RX 100 (film)

RX 100
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ajay Bhupathi
Written by	Ajay Bhupathi (Story) (Dialogues)
Produced by	Ashok Reddy Gummakonda
Starring	Kartikeya Gummakonda Payal Rajput
Cinematography	Ram Reddy
Edited by	Praveen K. L.
Music by	Score: Smaran Songs: Chaitan Bharadwaj
Release date	12 July 2018 (2018-07-12)[1][2]
Running time	153 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu
Budget	₹2 crore[3]
Box office	est. ₹25–27.4 crore[3][4]

RX 100 is a 2018 Indian Telugu-language romantic action drama film written and directed by Ajay Bhupathi.^[5] The film features Kartikeya Gummakonda and Payal Rajput in the lead roles with Rao Ramesh and Ramki playing the supporting roles.^[6]

Plot[]

The story of the film is based on the true-life of SIVA, in the rural village of Atreyapuram, Andhra Pradesh, India, where Shiva (Karthikeya), who is a well behaved and cultured heart-throb who is raised by Daddy (Ramki). He eventually meets Indu (Payal Rajput), who is the then nymphomaniac daughter of a local politician. Love appears to blossom between the couple, and they start an intimate relationship, but when the time comes to disclose the affair to their elders, the couple gets separated through a very shocking twist. Just like the plot, Shiva is lost when he thinks the elders refuse his love with Indu. He becomes hyper aggressive, later it is revealed that Indu never loved Shiva, and she only used him to satisfy her desire for sex and lust.^[7] The film portrays how a rather emotional hero, Shiva, who owns a movie theater with his dad and regularly plays Telugu movies, is unable to see acting and drama in real-world with the acting of Indu. Indu is a very self-absorbed woman who uses people for her needs and is predatory in her actions. In the end, he is left with frustration because his love is discarded, and he ends up dying.

Cast[]

• Kartikeya Gummakonda as Shiva
• Payal Rajput as Indu
• Rao Ramesh as Vishwanadham
• Ramki as Daddy
• Mahesh as Raju Bhai
• as Laxman
• Giridhar

Production[]

Ashok Reddy, in an interview to The Times of India, said that "Ajay brought us the story of this film during the release of Premato Mee Karthik. We were so impressed with the story because it is different, raw and native. Premato Mee Karthik is a family movie, so this was going to be a huge deviation. But we were confident about the story and Ajay both, so we began shooting in December last year. During the shooting too, the technicians working on the film liked the way the film was shaping up. That’s where the positive buzz began"^[8]

Soundtrack[]

The songs were composed by Chaitan Bharadwaj and Smaran. The song "Pillaa Raa" became one of the biggest hits of Telugu songs which is sung by Anurag Kulkarni and composed by Chaitan Bharadwaj.^[9][10]

Reception[]

Box office[]

It became one of the few A-rated films in Tollywood with huge success at the box-office. The film has collected a gross of ₹10 crores in the first four days.^[12] The film collected a total share of ₹12.45 crores.^[13]

Critical reception[]

Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South called it "a generic angry young man’s generic love story, until a solid twist turns everything on its head".^[14] Suhas Yellapantula of The Times of India stated "Take away the blood and gore and there’s a story here. RX 100 touches a rather unexplored subject but falters in its execution. You can’t help but wonder why the director plays around with so many different camera angles and tries to create a dark setting. RX 100 has sex, tears and a lot of blood, but the essence of the film is somewhere lost in between. Just like that RX 100 bike which is in focus all the time, but in reality, is insignificant."^[15]

Srivathsan Nadadhur of The Hindu wrote about the film that "Director Ajay Bhupathi’s raw storytelling is a plus for RX 100, the narrative borders on voyeurism at times, but the filmmaker displays enough maturity to not make it seem crass. His inexperience still shows, though, too many moments of nothingness, an indulgent screenplay goes overboard in exploring the angst of the male protagonist. The second hour is inconsistent, the intensity of a full-blown action-romance is amiss despite potent writing. The lead protagonist Karthikeya gets a dream role, yet it’s too big a shoe to fill in his debut."^[16]

Awards and nominations[]

Remake and sequel[]

A film announced to be remade in Hindi starring Tara Sutaria and debutant Ahan Shetty in March 2019,^[18] began filming on 6 August with title as Tadap. Produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and Salman Khan, directed by Milan Luthria and presented by Fox Star Studios,^[19][20] it is scheduled to be released theatrically on 24 September 2021.^[21]

Another film which is touted to be a remake is the Kannada movie Shiva 143 starring Dheeran Ramkumar and Manvitha Harish in the lead role. It will be produced by Jayanna and Bhogendhra, directed by Anil Kumar^[22] In 2020, Ajay Bhupathi confirmed the sequel of the film.^[23]

References[]

External links[]

• RX 100 at IMDb
• RX 100 on Facebook