Acharya
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKoratala Siva
Written byKoratala Siva
Produced byNiranjan Reddy
Anvesh Reddy
Starring
CinematographyTirru
Edited byNaveen Nooli
Music byMani Sharma
Production
companies
Konidela Production Company
Matinee Entertainment
Release date
  • 29 April 2022 (2022-04-29)
Running time
154 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu
Budget₹140 crore[2]
Box officeest. ₹76 crore[3]

Acharya (transl. Teacher/Guru) is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language action drama film[4] written and directed by Koratala Siva. Produced by Konidela Production Company and Matinee Entertainment, the film stars Chiranjeevi as the titular character alongside Ram Charan, Pooja Hegde, Sonu Sood and Jisshu Sengupta. The film tells the story of Acharya, a Naxalite leader who enters a shrine named Dharmasthali to put an end to the oppression caused by a local politician named Basava. His friend, Sidda confronts drugs and harassments inside the sanctum. Despite this, Sidda may have to work with the Naxalites in the event of unforeseen circumstances. The film has music composed by Mani Sharma and cinematography by Tirru.

The film was launched in October 2019. Principal photography began in January 2020 and suffered delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Acharya was released theatrically on 29 April 2022 and opened to generally mixed to negative reviews. It was a commercial failure, grossing ₹76 crore over a budget of ₹140 crore.[5]

Plot

Dharmasthali and adjoining hamlet of Padaghattam are Temple towns, which are surrounded by the Siddhavanam forest. Dharmasthali and Padaghattam are interlinked by their values and faith to the goddess Gattamma. Dharmasthali operates under the tyrannical rule of Basava, the local municipal chairman. He intends to give the lands of Dharmasthali and Padaghattam to Rathod and his brother for mining purposes. The people of Padaghattam, who are known for their expertise in Ayurvedic medicine, start visiting Dharmasthali less frequently due to Basava's cruel regime.

Acharya, a naxal, arrives in Dharmasthali in the guise of a carpenter. He starts retaliating for the atrocities committed by Basava to the villagers. It is revealed that Acharya came to Dharmasthali to fulfill his best friend Siddha's promise. He reveals about Siddha's past and origin to Dharmasthali villagers: Siddha is a disciple of the local Gurukul and a strong advocate for Dharma. Apart from him, Basava and the other men of the village study with him in the Gurukul. Basava hatches a plan with Rathod's brother and his friend to destroy the village's Gattamma Temple, under the guise of flooding from torrential rain to start mining. Siddha discovers Basava's plan and attacks the trio on the night they plan to destroy the temple. He is gravely injured in the ensuing chaos.

Acharya's squad arrives to his rescue and take him away to the nearby Siddhavanam forest and heal him. Siddha wakes up, and Acharya's comrade Bose reveals his origins. Siddha was born to Comrade Shankar, Acharya's naxal squadron leader. In a shootout with the local law enforcement, Siddha's parents are both killed. Before dying, Shankar makes a young Acharya promise to raise Siddha with awareness about their fight for Dharma.

To protect him, Acharya hands the newborn Siddha over to Adanna, to be brought up in Dharmasthali. However, Acharya watches and protects Siddha from afar as he grows up. Siddha learns of his origins and is willingly initiated into Acharya's naxal squad. During a mission in rescuing the children of Adivasis who were forcibly taken away by Rathod's men for child labour in his mines, Siddha comes across a map of lands to be blasted for mining purposes which includes the lands around Padaghattam and Dharmasthali. When Siddha goes back to his village to stop the mining, he comes across Rathod's henchmen heading to kill Acharya's squad. While trying to finish them with Acharya, Siddha is shot and killed by Rathod's henchman, Khilla. Before dying, Acharya promises to Siddha that he will protect the village and stop the illegal mining planned by Basava and Rathod.

