Dhamaka (transl. Blast) is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film directed by Trinadha Rao Nakkina, written by Prasanna Kumar Bezawada, and produced by People Media Factory and Abhishek Agarwal Arts. It stars Ravi Teja, alongside Sreeleela, Jayaram, Chirag Jani, Sachin Khedekar, Tanikella Bharani and Rao Ramesh. The soundtrack and musical score was composed by Bheems Ceciroleo, while cinematography and editing were handled by Karthik Gattamneni and Prawin Pudi.
| Dhamaka | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Trinadha Rao Nakkina |
| Written by | Prasanna Kumar Bezawada |
| Produced by | Abhishek Agarwal T. G. Vishwa Prasad |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Karthik Gattamneni |
| Edited by | Prawin Pudi |
| Music by | Bheems Ceciroleo |
Production companies | People Media Factory Abhishek Agarwal Arts |
Release date |
|
Running time | 139 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Budget | ₹35 crore[1] |
| Box office | ₹110 crore[2] |
Principal photography commenced in October 2021 and ended in September 2022, which took place in Hyderabad and Spain.
Dhamaka was released on 23 December 2022, during the Christmas weekend, and received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics with praise for its cast performances (particularly Ravi Teja), humor and music, but criticized its pace, script and plot. The film grossed over ₹110 crore worldwide, making it the one of the highest-grossing Telugu film of 2022 as well as the highest grossing film of Ravi Teja's career.[3]
Plot
editJayan Pakshitap alias JP, a business magnate and head of J. P. Orbit, is known for taking over companies in a ruthless manner. JP sets his sights on Nanda Gopal Chakravarthy's People Mart and decides to present it as a birthday gift to his son, Atharva Pakshitap. However, JP faces problems from Nanda Gopal's son Anand Chakravarthy, who is also the company's upcoming CEO. JP decides to overthrow him and acquire the company.
Swami, a street-smart unemployed man and Anand's doppelganger, lives with his family consisting of his father Vasudeva Rao, mother Yashoda and younger sister Subbu. Swamo tries to find work and gets constantly burdened by Subbu's impending wedding. Pranavi, Subbu's friend, meets Swami while planning for Subbu's wedding, where they get attracted to each other. Pranavi's father and Chakravarthy's friend Ramesh Reddy arranges a marriage alliance with Anand. Initially, Pranavi is confused upon seeing Anand; whether to choose Swami over Anand and ultimately rejects the proposal, which leads Ramesh to sends goons to kill Swami.
At the same time, Atharva and his goons corner Anand to kill him. Pranavi calls Swami for help, but later learns that Anand is actually Swami himself. Swami thrashes Ramesh and Atharva's goons, but gets knocked out by one of them and is presumed dead. However, Swami survives and fakes his death. Pranavi asks him about living as dual people. Swami reveals that he met Chakravarthy in his childhood when he and Vasudeva went missing at the local fair. Chakravarthy tried to locate Swami's parents, but he instead adopted him as his son. 4 years later, Swami's parents arrived in search of him and Chakravarthy was hesitant to send him back with them. In order to keep both families happy, Swami assumed dual identities.
Meanwhile, JP, who is under the impression that Anand is dead, asks Swami to act as Anand and makes the company shares to be distributed to J. P. Orbit. A sequence of comedic events ensues, where Swami manages to fool JP and Atharva every time while arranging Subbu's marriage and donating his shares to the employees. However, JP discovers Swami's dual identities and tries to kill Chakravarthy, but Swami saves him. Swami also saves Vasudeva and thrashes both JP and Atharva.
Swami reveals to Chakravarthy that his nephew Vikram Chakravarthy was also behind the attempt on Anand's life as he became an obstacle for him to become the next CEO. Swami tells Vikram Chakravarthy that Anand wanted him to become the CEO, upon which Vikram realizes his mistake and apologizes to Swami and his family, reuniting with them. With Vikram becoming the CEO, Swami and Pranavi happily get married and both families lead normal and happy life.
