Raja the Great
Raja The Great is a 2017 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film written and directed by Anil Ravipudi and produced by Dil Raju on Sri Venkateswara Creations banner.[2] The film stars Ravi Teja as a visually impaired man, alongside Mehreen Pirzada and Raadhika. Vivan Bhatena, Rajendra Prasad, Prakash Raj and Sampath Raj play supporting roles with music composed by Sai Karthik.[3] The film marks the debut of Teja's son Mahadhan as child actor.[4]
Raja The Great | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Anil Ravipudi |
Produced by | Dil Raju |
Written by | Anil Ravipudi |
Starring | Ravi Teja Mehreen Pirzada Raadhika |
Music by | Sai Karthik |
Cinematography | Mohana Krishna |
Edited by | Tammi Raju |
Production company | |
Release date |
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Running time | 150 mins |
Country | India |
Language | Telugu |
Box office | est. ₹52 crore[1] |
The film's production began in February 2017, and principal photography commenced in April 2017 in Hyderabad. Released worldwide on 18 October 2017, the film was a commercial success grossing more than ₹50 crore , becoming Teja's highest-grossing film in his career.[5]
Plot
Lucky is a very protected and pampered daughter of a sincere police officer, SP Prakash. In one of his operations, Prakash encounters the brother of a powerful rowdy sheeter named Devaraj, for which Lucky was one of the reasons. The angered Devaraj wants revenge, and in the attack, Prakash gets killed, and Devaraj also targets Lucky. Lucky runs away to Darjeeling and hides in her father's friend Prasad's house to evade an attempt on her life. Now, the police department looks out for a special team with an objective of security guard for Lucky.
On the other hand, Raja, a blind man, is trained by his head constable mother Anantha Lakshmi to use his disability to his advantage. Anantha Lakshmi's ambition is to make her son a police officer. She obliges with the IG Viswaraj to include her blind son in the mission. After a few incidents take place, he agrees to send him but only to cook food for other officers. Raja, with his friend Bujji and three others, goes to Darjeeling. Raja meets Lucky and starts changing the depressed Lucky into making her have a happy mood with a few tricks. He also learns about Prasad's difficulties. Apparently he was cheated by a bank manager and forced to pay a greater amount back than what he originally borrowed. In a comedic bank robbery, they expose this corrupt bank manager and give his tea estate and his house to him as the rightful owner. Lucky comes out of her depressed state and starts celebrating her life with Raja's help. Meanwhile, Devaraj gets to know where Lucky is and orders his goons to attack her. Knowing this, the Viswaraj and his team come to protect Lucky by sending her abroad, but Raja tells her "not to run and instead fight with them", but the Viswaraj neglects him and takes Lucky away. Devaraj's goons attack the Viswaraj and his team on the way and try to kill Lucky, but to everyone's surprise, Raja (who was trained in sword fights and karate since his childhood) rescues them by defeating the goons.
Lucky gains confidence in Raja, and she agrees to stay with him and fight back. Lucky and Raja go to her uncles' house in Madhira, but her uncles do not accept her for a brief period of time. Raja makes them realize their mistakes. On Lucky's birthday, she gets to know what her father's wish was (to educate poor girls by adopting them) and makes her father's wish as her ambition. Meanwhile, Devaraj sends goons again, but Raja defeats them. Raja challenges Devaraj to meet him. Devaraj comes to Lucky's house with his goons. Raja shows him what he is and gives him a strong warning not to trouble Lucky again. Devaraj kidnaps Raja's mother and Lucky. Raja, however, saves his mother and Lucky with his intelligence. Later, Lucky proposes to Raja.
It is later told that Raja, while escaping with Lucky and Bujji from Devaraj's factory, gets the evidence against Devaraj. The Viswaraj is granted a warrant against Devaraj. When the police goes to Devaraj to arrest him, he injures Raja and then insults him (that he is scared of facing him alone and all), which makes Anantha Lakshmi angry, and she challenges Devaraj to fight her son. Raja fights and defeats Devaraj, but he does not kill him. The Viswaraj encounters Devaraj and involves Raja in future police operations. Raja and Lucky then get married and live happily.