After the reveal of Siddha's past, Acharya is arrested by the local police, while Basava and Rathod hatch a plan to wipe out the entire village during Gattamma's festival. Meanwhile, Acharya's squad manage to break him out of the police convoy while he is being taken away. He then kills each and every one of Rathod's henchmen, including Khilla, and Rathod's brother before killing both Rathod and Basava thus avenging Siddha's death. After coming to terms with Siddha's demise, Acharya bids his farewell to Padaghattam and Dharmasthali and goes back to the forest with his squad to continue Siddha's legacy of upholding Dharma and their fight.

Cast

Cameo appearances

Production

Development

The film was launched on 8 October 2019 with the working title of #Chiru152 on Vijayadashami festival, being the first collaboration of Koratala Siva and Chiranjeevi.[7][8] Chiranjeevi accidentally revealed the title as Acharya during audio launch of the film O Pitta Katha in March 2020.[9][10]

Mani Sharma is the music composer. Cinematography and editing is performed respectively by Tirru and Naveen Nooli.[11] Suresh Selvarajan is the art director.[12]

In January 2022, Asianet News reported that the film's storyline is based on the Naxalite movement in Srikakulam district, led by poet and cultural activist Subbarao Panigrahi.[13]

Casting

Trisha was cast as the lead but exited later, citing creative differences, and eventually was replaced by Kajal Aggarwal.[14][15] Reportedly, Mahesh Babu was offered the cameo role in the film.[16] However, Chiranjeevi later confirmed his son Ram Charan for the role; Koratala adjusted the role to make it full-fledged.[17][18][19] In an interview with Variety, Charan who plays Sidhha, said “It’s a 40-minute role, it’s pretty much the whole of the second half."[20][21]

Pooja Hegde was cast as Neelambari opposite Charan, has an extended cameo.[22] Regina Cassandra was signed for a special song in March 2020.[23] Mahesh Babu has given narration for this film.[24][25]

Filming

Principal photography began in January 2020.[26][27] Important portions were shot with Chiranjeevi and others at Ramoji Film City.[16] The filming was going at a brisk pace until suspension in March 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.[28] Filming was resumed in November 2020, and Aggarwal joined the sets in December 2020 in Hyderabad.[29][30] A temple town set spanning 20 acres was built for the film.[2]

Charan joined the production in January 2021.[21] The film team reached Rajahmundry the same month.[31][32] In March 2021, Pooja Hegde shot her portions with a montage song at a specially-constructed set in Maredumilli. A schedule took place at Singareni coal mines, Yellandu later that month.[33] Owing to the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, the filming was paused again and later resumed in July 2021 at a village set in Hyderabad.[34] Both Ram Charan and Chiranjeevi resumed shooting their portions that month.[35][36] Except for two songs, the rest of shoot was finished in August 2021.[37]

Following her pregnancy in September 2021, Aggarwal requested the makers to complete her portions at the earliest.[38] It is reported she subsequently opted out of the project owing to the delays in shoot and has not re-joined the production since.[39][40] However, in April 2022, Koratala stated that Aggarwal's scenes were cut from the final draft of the film as he felt that the role she played could not match her stature.[41]

In August 2020, writer Rajesh Manduri alleged that Acharya was plagiarized from his script.[42] He supposedly narrated the story to production house Mythri Movie Makers a few years ago which did not materialize. Mythri Movie Makers refuted the allegation, calling it a "gimmick."[43] Matinee Entertainment stated that any such claims were baseless, iterating that the story of Acharya belongs to Koratala.[44] Koratala responded that his story had no resemblance to Manduri's.[45]

Music

Acharya
Soundtrack album by
Mani Sharma
Released20 May 2022 (2022-05-20)
Recorded2020-2021
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length24:10
LanguageTelugu
LabelAditya Music
ProducerMani Sharma
Mani Sharma chronology
Republic
(2021)		 Acharya
(2022)		 Shaakuntalam
(2022)
Singles from Acharya
  1. "Laahe Laahe"
    Released: 31 March 2021
  2. "Neelambari"
    Released: 5 November 2021
  3. "Saana Kastam"
    Released: 3 January 2022
  4. "Bhale Bhale Banjara"
    Released: 18 April 2022

The film's soundtrack album is composed by Mani Sharma.

