Sarrainodu was released on 22 April 2016 and received negative reviews from critics who praised Arjun and Aadhi's performances, action sequences, cinematography and music, but criticized its screenwriting and characterizations. It was a Blockbuster at the box office and became the 2nd highest grossing Telugu film of 2016 after Janatha Garage.[3] It was subsequently dubbed into Malayalam as Yodhavu and was released in Kerala a month after the original version.[4] The core plot was reported to be loosely based on the 2004 film Walking Tall.[5]
Plot
Gana is a former Indian Army Major-turned-vigilante who is raised by his paternal uncle Sripathi and berated by his father Umapathi for not having an aim in life. Gana is sent to a neighboring village to meet his prospective bride, Mahalakshmi alias Jaanu, who is the daughter of his father's friend Jaya Prakash, an ex-IAS officer. However, Gana meets MLA Hansitha Reddy and falls for her. He tells an imaginary story to Umapathi that Jaanu rejected him due to his involvement in fights.
Meanwhile, Vairam Dhanush is the son of Chief Minister Reddy, who meets a businessman Veerendra. Veerendra and his rich father seeks Dhanush's help as Veerendra assaulted and killed a girl in a drug overdose. The girl's parents seek Hansitha's help when they file the petition in the court. Due to the lack of evidence and the embarrassment faced in the court. The girl's parents commit suicide. Enraged, Gana thrashes Dhanush's lawyer and chops Veerendra's legs, which enrages Dhanush. After learning his actions, Hansitha falls for Gana and promises to marry him if he swears in the presence of God that he will not indulge in violence.
When Gana is about to take the oath at the temple, a badly injured Jaanu arrives, running from Dhanush's henchmen who try to kill her. Gana beats up the thugs and saves Jaanu's life, giving her courage. At Gana's house, Jaanu reveals that she did not reject Gana. Gana had arrived at Jaanu's village and had saved her from Obul Reddy, who was working for Dhanush. Gana had declined the marriage. Jaanu explains that Dhanush had tried to blackmail Jaya Prakash as he had been protecting farmers so that they would not have to sell their lands for the laying down of oil pipelines. This incident infuriated Dhanush, who killed the farmers, but Jaanu intervened and insulted Dhanush.
Dhanush killed Jaya Prakash and tried to kill her, but she narrowly escaped and ran for days to find Gana. After learning this, Gana goes to Dhanush's home where he battles with his henchmen and tries to burn Dhanush alive, but Dhanush escapes. Gana is questioned for the attack but claims that other people had thrashed Dhanush. Eventually, Obul Reddy reveals the truth about the atrocities that Dhanush committed in the village, and the media is thrown into an uproar. Dhanush arrives at DGP Ranjit's office to surrender. However, Dhanush shoots Ranjit and tries to kill Umapati, but Sripati takes the bullet and is left for dead.
Reddy stops Dhanush from shooting anyone and tells Umapati to call Gana and make him surrender to Dhanush. Gana arrives and is told that Sripati will be saved if he surrenders, Gana does so and is stabbed by Dhanush and his men. Umapathi tells Reddy that if Gana's uncle dies, then he and his son will be dead and no one can save them. Reddy then tells Dhanush to kill Sripati, which enrages Gana into killing Reddy's bodyguards and Reddy. Gana then fights Dhanush and decapitates him with an axe. Later, Gana and Ranjit tell a cover story to the media that Reddy and Dhanush were killed while trying to protect Ranjit from unknown terrorists. Gana then announces Hansitha as a new candidate to become the new Chief Minister.
The filmmakers aimed for a Sankranthi release (15 January 2016) due to principal photography delay, the release date was postponed. The film was scheduled to release on 8 April 2016 coinciding with Allu Arjun's birthday, because of post-production delays, the release date was postponed again. The worldwide release date was moved to 22 April 2016.[citation needed]
The film was later dubbed in Hindi and released on YouTube by Goldmines Telefilms on 28 May 2017. Currently, the Hindi dubbed version of the movie holds over 700+ million views on YouTube.[9]
Box office
The film reportedly earned ₹127.6 crore (US$16 million) in the full run with about ₹96.90 crore (US$12 million) coming from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and ₹12 crore (US$1.5 million) from Kerala.[10]
Reception
Critical response
Sarrainodu received mixed reviews from critics.[11][12]
Pranita Jonnalagedda of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote, "The film has nothing new to narrate and fails to keep you glued to the seats throughout. The hackneyed plot and lack of novelty make this film a regular watch, this film is something for the masses."[13]123Telugu gave 3.25/5 stars and wrote, "Sarrainodu is indeed an oora mass entertainer. The film has many elements which will enthrall the fans and mass general audience. Bunny's stunning transformation, Aadhi's screen presence and amazing action sequences are huge assets."[11] Suresh Kavirayani of Deccan Chronicle felt the core plot of the movie to have been inspired by the 2004 movie Walking Tall.[14]
The film score and soundtrack album were composed by S. Thaman. This is Thaman's second collaboration with Allu Arjun after Race Gurram. Lahari Music acquired the audio rights of the film for an undisclosed price and it was announced that the audio launch event will take place on 20 March 2016, but it was pushed to April, since the audio launch of Sardar Gabbar Singh took place on the same day.[15][16] The makers later announced that there will be no audio launch for this film and it was also announced that the album will hit the stores directly on 2 April 2016.[17] The film features six songs with lyrics by Sri Mani, Ramajogayya Sastry, Anantha Sriram, Krishna Chaitanya and Bunny Suresh.
The album received positive reviews from critics. 123Telugu in their review stated it as, Thaman has been criticized for scoring those routine numbers with his trade mark drum beats. But one should not forget that he always comes up with some chart topping songs all the time. Same is the case with Sarainodu too. Thaman sticks to the formula and gives what is the need of the hour, some foot tapping hit numbers. Blockbuster, You are my MLA, Telusa Telusa and Atiloka Sundari are our picks and will become huge hits. Finally, like always, Allu Arjun has a thumping music album where he can show off his crazy dance moves and impress everyone like the way this album does.[18] Behindwoods rated the album 2.75 out of 5 and stated it as "Sarrainodu is another fun filled album for Allu Arjun from S.S.Thaman. The album is quite stylish and impressively presented."[19]Times of India rated the album 3.5 out of 5, stating that "The album is peppered with hits and is sure to do well."[20] Indiaglitz rated the album 3.25 out of 5, with a verdict "Thaman's music keeps in mind the demands of a mega-talented dancer like Allu Arjun. Apart from that, the tunes are interesting. The singers are better than the lyrics."[21]
The album was well received by audiences, and it has been trending on top in Apple Music as well as on radio charts.[22] The audio success meet was held on 10 April 2016 at RK Beach in Vishakapatnam, with Chiranjeevi attending the event as chief guest.[23] The song "Blockbuster" was well received it was later reused as "Vera Level" in Tamil film Ayogya (2019) which is a Tamil remake of Temper.[24]