Cast
- Ravi Teja as Raja
- Mehreen Pirzada as Lucky
- Raadhika as Constable Anantha Lakshmi, Raja's mother
- Vivan Bhatena as Devaraj
- Rajendra Prasad as Prasad
- Prakash Raj as SP Prakash and Lucky's Father
- Sampath Raj as IG Viswaraj
- Tanikella Bharani as Mailaramgadda, Devaraj's father
- Ali as Kabaddi Team Player
- Posani Krishna Murali as Lucky's uncle
- Raghu Babu as SI Babu Rao
- Pruthviraj as Bank Manager Babji
- Jaya Prakash Reddy as Devaraj's henchmen
- Srinivasa Reddy as Bujji
- Sai Kumar as Surya Murthy
- Rajiv Kanakala as Police Officer
- Ravi Prakash as Police Officer
- Bharath Reddy as Police Officer
- Banerjee as Kung Fu Coach
- Surya as Raja's father
- Gautham Raju as Sahaayam
- Satyam Rajesh as Lucky's uncle
- Prabhas Sreenu as Lucky's uncle
- Chitram Seenu as Lucky's uncle
- Annapurna as Prasad's mother
- Pavitra Lokesh as Gayatri
- Vidyullekha Raman as Pandu
- Karate Kalyani as Servant Saraswathi
- Hari Teja as Lucky's aunt
- Surekha Vani as Lucky's aunt
- Shanoor Sana as Lucky's aunt
- Rajitha as Viswaraj's wife
- Raghu Karumanchi as Kabaddi Team Player
- Bithiri Sathi as Kabaddi Team Player
- Chammak Chandra as Bank Cashier Siddharth
- Ramachandra as Swamiji
- Racha Ravi
- Mahadhan as Young Raja
- Viva Harsha
- Viva Raghav
- Sampoornesh Babu as Peter (cameo appearance)
- Saptagiri as Seenu (cameo appearance)
- Thagubothu Ramesh as Sastry (cameo appearance)
- Raashi Khanna as a special appearance in the song "Naake Ne Nachestunna"
- Anil Ravipudi (cameo appearance in the song "Raja The Great")
Production
Anil Ravipudi had the idea to make a film with visually impaired character as a lead as he was fascinated by the talents they have. Ravipudi however didn't want the film to be art film and wrote the script in a commercial format.[6]
Release
The film was released on 18 October 2017. The film was dubbed and released in Tamil as Raja Raja Dhan in 2019.
Soundtrack
Raja The Great | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | 4 October 2017 | |||
Recorded | 2017 | |||
Genre | Soundtrack | |||
Length | 17:16 | |||
Label | Aditya Music | |||
Producer | Sai Karthik | |||
Sai Karthik chronology | ||||
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The music is composed by Sai Karthik and released on Aditya Music Company. Raja The Great (Title Song) was released online, for which Ravi Teja gave his voice.
No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Raja The Great" | Shyam Kasarla | Ravi Teja, L. V. Revanth, K. Saketh | 3:42 |
2. | "Nake Ne Nachestunna" | Ramajogayya Sastry | Sameera Bharadwaj, M.L. Shruti | 3:21 |
3. | "Chinnari" | Ramajogayya Sastry | Haricharan, Divija Kartheek | 3:10 |
4. | "Allabe Allabe" | Ramajogayya Sastry | Yazin Nizar | 3:00 |
5. | "Yenniyalo Yenniyalo" | Shyam Kasarla | Sai Karthik | 4:03 |
Total length: | 17:16 |
Reception
Karthik Keramulu writing for the Firstpost rated 2.5 of 5 and wrote: "Raja The Great is an okayish entertaining affair in the theatre. However, the minute one walks out of the movie house, there’d be nothing to pull from the bed of the two-and-a-half-hour comedy to laugh about."[7] The Hindu's Sangeetha Devi stated: "Anil Ravipudi takes the mass route with a blind protagonist and the result is silly humour."[8] The Indian Express critic Manoj Kumar R who rated 2 stars, opined: "You don't go to watch a Ravi Teja film, which is directed by Anil Ravipudi, expecting a Nayakan. It's only fair that we judge his latest offering, Raja The Great, by the standards of mindless entertainers."[9]
References
- "Raja The Great final collections: Ravi Teja starrer grosses Rs 52 crore approximately - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
- "Raja the Great (Ravi Teja's Next Project)". Deccan Chronicle.
- "Raja the Great (Heroine)". Deccan Chronicle.
- "Ravi Teja's son Mahadhan to make acting debut with Raja The Great". International Business Times.
- "Raja The Great box-office collections: Ravi Teja movie becomes highest grosser of his career - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
- Ranjith, AuthorGabbeta. "Director Anil Ravipudi shares details of Raja The Great". Telangana Today. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
- "Raja The Great movie review: Ravi Teja doesn't disappoint in this okay-ish entertaining affair - Entertainment News , Firstpost". Firstpost. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (20 October 2017). "Raja the great: He's blind, but trained". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- "Raja The Great movie review: Another mindless entertainer from Ravi Teja". The Indian Express. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2021.