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Laahe Laahe"Ramajogayya SastryHarika Narayan, Sahithi Chaganti4:07
2."Neelambari"Ananta SriramAnurag Kulkarni, Ramya Behara4:14
3."Saana Kastam"BhaskarabhatlaRevanth, Geetha Madhuri4:04
4."Bhale Bhale Banjara"Ramajogayya SastryShankar Mahadevan, Rahul Sipligunj4:19
5."Putuka Thone"Ramajogayya SastryAnurag Kulkarni4:03
6."Acharya Slokam"Kalyan ChakravarthyM.L. Sruthi3:20
Total length:24:10

Release

Theatrical

Acharya was released theatrically on 29 April 2022. Earlier, it was scheduled to release on 13 May 2021, but was pushed back due to production delays and the COVID-19 pandemic in India.[46] In October 2021, it was announced that the film would release 4 February 2022.[47] In January 2022, it was then pushed to 1 April 2022 due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, fuelled by the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant.[48] Later that month, it was pushed back to 29 April 2022 in order to avoid a clash with Charan's other film RRR.[49]

Home media

The satellite rights were acquired by Gemini TV while the digital distribution rights were acquired by Amazon Prime Video.[50][51] The film premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 20 May 2022 in Telugu along with dubbed versions in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada languages.[52] Meanwhile, the Hindi version was later released on ZEE5.

[53]

Reception

Box office

On its opening day, Acharya grossed ₹52 crore worldwide with a distributor's share of ₹35 crore.[54] In three days, the film grossed ₹70.35 crore, taking its distributor's share to ₹45 crore.[55] By the end of its theatrical run, the film collected ₹76 crore gross worldwide with a distributor's share of ₹48.36 crore. News18 Telugu estimated that the losses of the film amount to ₹84.14 crore from its theatrical business,[3] making it a commercial failure.[5]

Critical response

Acharya met with generally mixed to negative reviews from critics, who criticized the weak narrative and outdated screenplay but praised lead cast's performances.[56][57] Neeshita Nyayapati of The Times of India gave the film a rating of 2.5/5 and wrote "Acharya lacks the soul it needed to pull off a tale that banks too much on people connecting to the concept of dharma".[58] Janani K of India Today gave the film a rating of 2.5/5 and wrote "Acharya is an outdated story that talks about dharma, illegal mining and the importance of our roots. The father-son duo tried their best to keep things interesting".[59] A Reviewer from The Hans India gave the film a rating of 2.25/5 and wrote "‘Acharya’ movie is an outdated story and is further ruined by an unimpressive narration from Koratala Siva".[60]

Medabayani Balakrishna of News 18 gave the film a rating of 1.5/5 and wrote "The sloppy play with the routine scenes, the boring treatment and the weak sequences are the minus points for this movie.[61] Manoj Kumar R of The Indian Express gave the film a rating of 1/5 and wrote "The writing is so poor that even the two actors' massive stardom feels inadequate to lift this movie. It's a snooze fest".[62] Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu stated "The playoffs between Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan are endearing, but the film is utterly boring".[63] Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute gave the film a rating of 1/5 and wrote "It is puzzling how director Koratala Siva managed to achieve this casting coup with such a tedious storyline".[64]

