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Indra
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	B. Gopal
Written by	Paruchuri brothers
Story by	Chinni Krishna
Produced by	C. Aswani Dutt
Starring	Chiranjeevi Aarthi Agarwal Sonali Bendre
Cinematography	V. S. R. Swamy
Edited by	Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Music by	Mani Sharma
Production company	Vyjayanthi Movies
Distributed by	Eros International
Release date	July 24, 2002 (2002-07-24) (India)
Running time	173 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu
Budget	₹10 crore
Box office	est. ₹55 crore

Indra is a 2002 Indian Telugu-language action drama film directed by B. Gopal and produced by C. Aswani Dutt under Vyjayanthi Movies banner. The film stars Chiranjeevi, Aarthi Agarwal, and Sonali Bendre while Mukesh Rishi, Sivaji, and Prakash Raj play supporting roles with music composed by Mani Sharma. The film won three state Nandi Awards and two Filmfare Awards South with Chiranjeevi winning both the Nandi Award for Best Actor and Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu.

Released on 24 July 2002, the film collected a gross of over ₹55 crore on a budget of ₹10 crore and ended up becoming the highest-grossing Telugu film in history at the time as well as the all-time highest-grossing South-Indian film, surpassing Padayappa (1999). Indra was dubbed into Hindi as Indra: The Tiger. It was remade in Indian Bengali as Dada (2005) and in Bangladeshi Bengali as Goriber Dada (2006).

Plot

In a village in Rayalaseema, two rival clans, led by Bharathasimha Reddy and Veera Siva Reddy, are embroiled in a cycle of violence. A police inspector arranges a marriage between Bharathasimha Reddy's brother, Vijayasimha Reddy, and Siva Reddy's sister to broker peace. However, Siva Reddy's sister poisons Vijayasimha Reddy on their wedding night, leading to both their deaths. Following this betrayal, Siva Reddy and his men kill Bharathasimha Reddy. Siva Reddy is arrested and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

With the male leaders of the Bharathasimha family dead, Bharathasimha's son, Indrasena "Indra" Reddy, steps up to lead the clan. In a powerful scene, Indra takes a sword and sits on the throne, symbolizing his new role as the clan leader, much to the delight of his paternal grandmother and the rest of the clan.

In 2002, Indra is living in Varanasi under the alias Shankar Narayana, a truthful and honest taxi driver. During a singing competition at his niece's college, her friend Pallavi, the daughter of Uttar Pradesh's governor Chenna Kesava Reddy, falls in love with Shankar and pretends to be an orphan to stay at his house. When Chenna Kesava Reddy discovers his daughter's whereabouts, he goes to Shankar's home but changes his mind upon recognizing him as Indrasena Reddy. Instead, he requests Shankar to marry Pallavi, but Shankar refuses due to his responsibilities towards his niece, Nandini.

Giri, an orphaned youth who has become Shankar's right-hand man, confesses his love for Nandini, and Shankar arranges their marriage. However, the wedding is disrupted by Snehalatha Reddy, who reveals that Giri is actually Veera Manohar Reddy, the son of Veera Shankar Reddy, Siva Reddy's elder son. She also addresses Shankar as Indrasena Reddy, shocking his adoptive family. After a confrontation, Valmiki, Indra's trusted associate, narrates Indra's past.

Indra, revered in his village, was dedicated to the welfare of the people. After Siva Reddy's release from prison, Indra warned him to stay away, but Siva Reddy instigated violence, leading Indra to kill him. Snehalatha, Siva Reddy's daughter, fell in love with Indra, but Veera Shankar Reddy sought revenge. Indra saved Veera Shankar Reddy's younger son from an accident, but Veera Shankar Reddy killed his own son to maintain his pride.

Indra confronted Veera Shankar Reddy, allowing the boy's mother to mourn before burying him and planting a "Tulasi" sapling over his grave, symbolizing the boy's soul. Indra warned Veera Shankar Reddy to protect the plant or face his wrath. Snehalatha fell for Indra and proposed marriage, but the village's drought led Indra to negotiate for the construction of a reservoir, which required land from Siva Reddy's family. Veera Shankar Reddy demanded Indra's entire property in return, to which Indra agreed. Snehalatha asked to marry Indra as her share of the land, and he accepted.

However, on their wedding day, Veera Shankar Reddy killed Indra's sisters and their husbands, orphaning Nandini and her brother Pradeep. Enraged, Indra killed Veera Shankar Reddy's three brothers and wounded him. Misled by her family, Snehalatha believed Indra was responsible for the violence and broke off the engagement. Indra then left the village for Varanasi to raise his niece and nephew.

