Credits:

Banner: 14 Reels Entertainment

Cast: Mahesh Babu, Kriti Sanon, Gautham krishna, Nassar, Anu Hasan, Sayaji Shinde, Pradeep Rawat, Kelly Dorji, Vikram Singh, Posani krisha murali, Srinivasa reddy, Anand, Sophie Choudry.etc

Music: Devi Sri Prasad

Camera: R. Rathnavelu

Fights: Peter Hain

Lyrics: Chandrabose

Choreography: Prem Rakshith

Story: Jakka Hari Prasad

Story sahakaram: Arjun YK, Thota Sreenu

Screenplay: Jeremy Zimmerman

Direction: Sukumar

Producers: Ram Achanta, Gopichand Achanta, Anil Sunkara

Release date: 10 January 2014

Marketing - Movie was promoted as non genre film. Teaser showed Mahesh Babu with a bloody beer bottle turning himself in at a station and then rockstar shots and then Kelly Dorji opening fight. Trailer showed lots of chases and other things. Didn’t what to expect and audiences expected an action entertainer when in reality its a psychological thriller.
Screenplay - overstuffed. Psychological aspect is key to the film and the golden rice. What Sukumar should have done is introduce that the hero has a disorder and keeps seeing his parents and include a clue about the golden rice earlier with some other device or tied it back to a thing of world hunger or some social issue that would be relevant. But instead the heroine track, unnecessary chase sequences, and long runtime and item song spoiled the movie. For a movie of this genre 2 hrs 15 is ideal. You can still include the elements of a superstar Mahesh movie but the choice of a rockstar causes disconnect. A film actor or some other celeb would have been a better choice so audiences could connect with it.
Direction: When the script itself is not good, not much the director can do. Sukumar made the movie overly complex within the first 15 mins. It’s not that the audience doesn’t know how to watch movies, it’s that it takes a lot of sense and confusion to understand what’s going on within that time to continue to be invested. As a director any time there’s a disconnect with your audience, its hard for them to get re engaged to the story. I know I did when I first watched it.
Release Date: Not a film for Sankranthi for sure. The marketing and everything was hype because it’s a Mahesh Babu’s movie. But a psychological thriller wont work the same way as a family entertainer like SVSC. Folks want to enjoy the escapism not watch something overly serious even if it has a star like Mahesh Babu. Also the over budget it was most the most expensive Telugu movie ever made at the time with 70 crores and was a disaster.