References

  1. ↑ "Aacharya Runtime". TrackTollywood. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Watch: Makers of Chiranjeevi's 'Acharya' erect massive temple town set". The News Minute. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Acharya Closing Collections : ఆచార్య క్లోజింగ్ కలెక్షన్స్.. ఎన్ని కోట్లా నష్టమో తెలుసా". News18 Telugu (in Telugu). 13 May 2022.
  4. ↑ "Chiranjeevi's 'Acharya' to release worldwide on May 13, check out the teaser!". The New Indian Express. 30 January 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Acharya box office: Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan film set to become a commercial disaster". The Indian Express. 3 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  6. ↑ The New Indian Express (20 January 2021). "Bhajarangi-fame Loki makes his Telugu debut with Chiranjeevi's Acharya". Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "Chiru 152: After Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, Chiranjeevi joins cast of Koratala Siva's next film". Firstpost. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  8. ↑ "Chiranjeevi launches new film with Koratala Siva in presence of son Ram Charan, mother Anjana Devi. See pics". Hindustan Times. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  9. ↑ "#Chiru152 titled as "Acharya": Megastar Chiranjeevi reveals the title accidentally". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  10. ↑ "Chiranjeevi's next titled Acharya, actor accidentally reveals film's title". Hindustan Times. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  11. ↑ "Acharya Teaser: Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan, Kajal Aggarwal starrer's first glimpse to release on this date". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  12. ↑ Hymavathi, Ravali (9 January 2021). "'Megastar' Chiranjeevi shares glimpse of temple set from 'Acharya'". The Hans India. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  13. ↑ zedrjy1. "Acharya:ఆ పుస్తకం ఆధారంగా 'ఆచార్య'?ఆశ్చర్యంలో అభిమానులు". Asianet News Network Pvt Ltd (in Telugu). Retrieved 28 February 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ "Trisha opts out of Chiranjeevi's Telugu film 'Acharya'". Deccan Chronicle. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  15. ↑ "Confirmed: Kajal Aggarwal to romance Chiranjeevi in Acharya". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  16. 1 2 "Mahesh Babu to play a student leader in Chiru 152?". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  17. ↑ "Chiranjeevi votes for Ram Charan over Mahesh Babu over cameo in Acharya". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  18. ↑ Hooli, Shekhar H. (10 April 2020). "Chiranjeevi spills the beans on Acharya storyline and Ram Charan's role in it". International Business Times, India Edition. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  19. ↑ "Acharya: Ram Charan shines in Siddha's saga teaser". The Indian Express. 28 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  20. ↑ Ramachandran, Naman (30 November 2021). "India's Ram Charan on Working With Chiranjeevi, S.S. Rajamouli and Shankar (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  21. 1 2 "Ram Charan joins Chiranjeevi's Acharya". The Indian Express. 17 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  22. ↑ "Pooja Hegde to star opposite Ram Charan in 'Acharya', shooting to start this week". The News Minute. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  23. ↑ "Regina Cassandra matches steps with Chiranjeevi for a celebration song in Acharya". Hindustan Times. 11 March 2020. Archived from the original on 11 March 2020.
  24. ↑ "Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan thank Mahesh Babu for narrating Acharya: 'You made it even more special'". The Indian Express. 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  25. ↑ Nair, Nivedita (25 April 2022). "Kajal Aggarwal's scenes removed from Chiranjeevi's Acharya". The PrimeTime News. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  26. ↑ "'Chiru 152' kicks-off". www.thehansindia.com. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  27. ↑ Nyayapati, Neeshita. "Chiranjeevi begins shoot for Koratala Siva's #Chiru152". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  28. ↑ "Chiranjeevi suspends 'Acharya' shoot due to coronavirus threat". Deccan Herald. 15 March 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  29. ↑ "Acharya shooting resumes without Chiranjeevi as he tests positive for Covid-19". Hindustan Times. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  30. ↑ "Kajal Aggarwal joins Acharya shoot with Gautam Kitchlu. Chiranjeevi welcomes couple". IndiaToday. 15 December 2020.
