Indra (2002 film)

Indra
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	B. Gopal
Screenplay by	Paruchuri brothers
Story by	Chinni Krishna
Produced by	C. Ashwini Dutt
Starring	Chiranjeevi Sonali Bendre Aarthi Agarwal
Cinematography	V. S. R. Swamy
Edited by	Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Music by	Mani Sharma
Production company	Vyjayanthi Movies
Distributed by	Eros International
Release date	July 24, 2002 (2002-07-24) (India)
Running time	173 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu
Budget	₹10 crore[1]
Box office	est. ₹40–55 crore[2][3]

Indra is a 2002 Indian Telugu-language action drama film directed by B. Gopal and produced by C. Ashwini Dutt under Vyjayanthi Movies. The film stars Chiranjeevi, Sonali Bendre and Aarthi Agarwal, while Sivaji, Mukesh Rishi and Prakash Raj play supporting roles with music composed by Mani Sharma.

Released on 24 July 2002, the film was a major commercial success. Grossing more than ₹40 crore on a budget of ₹10 crore, the film ended up becoming the highest-grossing south indian film of that time.^[4] This film was later dubbed into Hindi as Indra: The Tiger,^[2] Tamil as Indhiran, and Bhojpuri as Indra Ek Sher. The film was remade in Bengali as Dada (2005) and the film was also remade in Bengali Bangladesh as Goriber Dada (2006).

Plot[]

The film opens in a village in Andhra Pradesh showing the rivalry between two families. A police officer wishing to end this hostility comes up with the proposal of marriage between the two families which ultimately is used by Veera Siva Reddy as a trap to finish off his rival brothers, Bharata Simha Reddy and Vijayasimha Reddy. After the funeral, no one is willing to stake a claim for the leadership of the clan when the young Indrasena Reddy, Bharata Simha Reddy's son, comes in and tells his grandmother that he will.

The story then moves to 2002 in Varanasi. Shankar Narayana is a taxi driver who has his own boat, makes an honest living, and is held in high regard by the members of his adopted family. During a singing competition held in his niece's college, her friend Pallavi sees him and falls in love. Pretending to be an orphan, she starts staying with Shankar Narayana and his family. Pallavi's father Chenna Kesava Reddy is the governor of Uttar Pradesh. Upon finding his daughter missing, he carries out a search and discovers that she is staying with a taxi driver and his family. He sends out an attack on his family. Enraged he goes to his house to discover that she is staying with Shankar Narayana. He folds his hands and greets him and it is hinted that he knows something about Shankar Narayana's past. The story carries on to Shankar Narayana's niece's wedding. Giri, who stays with Shankar Narayana and his family as an orphan and drives the boat of Shankar Narayana says that he loved Shankar Narayana's niece. After the marriage, in the area only, Sneha latha Reddy comes with her brother Veera Shankar Reddy, Siva Reddy's eldest son. Snehalatha tells Giri to get up, and reveals that Giri is actually Veera Manohar Reddy, Veera Shankar Reddy's son, and Snehalatha's nephew. She also reveals that Shankar Narayana is really Indrasena Reddy. After the marriage is over, Valmiki, Indrasena's loyal friend, tells the past of Shankar Narayana.

Indrasena Reddy/Shankar Narayana was held in regard in his village. He used to work for the benefit of the people. Siva Reddy, who had murdered Indrasena's family, is warned by him not to return to the village. Siva Reddy returns and, in the ensuing battle, Indrasena kills him. After this, his sons swear revenge on Indrasena and his family. One day Indrasena saves a boy from being run over by a truck – he turns out to be Veera Shankar Reddy's younger son. Veera Shankar Reddy is furious that his son was saved by his enemy, and he kills his own son. Indrasena, upon hearing this, storms Veera Shankar Reddy's house and confronts him. He buries the boy in the courtyard and plants a sapling over it and tells the boy's mother to pour water to the plant every day, also warning the Veera Shankar Reddy and his brothers that if anything were to happen to the plant, he would kill all of them. Snehalatha sees this, falls for Indrasena, and tells him that she will marry him.

The town has been suffering from drought. When one of the villagers tell Indrasena about this, he goes to Chenna Kesava Reddy, previously a collector, and asks to build a reservoir because the poor don't have enough water supply. The government is unable to help because the place where the reservoir can be constructed is owned by Veera Shankar Reddy and his family who are not giving it up. Indrasena calls a meeting and asks them to hand over the land in exchange for whatever they want. The brothers ask for all of his property and a promise that he will leave the village while Snehalatha asks Indrasena to marry her. Indrasena agrees and the reservoir is built. On the day of the wedding, unknown to Snehalatha, her elder brother murders Indrasena's sisters and their husbands. In a state of rage, Indrasena goes on a rampage, killing three of the brothers. Snehalatha promised his brother to take revenge on Indra.

After Valmiki revealed the truth, Indrasena's niece attempt for suicide, after rescuing her from suicide Indra comes to know that she is pregnant. Indrasena then returns to his village of Rayalaseema. Indrasena went to Veera Shankar Reddy's home and warns Veera Manohar reddy to come and take over his niece. Later Snehalatha realizes the truth of her brother killing Indrasena's family by Veera Shankar Reddy's brother-in-law balu as she tells it to her brother, and asks Veera Manohar Reddy to reach Indra's home. Veera Shankar Reddy starts a chase for them as they go in the car and finally Indrasena battles all of them but does not kill Veera Shankar Reddy and suggests that they end the rivalry here only. In the end, Snehalatha and Pallavi try to convince Indrasena Reddy to marry them but neither is successful as he still wants to work for the people.

Cast[]

Music[]

The audio soundtrack of Indra was released on the evening of 14 June 2002 at a neatly erected set in the first floor of Annapurna Studios. This event was a private affair between Chiru fans and the Vijayanthi movie unit. The celebrities who graced this occasion were the Paruchuri brothers (dialogue writers), Aswini Dutt (producer), Chinni Krishna (story writer), VSR Swamy (cinematographer), Sirivennela Seeta Rama Sastry (lyrics writer) and Chiranjeevi. The function started off with a welcome by Raghu Kunche and Suma. Gemini TV covered this event and it was telecast as a 30-minute capsule on Gemini TV. Chiranjeevi selected a coupon from the lucky dip box and called the lucky fan to the stage. Chiranjeevi opened the audio box and handed over the first cassette to that fan, who was so elated that he tried to touch Chiranjeevi's feet, but Chiranjeevi stopped him from doing so. The audio hit the market on 17 June 2002. ^[5]

Release[]

Indra was released on 24 July 2002 in 268 screens, including 223 in Andhra Pradesh, 30 in Karnataka, three in Odisha and 15 in the United States.^[4][6] It grossed more than ₹40 crore on a budget of ₹10 crore.^[1] The film ended up becoming the highest-grossing south Indian film of that time.^[4] It held the record of being the first Telugu movie to collect over ₹40 crores during the first week and until Pokiri broke the record in 2006.^[3]

Box office[]

• The film had collected a distributors' share of ₹80 million in its opening week.^[7]
• It had a 50-day run in 151 centres, including nine in Karnataka and two in Odisha.^[8]
• It had a 100-day run in 122 centres, including four in Karnataka.^[9]
• It had a 175-day run in 32 centres^[10] including a 247-day run in Satyam theatre, Adoni.^[10]

Reception[]

This movie was one of the biggest hits in Chiranjeevi's film career. Jeevi of Idlebrain had given a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stating, "First half is a perfect blend of mass and class elements. It's extraordinary. The interval scene gives the right finishing touch to the first half."^[11]

Awards[]

References[]

External links[]

• Indra at IMDb