In the present, Nandini attempts suicide after becoming pregnant with Manohar Reddy's child. Indra returns to the village, receiving a hero's welcome. He confronts Veera Shankar Reddy and demands that Manohar Reddy marry Nandini. Snehalatha learns the truth about her brothers' actions and tries to help, but is attacked. Indra saves her and decides to end the cycle of revenge without killing Veera Shankar Reddy. Manohar Reddy marries Nandini, but Indra remains focused on his duty to the people, rejecting marriage proposals from both Snehalatha and Pallavi. The film ends with Indra receiving widespread support from the villagers, solidifying his commitment to ending the violence in Rayalaseema.

Cast

• Chiranjeevi as Indrasena Reddy / Shankar Narayana
  • Teja Sajja as young Indrasena Reddy
• Aarthi Agarwal as Snehalatha Reddy
• Sonali Bendre as Pallavi Reddy
• Sivaji as Veera Manohara Reddy / Giri
  • Tanish as young Veera Manohar Reddy
• Ilavarasi as Indra's elder sister
• Vinaya Prasad as Indra's eldest sister
• Mukesh Rishi as Veera Shankar Reddy
• Prakash Raj as Chenna Kesava Reddy
• Puneet Issar as Shoukath Ali Khan
• Raza Murad as Veera Siva Reddy
• Tanikella Bharani as Valmiki Reddy, Indrasena Reddy's assistant
• Ahuti Prasad as Krishna Reddy, Indrasena Reddy's brother-in-law
• Sunil as Balu Reddy, Veera Shankar Reddy's brother-in-law
• Brahmanandam as Pandit
• Sameer as Vijaya Simha Reddy, Indrasena Reddy's uncle
• Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as Pandit's friend
• M. S. Narayana as Gangaram, car driver
• Pavala Syamala as Bamma
• Narra Venkateswara Rao as Superintendent of Police Damodar Reddy
• Allu Ramalingaiah as Subba Rayudu
• AVS as Bacchu Peda Pichayya
• G. V. Sudhakar Naidu as Veera Prathap Reddy
• Raja Ravindra as Veera Bhadra Reddy
• Lahari as Nandini
• Rajitha
• S. P. Balasubrahmanyam as himself in a cameo appearance
• Rani in cameo appearance
• Siva Krishna as Bharatha Simha Reddy, Indrasena Reddy's father
• Kalpana as Veera Siva Reddy's sister
• Telangana Shakuntala as Indrasena's grandmother
• Aanand Vardhan as Indra's nephew (young)
• Yadagiri as Veera Shankar Reddy's henchmen

Production

The film's story was written by Chinni Krishna, when he saw Mother Teresa's portrait at Chiranjeevi's office, Krishna decided to create the character of Indra Sena Reddy taking inspiration from this and added elements like "Rayalaseema as the backdrop and identified water problem as the source of factionism". The set resembling Benaras city was recreated at Annapurna Studios while a set resembling Rayalaseema village was built at Ramoji Film City. Two songs were shot at Switzerland. After two months of shoot, Ashwini Dutt suggested the title Indra which was approved by Chiranjeevi.

Music

The soundtrack was composed by Mani Sharma. The audio was released on the evening of 14 June 2002 at a set in the first floor of Annapurna Studios. Gemini TV covered this event and it was telecast as a 30-minute capsule on Gemini TV. Chiranjeevi selected a coupon from the lucky dip box and called the lucky fan to the stage. Chiranjeevi opened the audio box and handed over the first cassette to that fan. The audio hit the market on 17 June 2002.

All lyrics are written by Dev Kohli

Release and reception

Indra was released on 24 July 2002 on 268 screens, including 223 in Andhra Pradesh, 30 in Karnataka, three in Odisha, and 15 in the United States. It grossed more than ₹51.8 crore on a budget of ₹10 crore. The film ended up becoming the highest-grossing Telugu films at the time of its release. It held the record of being the first Telugu movie to collect over ₹20 crores during the first week .

Jeevi of Idlebrain.com gave a rating of 4+1⁄2 out of 5 stating, "First half is a perfect blend of mass and class elements. It's extraordinary. The interval scene gives the right finishing touch to the first half." A critic from Sify wrote that "On the whole the film is refreshing and a good entertainer with Chiru at his best".