  31. ↑ K., Janani (22 February 2021). "Chiranjeevi gets thunderous welcome in Rajahmundry ahead of Acharya shoot. Viral pics". India Today. Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  32. ↑ "Team of Chiranjeevi and Kajal Aggarwal starrer Acharya shoot in Rajahmundry". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  33. ↑ "Pooja Hegde resumes Acharya shoot with a montage song". Cinema Express. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  34. ↑ "Tollywood buzz: Chiranjeevi resumes Acharya shoot, RAPO19 to begin on July 12 and more". The Indian Express. 7 July 2021. Archived from the original on 7 July 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  35. ↑ "Ram Charan resumes shoot of Acharya". The Indian Express. 10 July 2021. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  36. ↑ "Ram Charan resumes shooting for Chiranjeevi's 'Acharya'". The News Minute. 11 July 2021. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  37. ↑ "Chiranjeevi-Ram Charan's Acharya shoot over, two songs left to be completed". The Indian Express. 4 August 2021. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021.
  38. ↑ K., Janani (16 September 2021). "Are Kajal Aggarwal and husband Gautam Kitchlu expecting their first child?". India Today.
  39. ↑ "Did the makers of 'Acharya' chop-off Kajal Aggarwal's role from the film?". The Times of India. 14 April 2022.
  40. ↑ "ఆచార్య నుంచి కాజల్ సీన్స్ డిలీట్? అదే కారణమా?". Sakshi (in Telugu). 19 April 2022.
  41. ↑ "Director Koratala Siva reveals why Kajal's role was scrapped from Acharya". The News Minute. 25 April 2022.
  42. ↑ "Writer claims Chiranjeevi's Acharya is plagiarized from his script". www.zoomtventertainment.com. 27 August 2020. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  43. ↑ "Makers of Chiranjeevi's 'Acharya' refute plagiarism allegations". The News Minute. 29 August 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  44. ↑ "Acharya's producer refutes plagiarism charges". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  45. ↑ Vyas (28 August 2020). "Koratala Siva issues clarity on Acharya controversy". The Hans India. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  46. ↑ "Acharya postponed indefinitely due to Covid-19 spike". Cinema Express. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  47. ↑ "Acharya: 'చిరు' అభిమానులకు గుడ్ న్యూస్.. 'ఆచార్య' రిలీజ్ డేట్ ఫిక్స్" [Acharya: Good news for 'Chiru' fans .. 'Acharya release date is fixed]. Eenadu (in Telugu). 9 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  48. ↑ "Chiranjeevi-starrer 'Acharya' postponed due to surge in COVID-19 cases!". The Times of India. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  49. ↑ "Acharya: Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan starrer set to arrive in theatres on April 29". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  50. ↑ "Megastar Chiranjeevi's Acharya movie OTT Streaming Platform fixed". www.thehansindia.com. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  51. ↑ "Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan's Acharya to arrive on THIS OTT platform". India Today. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  52. ↑ @sri50 (13 May 2022). "#Chiranjeevi and @AlwaysRamCharan starrer #Acharya to have global digital premiere on @PrimevideoIN on 20 May…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  53. ↑ @PrimeVideoIN (13 May 2022). "they call him Acharya because he always teaches them a lesson💥#AcharyaOnPrime, May 20" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  54. ↑ "'కేజీయఫ్ 2' @1000కోట్లు.. 'ఆచార్య' తొలి రోజు వసూళ్లు ఎంతంటే?". ETV Bharat (in Telugu). 30 April 2022.
  55. ↑ "Acharya: ఆచార్య 3 రోజుల కలెక్షన్స్.. ఎంతో తెలుసా?". 10TV (in Telugu). 2 May 2022.
  56. ↑ "Despite Negative Reviews, Acharya's Day 1 Collection Likely to Reach Rs 25 Crore". News 18. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022. the film got mixed to unfavourable reviews from critics
  57. ↑ "'Acharya' box office prediction: What's expected from Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan's film on the opening day; find out here!". The Times Of India. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022. the film has received mixed responses from critics, criticising the weak narrative and unreal screenplay.
  58. ↑ "Acharya Movie Review : An outdated and lackluster drama". The Times Of India. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  59. ↑ "Acharya Movie Review: Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan father-son duo is the only thing working for it". India Today. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  60. ↑ "Acharya review: An out-dated mega drama". The Hans India. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  61. ↑ "Acharya Movie Review: Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan Movie Disappoints Fans of Megastar With Boring Treatment!". News 18. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  62. ↑ "Acharya movie review: Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan seem inadequate to save this spiritless film". The Indian Express. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  63. ↑ Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (29 April 2022). "'Acharya' movie review: A dated narrative that never takes off". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  64. ↑ "Acharya review: Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan film is a mega mess". The News Minute. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
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