Bharat Ane Nenu

Bharat Ane Nenu
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Koratala Siva
Written by	Koratala Siva
Produced by	DVV Danayya
Starring	Mahesh Babu Kiara Advani Prakash Raj
Cinematography	Ravi K. Chandran Tirru
Edited by	A. Sreekar Prasad
Music by	Devi Sri Prasad
Production company	DVV Entertainments
Release date	20 April 2018 (2018-04-20)
Running time	173 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Telugu
Budget	₹65 crore[2]
Box office	est. ₹187.6–225 crore[3][2]

Bharat Ane Nenu (transl. I, Bharat) is a 2018 Indian Telugu-language political action film written and directed by Koratala Siva. The film stars Mahesh Babu and Kiara Advani, alongside a supporting cast including Prakash Raj, R. Sarathkumar, Aamani, Devaraj, Posani Krishna Murali, P. Ravi Shankar, Yashpal Sharma, Rao Ramesh, and Brahmaji.^[4] The music was composed by Devi Sri Prasad, while A. Sreekar Prasad edited the film.

The film follows Bharat, an Oxford university student who returns to India following the demise of his father, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. Disillusioned by the corruption he encounters, Bharat decides to bring about a change in the system after becoming the new chief minister, eventually making enemies.

The film was released theatrically on 20 April 2018.

Plot[]

Bharat Ram (Mahesh Babu), a brilliant and curious student, graduates with his 5th degree from Oxford. After celebrating, his uncle tells him that his father Raghava Rao (R. Sarathkumar), Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (pre-division), died from a stroke. Bharat flies home and reminisces.

As a child, Bharat spent most of his time with his mother and best friend Subhash next door as his father was busy setting up a political party with his best friend Varadarajulu (Prakash Raj), the party president. After breaking a small promise, his mother scolds him and tells him about the importance of commitments. She dies in her sleep afterwards, impacting Bharat immensely. Raghava Rao then takes care of him at home, but Varadarajulu tells him that he must prepare for the upcoming elections and suggests he remarry to give Bharat a new mother. He agrees, having another child, Siddharth, with his new wife. Bharat's attempts to bond with his stepmother fail, so he spends more time at Subhash's house. Soon, Subhash's parents get jobs in London, and Bharat wants to go with them. After some time Raghava Rao agrees.

After the flashback, Bharat arrives in India and attends his father's mourning amid heavy media attention. Varadarajulu tells Bharat that his father, an asthmatic, had to be hospitalized due to the cold and that the final rites were completed by Siddharth because of Raghava Rao's death caused public disarray and they couldn't wait for him. Raghava Rao's death caused speculation over who the next Chief Minister will be. Bharat then drives around the city and gets frustrated by the chaotic atmosphere. Varadarajulu introduces him to many politicians, including opposition party leader Sripathi Rao (Devaraj) and his son Manohar (Yashpal Sharma). As Bharat prepares to return to London, Varadarajulu cancels his ticket, explaining that he should be the next CM. Bharat objects and asks Varadarajulu to accede instead, but he opposes based on his position and intra-party conflict. Bharat reluctantly agrees and becomes CM despite his inexperience. However, his strict policies and novel ideas restore law and order and become popular with the public, earning the opposition's ire. One day, he sees a girl named Vasumathi (Kiara Advani) and instantly falls in love with her. Bharat surprises Vasumathi by calling her and asks her out about, kindling romance. Later, he finds out that many politicians are laundering money and tries to expose Manohar. However, Varadarajulu stops the investigation and invites Bharat to the politicians' small party, where their collaboration and scheming surprise him. He decides to remove all this corruption from politics.

One day, Ramana (Rahul Ramakrishna) and other youths come from Kakinada to meet Bharat. They cry out that their MLA, Rajendran from Bharat's party, was unhelpful and corrupt. Now a by-election has been scheduled, his son Raghu is contesting in it. Since Rajendran was brother of MP Damodaran (P. Ravi Shankar), a senior leader in Bharat's party, the party has given seat to Raghu. the villagers are terribly upset as the ruling party's candidate is sure to win and hence have come to Bharat. Bharat tells Ramana to run against him as an independent candidate, and puts all state machinery to neutral position. Damu's henchmen kill many villagers in return, so Bharat sends undercover police officers to protect Ramana. Damu's police officers attempt to murder Ramana at his cinema hall, but Bharat arrives in time. Damu proclaims that Bharat is only powerful due to his bodyguards. After Bharat alone defeats his henchmen, Damu retreats. Bharat soon decides local governance must be instated, which succeeds despite the assembly's disapproval. However, Varadarajulu exposes Bharat's relationship with Vasumathi, causing a scandal and accusations of nepotism since she now works with him. Bharat resigns, Varadarajulu becomes Chief Minister, and Vasumathi and her father move to their native village.