Box office

• Indra is the only movie of Tollywood to have all time records in full run shares (₹30 cr share + ₹1 cr audio & home video rights + ₹3 cr satellite TV rights)
• The film had collected a distributors' share of ₹30 crore.
• It had a 50-day run in 156 centres, including nine in Karnataka and two in Odisha.
• It had a 100-day run in 122 centres, including four in Karnataka.
• It had a 175-day run in 32 centres including a 247-day run in Satyam theatre, Adoni.
• Indra was the 2nd highest grossing Indian film of 2002 after Shahrukh Khan's Devdas.

Legacy

Indra is one of the biggest hits in Chiranjeevi's film career. It became the highest grossing Telugu film ever as well as the all-time highest-grossing South-Indian film, surpassing Padayappa (1999).

The film had an excellent run on Hindi television channels through the dubbed version Indra: The Tiger. Saudamini Jain of Hindustan Times wrote in 2015, "For a decade now, the Telugu blockbuster Indra dubbed in Hindi as Indra The Tiger seems to have become a permanent fixture on TV". TV and film writer Mushtaq Sheikh said of the film, "When I was heading Sahara One (in 2010-11) we had these perpetual, evergreen films: whenever you needed ratings, you could close your eyes and screen them. Indra was one of them." CEO of Applause Entertainment Sameer Nair noted, “We used to play Indra: The Tiger and our ratings were sorted for two weeks."

Awards

References

1. ^ "చిరంజీవి బ్లాక్ బస్టర్ 'ఇంద్ర' సినిమాకు 18 ఏళ్లు.. సాధించిన రికార్డులు ." [Chiranjeevi's blockbuster Indra completes 18 years. Box office records]. News18 Telugu (in Telugu). 24 July 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
2. ^ Jain, Saudamini (5 March 2015). "Why Indra The Tiger is a permanent fixture on Indian television". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
3. Krishna (24 July 2020). "18 Years for Megastar Indra Movie : మెగాస్టార్ 'ఇంద్ర' కి 18 ఏళ్ళు!". HMTV (in Telugu). Retrieved 5 July 2021.
4. ^ "మెగాస్టార్ 'ఇంద్ర' కి నేటితో 18 ఏళ్లు.!" [Megastar's Indra completes 18 years today!]. Namasthe Telangana (in Telugu). 24 July 2020. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
5. ^ S., Vidya; Lidhoo, Prerna (22 July 2022). "How Movies From the South Conquered Bollywood". Business Today. Retrieved 27 August 2022. Says Applause Entertainment CEO Sameer Nair: "We used to play Indra: The Tiger (Hindi dub of Telugu film Indra) and our ratings were sorted for two weeks."
6. "Indra 175 days function". Idlebrain. 12 January 2003. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
7. "Telugu Cinema - Preview - Indra". Idlebrain. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
8. "Interview with Aswini Dutt by Jeevi". Idlebrain. 2 July 2002. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
9. "Telugu Cinema Etc - Idlebrain.com". Retrieved 16 September 2016.
10. "Cycle Stand - Telugu cinema - Indra release centers - Chiranjeevi, Sonali Bendre, Arti Agrawal - B Gopal". Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
11. "Indra Review". Idlebrain.com. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
12. Moviebuzz. "Review: Indra". Sify. Archived from the original on 7 January 2005.
13. "Cycle Stand - Chiranjeevi Indra records". Idlebrain.com. Archived from the original on 27 July 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
14. "Cycle Stand - Telugu cinema - Indra 50 days centers - Chiranjeevi, Sonali Bendre, Arti Agrawal - B Gopal". Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
15. "Cycle Stand - Telugu cinema - Indra 100 days centers - Chiranjeevi, Sonali Bendre, Arti Agrawal - B Gopal". Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
16. ^ "CineGoer.com - Box-Office Records And Collections - Chiranjeevi's 175-Day Centres List". Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
17. "Oora Mass Records Of 'Indra', One Of The Most Electrifying Movie In Megastar's Career". Archived from the original on 27 July 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
18. "Manikchand Filmfare Awards: Sizzling at 50". BSNL. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
19. "Nandi Film Awards G.O and Results 2002". APFTVTDC. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
20. "Telugu CineMaa Awards 2002". Idlebrain. Retrieved 16 January 2021.

External links

• Indra at IMDb

• 2002 films
• Films shot in Uttar Pradesh
• Films shot in Andhra Pradesh
• Indian drama films
• Telugu films remade in other languages
• Films about feuds
• 2000s Telugu-language films
• 2000s masala films
• Films directed by B. Gopal
• Films scored by Mani Sharma
• 2002 drama films
• Vyjayanthi Movies films