Lion is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language action film produced by Rudrapati Ramana Rao under SLV cinema banner and directed by debutant Satyadev. The film stars Nandamuri Balakrishna, Trisha Krishnan and Radhika Apte in the lead roles with music composed by Mani Sharma. A first look teaser of the movie was released on 31 December 2014. The audio released on 8 April 2015, and the film released on 14 May 2015. The film received mixed reviews upon its release. It is loosely based on the 1990 filmTotal Recall.
Plot
The film opens in a hospital at Mumbai, where Bose has come out of a coma after 18 months. As soon as he recovers, Bose is identified as Godse by everyone around him. He is surprised when an elderly couple, Bhoopathi and Malathi Devi, claim to be his parents. Bose tries to convince everyone that he is not Godse and that he has his own story. Soon, he comes to Hyderabad in search of his true identity and bumps into Mahalakshmi, who he believes is his lover. When she tells him that it is a case of mistaken identity, Godse is taken aback. He meets a similar fate when he meets his parents. Suddenly, a girl named Sarayu arrives as Godse's wife and tries to remind him of their married life, which creates a lot of confusion. Later, Godse finds out that it was all a ruse set up by Bharadwaja, Chief Minister of the state. It is also revealed that his real name is Bose. It is later disclosed that Bose is a sincere and powerful CBI officer on a mission to crack the suspicious death of former Chief Minister of State, Achyuta Ramayya. Bose learns that an influential person, sitting CM Bharadwaj, is behind the death of the former CM. Bose tries to prove him guilty. The rest of this movie deals with why the CM wanted Bose alive and why he set him up with a new identity.
The film Andhra Pradesh rights sold for by various distributors. The film Karnataka rights sold for by Kranthi. The film had total prerelease up to in India. The film overseas rights acquired by SLV cinema for good price.
Release
The film received U/A certificate from Censor Board due to violence in second half. The film released on 15 May 2015 in 900+ screens worldwide. The film Satellite Rights acquired by Gemini TV for.
Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. 123Telugu.com rated 3/5 and stated On the whole, Lion is a complete Balakrishna film right from the word go. His power packed performance is the major asset and will go down well with the masses. On the flip side, lack of proper handling of the subject and a predictable second half makes this film just an ok watch. Watch it only for Balayya. Idlebrain rated 3/5 and stated Interval episode is interesting. Second half has many episodes that exhilarate fans. Lion is a film that completely revolves around Balakrishna and depends on his performance. A good screenplay and right buildups would have done a world of good to the cinema. On a whole, Lion is NBK’s show! The Hindu stated Radhika wears a blank expression. There is another gem, a man confronts Balaiyya, “Natho matladataniki yentha dhairyam neeku” and the latter retorts “Neetho matladataniki dhairyam enduku...Iphone unte chaalu.” Lion takes plenty of retrograde steps. Mani Sarma too disappoints and the hero struggles with his steps. Time for Balakrishna to do some soul searching or his films would be just another addition to the number of films he has done.
Box office
The film opened good response in AP. The film collected at the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana box office on the first day. But the film failed to break the opening day record of Legend. The movie witnessed a huge drop of over 50 percent on Friday and it went down further on the following days. The film has collected in AP. The film collected in its extended first week end at the box office but it is below par. The film collected average in its first week and gross would be at the box office.