Bharat arranges a press meet, where he attacks their sensationalism. The common people start to visit their MLAs and ask for Bharat to be reinstated as their Chief Minister again. Afterwards, his friend, ACP Krishna IPS (Ajay), tells him they found a journalist named Mitra (Surya) hiding in a Behrampur village in Orissa. Bharat, along with his personal secretary Bhaskar (Brahmaji) and Security Officer Mukthar (Mukhtar Khan), go there and learn the journalist met with Raghava Rao before his death and proved Varadarajulu's corruption to him. At the same time, the ruling party's executive committee asks Varadarajulu to resign and bring back Bharat as CM. This irritates Varadarajulu and he plans to kill Bharat. As Bharat leaves the journalist's house, Mukthar gets shot in an ambush. Bharat takes him to a hospital and spots Varadarajulu's henchmen, so they escape again. Bharat eventually fights them in an abandoned area. As an army of goons shows up, the villagers arrive to protect him. They follow Bharat to Varadarajulu's office, where they face off.

Varadarajulu reveals that he tampered with Raghava Rao's medicines to slowly paralyze and kill him because Raghava started doubting on him since found out about Varadarajulu's corruption. Bharat gives 24 hours window for Varadarajulu to admit his crimes to the public and surrender. After he leaves, Varadarajulu commits suicide. The Legislature is dissolved, and Bharat's side wins in the election by Land-slide. All corrupt politicians from both sides are arrested, and Bharat takes office back as Chief Minister. The film ends with Bharat going with his family to Vasumathi's village residence, to propose marriage to her.

Cast[]

Production[]

Development[]

DVV Danayya announced that they would produce a film with Mahesh Babu directed by Koratala Siva in mid-2016. Devi Sri Prasad (DSP) was chosen to do the music for this film.

Casting[]

Kiara Advani played the role of the Chief Minister's girlfriend. Sarath Kumar was roped in to play the role of Mahesh Babu's father, and Prakash Raj signed in to play the antagonist.

Actor Devaraj, who played prominent antagonistic roles in Telugu cinemas in the first decade of the 21st century, was noted to appear in a Telugu film after a gap of 11 years through Bharat Ane Nenu, where he played the role of leader of the opposition party.

Crew[]

Stunt duo Ram-Laxman performed the stunt choreography for this film. The dance choreography was performed by Raju Sundaram, Dinesh Kumar, and Raghu.

Filming[]

"I Don't Know", the first South Indian song sung by Farhan Akhtar, was shot in Spain with Mahesh Babu and was choreographed by Raju Sundaram.

Soundtrack[]

The soundtrack of the film was composed by Devi Sri Prasad. The album features five songs, out of which three of them were released as singles. The first single "Bharat Ane Nenu" was released on 25 March 2018, at the occasion of Ram Navmi. The second single "I Don't Know" was launched on 1 April 2018.Farhan Akhtar lent his voice for the song "I Don't Know", which is first time for a South Indian movie. The third track "Vachaadayyo Swami", was released on 6 April 2018. The soundtrack was launched at the pre-release event which took place in the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium on 7 April 2018, with N. T. Rama Rao Jr. being the chief guest.^[5]

All lyrics are written by Ramajogayya Sastry.

Release[]

Bharat Ane Nenu was released theatrically on 20 April 2018.^[6] The film's dubbed versions were released in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi. The Tamil dubbed version titled Bharat Ennum Naan & the Malayalam version titled Bharat Enna Njan were released on 31 May 2018^[7] while the Hindi dubbed version titled Dashing CM Bharath was released on 2 November 2018.^[8]

Reception[]

Critical reception[]

Hemanth Kumar of Firstpost wrote "Mahesh Babu, Koratala Siva deliver an intense political drama". Kumar also said, "He (Siva) has shown yet again that there's plenty of drama when a normal guy takes an uncommon path. Bharat might have become the messiah of the state in the story, but it's Mahesh Babu who leaves a long lasting impression in the end. Two big thumbs up for the film. It delivers more than what it promises" giving 4 stars out of 5.^[9] Priyanka Sundar of Hindustan Times gave the film 3 stars out of 5, saying "Mahesh Babu as CM ushers in a new era. Mahesh Babu has the best of what commercial cinema has to offer – a strong subject, a tight film and a role he can chew on."^[10]

Suhas Yellapantula of The Times of India rated the 3.5 stars out of 5, mentioning "Bharat Ane Nenu gives you a lot to root for and provides a bang for your buck but lacks the finesse that makes for a good political thriller.".^[11] Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu wrote, "This promise ticks the right boxes. Bharat Ane Nenu deserves a thumbs up for its well thought out plot and nuanced characters. Keeping us hooked to the narrative are Mahesh Babu, accompanied by Prakash Raj in another winsome and complex role, Rahul Ramakrishna, Rao Ramesh, Brahmaji and Kiara Advani among others. Kiara is impressive.".^[12]

Box office[]

Bharat Ane Nenu grossed between ₹187.6–215 crore in its full theatrical run including other versions.^[3][2]

Awards and nominations[]

References[]

External links[]

• Bharat Ane Nenu at IMDb