Rudhramadevi (film)

Plot

Ganapatideva was the emperor of the Kakatiya dynasty who rules Kakatiya Empire from Orugallu(present day Warangal, Telangana) as its Capital. With Kakatiya Dynasty at a problem, Ganapatideva's wife gives birth to a girl baby, as the Dynasty is in a big problem the minister advises king to announce the baby girl as a boy. Rudrama was formally designated as a son and given the male name Rudradeva, through the ancient Putrika ceremony. But , during Rudrama Devi's birth, an astrologer predicted that a girl baby is born to rule the kingdom jointly with her father as his co-regent from 1259–60 under the name of Rudradeva Maharaja.

In the first two or three years of their joint rule, the kingdom was thrown into confusion and disorder due to Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I's invasion and the disastrous defeat of the Kakatiyas and their allies on the battle field of Muttukur, near Nellore. Though Ganapatideva was ultimately successful in turning back the tide of invasion, he suffered loss of territory and prestige and his hold over his feudatories and nobles was shaken. Under these circumstances, he retired from active politics. Rudramadevi gets married to Veerabhadra, a Vengi Chalukya (a branch of the Chalukyas of Badami) prince of Nidadavolu.

Production

Director Gunasekhar readied a script based on the life of Rani Rudramadevi. Anushka, Nayanthara and Priyanka Chopra were considered for the title role but Anushka was signed based on her performance in Arundhati. Gunasekhar selected Ilaiyaraja to compose the music and Thotta Tharani for art direction. The film is made on a budget of ₹80 crore (US$12 million). Mahesh Babu and Jr. NTR were first approached for the role of Gona Ganna Reddy, but both of them rejected the offer. Later, Allu Arjun was eventually selected to do the role. Neeta Lulla designed the costumes. Rapper Baba Sehgal was roped in by director Gunasekhar for a role. Vikramjeet Virk, who earlier played a negative role in Ashutosh Gowarikar's Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (2010) and in Puri Jagannadh's 2014 film Heart Attack, was selected for playing a negative character named Mahadeva Nayakadu.

The filming was started on 14 February 2013 in Warangal. The first shot was shot at the Thousand Pillar Temple in Warangal. Final schedule of shoot ended on July 2014.

Release

The film's official trailer was released in March 2015. The film was slated to be released on 26 June 2015, but it was but postponed to 9 October due to technical problems. Telangana state has given entertainment tax exemption for the film.

Legal release online

HeroTalkies has legally released Rudhramadevi in 2D and 3D formats to overseas customers who have 3D TVs.

Critical response

Upon release, the film received positive reviews, with critics praising the direction, narration, and Anushka's performance. Belvoir Eagle gave the film 3.5/5 rating, and Kiaara Sindu of The Hans India rated 4/5.

Box office

The film became the fifth highest opening day grossing Indian film of 2015. It grossed ₹32 crore (US$5.0 million) in its first weekend at the domestic box office, and ₹57.62 crore (US$9.0 million) in its first week. The worldwide collection exceeded ₹81.77 crore (US$13 million) in 17 days and ₹83 crore (US$13 million) in 21 days. The worldwide gross was ₹86.92 crore (US$14 million) in 35 days.

The Hindi dubbed version collected ₹15 crore (US$2.3 million) nett from its two weeks of release. The film had an overseas collection of $990,772 in 24 days, and $993,837 in 31 days.

Awards and nominations

Soundtrack

The audio music was planned to release separately in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states having the Chief ministers of these states as chief guests. Out of the six songs in the album, three of them were released on the Ugadi festival day at Visakhapatnam, while the remaining 3 songs released the next day in Warangal. It was named Best Telugu Album of March 2015 by Deccan Music. Soundtrack for The Tamil and Malayalam Version were released later.

Legacy

Rudhramadevi is the first Telugu film to have its recording in London, United Kingdom. The garments and jewellery designed for the lead cast are available in NAC Jewellers in Chennai as Rudhramadevi Collections.