of "Deccan Chronicle" too praised cinematography, performances of lead actors and film score, giving a rating of three-and-half out of five. Gabbeta Ranjith Kumar of "The Indian Express" cited the film as "crowd pleaser", giving a final verdict – "Vamshi Paidipally handles an emotionally intense subject well. But, the director could have paid more attention to Maharshi’s run-time. He could have chopped two masala songs which act as speed bumps." Krishna Sripada of  The News Minute gave a rating of 3 out of 5 and opined that the film is "strictly for the fans", writing that ""Maharshi" has plenty to keep the fans whistling. Naresh's character is well-written, and it is his role that offers the pivotal turning point in the movie. Which makes you wonder why he watches a big chunk of the climax from the sidelines, as if he were there only for emotion-capture, like the relative of a "KBC" contestant." He further wrote "Prakash Raj, Rao Ramesh and Tanikella Bharani - we have almost lost the art of  making our character artists important in giving more and more space to the hero. I mean, come on, even Iron Man concedes space to others. Mahesh does these roles effortlessly and one wonders if there is a pattern behind three successive social-message-based, larger-than-life movies. A change, maybe? One for the actor in him, and not just to please the fans!". Sankeertana Varma of "Film Companion" opined the same, stating, ""Maharshi" might just be a delightful movie for a Mahesh Babu fan—after all, it’s mostly him achieving this and that, and running to save people  left and right—but for a fan of the movies, it offers nothing." "The Quint" also criticized film's weak narration, predictable storyline, while appreciated Vamshi's work and DSP's score composition. About Vamshi's work, the critic wrote "Like Vamshi Paidipalli’s previous film "Oopiri", "Maharshi" oozes with the intense desire to share something of value with the audience. The message that farmers need to be valued. And that youngsters can achieve anything they set their mind to." Murali Krishna CH of "The New Indian Express" called it "an overlong melodramatic journey," criticizing its runtime. "[T]he journey of  Mahesh Babu's Rishi is way too long and demands much patience on our part," he added. In contrast, a critic of "The Free Press Journal" rated the film four out of five, writing ""Maharshi" exudes a sense of comfort and happiness in the midst of the wreckage and targeting." "Business Standard" too gave a rating of 4 out of 5, writing "The first-half with its quaint college is heartwarming without trying to be excessively cute. Mahesh Babu's transformative performance from arrogant conceit to conscientious farmer is arguably his best to date." Box office. On opening day, the  film collected a gross collection of 59 crore worldwide. In the Telugu-speaking states of India, it collected a gross collection of 33.3 crore and a distributors' share collection of 24.6 crore. On its opening day, the film collected a gross of $511,000 (3.57) at the United States box office, AU$100,000 in Australia and 23 lakhs in Chennai. In its second day of release, the film earned a distributors' share of 32.57 crore in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In three days, the film collected a gross of $1,158,000 at the United States box office. In the first extended  weekend (Thursday release), the film grossed 100 crore worldwide and entered the 100 Crore Club. By the end of its first weekend, the film had earned a distributors' share collection of 3.45 crore in Bengaluru. On the fifth day, it grossed over 6 crore in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, totalling 75 crore gross and 53.45 share, in the region. By the sixth day of its release, it had collected a gross of $1,500,000 in the United States, making it the sixth film to cross the mark in Babu's career. In seven days, it grossed over 8 crore at  the United Arab Emirates box office. In 11 days, the film collected 72.79 crore in Telugu-speaking states (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana). By the end of its theatrical run, the film had grossed between 187200 crore worldwide, while in the international market the film earned a gross collection of 25 crore and a distributors' share collection of 12.50 crore. Impact. Although "Maharshi" received mixed reviews from critics, it was featured on the various year-end best film charts. "Hindustan Times" considered Allari Naresh's performance in the film as one his five best performances in his career. Several popular personalities  in India praised the film including Chiranjeevi, Sudheer Babu, AR Murugadoss, Sukumar, Ileana D'Cruz, Harish Shankar, Srinu Vaitla, Karan Johar, Samantha Akkineni, Shruti Haasan. On 14 May 2019, Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu, has lauded the film through his Twitter account, and wrote that "By portraying a rural theme, the film highlights the need for farm conservation and support for the elderly. Maharshi is a remarkable film that everyone needs to watch. It showcases the glory of the rural population and the importance of agriculture." After the release of the film, the concept of weekend farming (also known as  weekend agriculture) gained more attention. A new internet challenge. i.e. Agriculture Challenge was started, with several people do farming in the weekends. "The Statesman" reported that the film has created a social impact on the youth and raised awareness about the issues faced by farmers in the rural heartland. In February 2020, Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies organized the contest "Campus Farming". 250 students of the University participated in this contest. At an event in May 2019, Mahesh Babu revealed that the character he played and the film made a huge impact on his life. He further said that  Once you live in a village, it becomes a part of you. Two years ago, when I first heard the script, I was a different man, the film has changed me and helped me reconnect with my roots. I’m a new Mahesh Babu today.