Sarrainodu


Sarrainodu is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language action film written and directed by Boyapati Srinu. Produced by Allu Aravind under the Geetha Arts banner. The film stars Allu Arjun, Srikanth, Aadhi Pinisetty, Catherine Tresa, Rakul Preet Singh, while Brahmanandam, Pradeep Rawat, Sai Kumar, Jayaprakash, Suman and Adarsh Balakrishna playing supporting roles. S. Thaman composed the film's music and background score. Cinematography is by Rishi Punjabi. The Telugu and Malayalam versions of the film was released on 22 April 2016 and became one of the highest grossing Telugu film of 2016. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a major commercial success at the box office. It was also released in December 2017 in Nepal and earned 1.27 million at the box office.

Plot

Gana is a youth who beats crooked people that escape punishment due to faults in the legal system. He is raised by his paternal uncle Sripati, and berated by his father Umapati for leaving the military and not having an aim in life. One day Gana is sent to a neighboring village to meet his prospective bride, Mahalakshmi. She is the daughter of his father's friend, Jaya Prakash, who is a sincere ex-IAS officer and politician. However, Gana meets Hansitha Reddy, who is revealed to be the local MLA, and falls in love with her. He tells his father that Mahalakshmi rejected him because he gets into fights.
Vairam Dhanush is the son of Chief Minister Reddy. Dhanush kills a farmer for refusing to give up his lands. Later, a prominent businessman named Paddam Veerendra comes to Dhanush to escape punishment for raping and murdering a college girl. The victim's parents seek the help of Hansitha to get justice. At the trial, a new defense lawyer Govindaraju twists the case, making it seem like the girl provoked her beating by blackmailing Veerendra. The judge decides in favor of the lawyer's argument. The parents of the girl commit suicide. Gana learns about the lawyer and beats him up and also cuts off Veerendra's legs. Dhanush takes this as a challenge to his influence and becomes incensed.
Hansitha falls for Gana and promises to marry him if he swears in the presence of God that he will stand behind her and never get into fights. He is about to do so at the temple when a badly injured Mahalakshmi arrives, running from people who try to kill her. Gana holds her up, beats everyone who tried to kill her, and ultimately gives Mahalakshmi courage.
Narrating a flashback, it is revealed that Mahalakshmi did not reject Gana. Gana had went to Mahalakshmi's house and had saved her from Obul Reddy, who is working for Dhanush. Then, Gana had declined the marriage. Mahalakshmi explains how Dhanush tried to blackmail her father. Her father had been protecting farmers so that they would not have to sell their lands. This infuriated Dhanush, who killed the farmers. When Mahalakshmi intervened, slapping and insulting Dhanush, he killed her father and tried to kill her. She narrowly escaped and had run for four days to find Gana, whom she had fallen in love with.
Gana decides to solve her problems. He goes to Dhanush's home, beats his men, and tries to burn Dhanush alive, but Dhanush escapes. Gana is questioned for the attack but claims that other people beat Dhanush. One of Dhanush's men tells the truth about the atrocities that he committed in the village, and the media is thrown into an uproar.
Dhanush arrives at DGP Ranjit's office to surrender but shoots at Ranjit. Dhanush tries to kill Umapati, but Sripati takes the bullets. Reddy stops Dhanush from shooting anyone else and tells Umapati to call Gana and make him surrender to Dhanush. Told that Sripati will only be taken to the hospital if he surrenders, Gana does so and is beaten and stabbed by Dhanush and his men. Reddy then tells Dhanush to kill Sripati, which enrages Gana into killing the thugs and Reddy. Gana then fights Dhanush and decapitates him with an axe when he tries to run over his father and uncle.
A cover story is told that Reddy and Dhanush were killed while trying to protect Ranjit from unknown terrorists. Also, Hansitha is made a candidate to become the new CM.

Cast

wrote the script with Allu Arjun in mind for the lead. He wanted to cast Samantha Ruth Prabhu who acted with Arjun in S/O Satyamurthy, but it did not happen. Catherine Tresa leading role and Rakul Preet Singh supporting role. It is Singh's first collaboration with Arjun and Tresa's third collaboration with him after Iddarammayilatho and Rudhramadevi. Tamil actor Aadhi was chosen as the main antagonist. Srikanth, Suman and Jayaprakash were chosen for other important roles. Priyamani, Anushka Shetty and Disha Patani were reported to have been approached for an item number. However, it was Anjali who danced in the number with Arjun.

Release

Allu Arjun wanted to release the film on 8 April 2016, his birthday, but the worldwide release date was moved to 22 April 2016.
The film was later dubbed in Hindi and released on YouTube by Goldmines Telefilms on 28 May 2017.

Box office

The film reportedly earned in three weeks. The film grossed by the end of the year.

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Times of India 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." 123 Telugu wrote "Sarrainodu is indeed an ooraa 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."

Soundtrack

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. 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. 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. 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." 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." 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."
The album was well received by audiences, and it has been trending on top in Apple Music as well as on radio charts. The audio success meet was held on 10 April 2016 at RK Beach in Vishakapatnam, with Chiranjeevi attending the event as chief guest.
Thaman reused the song "Blockbuster" for the 2019 Tamil film Ayogya.

Accolades

;64th Filmfare Awards South