Cast
edit- Ravi Teja as Swami Vivek/Anand Chakravarthy
- Jayaram as Jayan Pakshitap (JP)
- Sreeleela as Pranavi Reddy
- Sachin Khedekar as Nanda Gopal Chakravarthy, Swami/Anand’s adoptive father
- Tanikella Bharani as Vasudeva Rao, Swami/Anand’s father
- Rao Ramesh as Ramesh Reddy, Pranavi’s father
- Chirag Jani as Atharva Pakshitap, JP’s son
- Ali as JP’s assistant
- Praveen as Swami/Anand's friend
- Hyper Aadi as Ramesh’s driver
- Sameer Hasan As Sanjay
- Pavitra Lokesh as Yashoda Chakravarthy, Nanda Gopal's wife
- Tulasi as Devaki Rao, Swami’s mother
- Mounika Reddy as Subbu, Swami’s sister
- Kireeti Damaraju as Subbu’s fiance
- Sritej as Vikram Chakravarthy, Nanda Gopal’s nephew
- Vadlamani Srinivas as Vikram’s father
- Rajshree Nair as Pranavi’s mother
- Anish Kuruvilla as DGP
Production
editThe film's title was revealed in October 2021. Principal photography of the film began on 4 October 2021.[4] The first schedule was completed in November 2021.[citation needed] The makers shot an action sequence in February 2022 in Hyderabad.[5][6] The makers also shot a song in Spain's Plaza de España in March 2022. The filming was wrapped on 22 September 2022.[7]
Music
editThe music of the film is composed by Bheems Ceciroleo. The first single titled "Jinthaak" was released on 18 August 2022.[citation needed] The second single titled "Mass Raja" was released on 23 September 2022.[8]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Jinthaak" | Kasarla Shyam | Bheems Ceciroleo, Mangli | 3:45 |
| 2. | "Mass Raja" | Ramajogayya Sastry | Nakash Aziz | 3:42 |
| 3. | "What's Happening" | Ramajogayya Sastry[9] | Ramya Behara, Bhargavi Pillai | 4:40 |
| 4. | "Du Du Du" | Ramajogayya Sastry | Prudvi Chandra | 2:51 |
| 5. | "Dandakadiyal" | Bheems Ceciroleo | Bheems Ceciroleo, Sahithi Chaganti, Mangli | 4:22 |
| 6. | "Pulsar Bike" | Ramajogayya Sastry | Bheems Ceciroleo | 2:10 |
| 7. | "What's Happening (Yohani version)" | Janakirao Ramana | Yohani | 4:39 |
Release
editTheatrical
editDhamaka was theatrically released on 23 December 2022.[citation needed] The worldwide theatrical rights of the film were sold at a cost of ₹18.30 crore.[10] The Hindi dubbing rights were sold at a cost of ₹10 crore, whereas the satellite and digital streaming rights were sold for ₹20 crore.[11]
Home media
editThe satellite and digital distribution rights of the film were acquired by Netflix and Star Maa, while the Hindi version of the film were sold to ZEE5. The film was streamed on 22 January 2023 in Netflix.[citation needed]
Reception
editDhamaka received mixed reviews from critics with praise for its cast performances (particularly Ravi Teja), humor and music, but criticized its pace, script and plot.[12]
Critical reception
editPaul Nicodemus of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Overall, Dhamaka is an action-packed comedy that relies heavily on mass entertainment quotient. Ravi Teja’s energy and Sreeleela’s glamour make this routine story an entertaining watch."[13]
Ram Venkat Srikar of Cinema Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Dhamaka, in all, delivers what it promised. It is a self-aware entertainer that doesn't want to do anything more than entertain the audience. It feels engineered to cater to the masses, but that's fine because it largely succeeds in doing what it set out to do."[14]Idlebrain gave 2.75/5 stars and wrote "Dhamaka depends majorly on Ravi Teja’s energetic/comic performance and entertainment/mass episodes. A better second half would have done wonders to the film. It works partly and is going to entertain all classes to a certain degree."[15]
Srivathsan Nadadhur of OTTplay gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Dhamaka lacks a novel plot but it gives exactly what would one expect from a typical Ravi Teja entertainer and a director like Trinadha Rao Nakkina, who has films like Cinema Choopistha Mava and Nenu Local under his belt. Sreeleela proves to be a natural with comedy and the song-dance routine, continuing her good form after Pelli SandaD. However, the star of the show is Prasanna Kumar Bezawada, with his terrific one-liners and an entertaining screenplay."[16] Janani K of India Today gave 2/5 stars and wrote "10 minutes into the film, we get a deja vu feeling as it reminds you of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo".[17] Balakrishna Ganeshan of The News Minute gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "The genre of Dhamaka is fluid. It keeps jumping from one genre to another and finally ends up being a different variant of Trivikram’s Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo".[18]
Box office
editDhamaka grossed ₹10 crore worldwide on its opening day, including ₹7.55 crore gross domestically (India).[19] The opening day share from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana markets together stood at ₹4.40 crore.[20] In its opening weekend, the film has collected a worldwide gross of ₹32 crore.[21] In India, the film has made a net collection of ₹20.50 crore in the opening weekend surpassing the Hindi film Cirkus which opened to ₹20.10 crore.[22]
News18 Telugu reported the worldwide gross to be ₹68.45 crore, after 11 days of the release, with a distributors' share of ₹36.17 crore.[23]
References
edit- ^ "From Budget to Collections, All You Need to Know About Ravi Teja's Dhamaka". News 18. 24 December 2022. Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- ^ "OTT: ఈ వారం ఓటీటీలో బ్లాక్ బస్టర్ సినిమాలు.. వీకెండ్ ఎంజాయ్మెంట్ వేరే లెవల్!". Samayam Telugu. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ^ "OTT: ఈ వారం ఓటీటీలో బ్లాక్ బస్టర్ సినిమాలు.. వీకెండ్ ఎంజాయ్మెంట్ వేరే లెవల్!". Samayam Telugu (in Telugu). Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ^ "'The action begins': Ravi Teja begins shooting for Trinadha Rao Nakkina's film; shares poster". www.zoomtventertainment.com. 4 October 2021. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
- ^ "Ravi Teja's Begins The Shooting Schedule Of 'Dhamaka's' Action Sequence In Hyderabad". Outlook. 25 February 2022. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
- ^ "Ravi Teja commences a power-packed schedule for Dhamaka in Hyderabad". Times of India. 26 February 2022. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
- ^ "Ravi Teja Starts Shooting For 'Dhamaka's' New Song In Spain". Outlook. 16 March 2022. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
- ^ "Mass Raja: Second single from Dhamaka out". www.telugubulletin.com. 23 September 2022. Archived from the original on 24 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
- ^ ""What's Happening" song from 'Dhamaka' is out". 11 November 2022. Archived from the original on 12 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
- ^ "Dhamaka: ధమాకా టార్గెట్ ఎంతో తెలుసా.. మాస్ రాజా చరిష్మాతో సాధ్యమే!". 10TV (in Telugu). 22 December 2022. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ Thanjavur, Kiran Kumar (21 December 2022). "Dhamaka Pre Release Business: వరుస ఫ్లాపులున్న తగ్గని రవితేజ క్రేజ్.. ధమాకాకు ఊహించని థియేట్రికల్ బిజినెస్." News18 Telugu (in Telugu). Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ "Dhamaka box office: Ravi Teja film declared a 'blockbuster'". The Indian Express. 26 December 2022. Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
- ^ "Dhamaka Movie Review: Ravi Teja's energy and Sreeleela's glamour make this regular story an entertaining watch". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ "Dhamaka Movie Review: A simple potboiler that mostly works". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
- ^ "Dhamaka jeevi review - Telugu cinema review - Ravi Teja, Sree Leela". Idlebrain.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
- ^ "Dhamaka review: Ravi Teja plays to his strengths in this tolerable entertainer". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
- ^ "Dhamaka Movie Review: Ravi Teja's film is Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo gone wrong". India Today. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ "Dhamaka review: Neither twists nor music can save this illogical Ravi Teja film". The News Minute. 23 December 2022. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ "'Dhamaka' box office collection Day 1". The Times of India. 24 December 2022. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ Singh, Jatinder (24 December 2022). "Dhamaka first day box office collections; Ravi Teja starrer opens to 7.50 crores in India". Pinkvilla. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ "Ravi Teja's Dhamaka Takes Box Offices By Storm, Collects Rs 32 Crore Worldwide". News18. 26 December 2022. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ "'Dhamaka' Box Office Collection Day 3". The Economic Times. 26 December 2022. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ "Dhamaka Collections : రవితేజ ధమాకా 11 రోజుల కలెక్షన్స్.. ఎన్ని కోట్ల లాభాలంటే." News18 Telugu (in Telugu). 3 January 2023. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.