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Kathanayakudu (transl. Hero) is a 2008 Indian Telugu-language drama film produced by C. Aswani Dutt, G.P.Vijay Kumar on Vyjayanthi Movies banner and directed by P. Vasu. It stars Rajinikanth in an extended guest appearance along with Jagapati Babu, Meena in the pivotal roles and music composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar. The film is a remake of the Malayalam film Kadha Parayumbol (2007). The film was a commercial success and received positive reviews. It was simultaneously made in Tamil as Kuselan, which released to mixed reviews and was a below average grosser.

Kathanayakudu
Movie Poster
Directed by	P. Vasu
Written by	Marudhuri Raja (dialogues)
Screenplay by	P. Vasu
Story by	Sreenivasan
Produced by	C.Ashwini Dutt G.P. Vijay Kumar
Starring	Rajinikanth Jagapati Babu Meena
Cinematography	Arvind Krishna
Edited by	Saravana
Music by	G. V. Prakash Kumar
Production company	Vyjayanthi Movies
Distributed by	Ayngaran (Worldwide) Pyramid Saimira (U.S.)
Release date	1 August 2008 (2008-08-01)
Running time	146 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu

The film explores the pressures of friendship, and revolves around a villager who had shared a strong friendship with a popular cinema actor while they were in their youth. However, due to their different career routes, they are eventually forced to part ways; one becoming a national figure, the other becoming a village barber. Decades later, the actor returns to the village to participate in his film's shooting. Whilst the entire village becomes excited about the prospect of seeing the actor, the barber fears that his old friend would have forgotten him and eventually neglected him.

Plot

The film begins in a village Siricilla where Balakrishna / Balu a babber resides with his wife Sridevi & 3 children. He faces a hard financial crisis as his business is on its way to shutting down. As it happens, he cannot afford to pay the school fees for his children and they are removed by higher bodies. Whatever it may be, Balu confronts troubles with a smile because his lovely family boosts his courage. During that time, the whole town is electrified to know that a film shooting of Super Star Ashok Kumar is about to perform in their surroundings. Ashok Kumar & Balu are besties from childhood who have been separated by time. So, Sridevi & children ask and aspire if they could meet him which Balu backs. Due to his timid and self-respect nature. Further, it is a long gap and he reckons that people will change along with the money & fame.

Meanwhile, Ashok Kumar arrives accompanying industry stalwarts Nayanthara, Vijayakumar, Nizhagal Ravi, etc. Since the village is located near the Tamilnadu-Andra Pradesh Border, the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency was raging across. Thus, Govt allocates Z Category to Ashok Kumar led by DCP Satyanand. As a result, it becomes unfeasible to reach Ashok Kumar and mass appeal congregates around him. Ashok Kumar works on two films in between this pandemonium.

Besides, Sridevi big plug about Ashok Kumar & her husband’s friendship and he becomes relatively popular. Being cognizant of it, the whole town bestows him with gifts to fulfill their wants. Moreover, the school authorities decided to retrieve his children. In turn, make acquaintance with Ashok Kumar for inviting him to their annual day function. Balu attempts his utmost to approach Ashok Kumar but fails. Slowly, he fronts backlash & mortification and people reclaim their offerings. Now Balu blushed and including his children start disliking their father. However, the school entity can access Ashok Kumar and invites him to their function. Since it is the last chance Sridevi desires to view Ashok Kumar then Balu takes her and silently watches standing aside.

On the occasion, Ashok Kumar tearfully makes a speech on his childhood when he is destitute, recalls his childhood soulmate Balakrishna / Balu and his favors which cannot be repaid. Afterward, when Balu returns, he is startled to see Ashok Kumar at his home, and emotionally embraces him. At last, Ashok Kumar states now onwards they are going to stay along with him because he is alone in the world. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the public giving great applause to the eminence of their friendship.

Cast

Main cast

• Rajinikanth as Ashok Kumar. Ashok Kumar is dubbed as the "superstar" in South Indian cinema, who comes to the village to participate in his film's shooting. The arrival of him prompts the villagers' excitement, with all of them wanting to see the superstar. (extended guest appearance)
• Jagapathi Babu as Balakrishna. Balakrishna, more commonly referred to as Balu, is a village barber. He lives care-free with his wife and three children, despite his financial struggles. His salon fails to earn profits due to his reluctance to accept assistance from others. Balu has a dilemma when his old friend Ashok Kumar returns to the village.
• Meena as Sreedevi. Sreedevi is the wife of Balu, who is commonly known for being rather boisterous and open-hearted despite her poor state of living. She shares great affection for her husband despite the villagers' hate towards him.
• Sunil as Shanmugam. Shanmugam is a rival barber in the village, whose business is more profitable than Balu's.
• Dharmavarapu as Dharmaraju. Dharmaraju is the financier who helps Balu manage the latter's money.

Supporting cast

Guest appearances

Soundtrack

Kathanayakudu
Film score by G. V. Prakash Kumar
Released	30 June 2008
Recorded	2008
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	29:43
Language	Telugu
Label	Big Music
Producer	G. V. Prakash Kumar
G. V. Prakash Kumar chronology
Ullasamga Utsahamga (2008) Kathanayakudu (2008) Ananda Thandavam (2008)

The soundtrack of Kathanayakudu was released on 30 June 2008. The soundtrack consists of five songs. The song Cinema Cinema commemorates the 75th anniversary of Telugu cinema. Footage of Suriya, Khushbu, and Sneha and archival footage of famous superstar actors N. T. Rama Rao (popularly "NTR"), Akkineni Nageswara Rao ("ANR"), M. G. Ramachandran ("MGR"), and Rajkumar are shown with each chorus of this song. The verse alternates between clips shot of an actual movie crew filming on location, intercut with real-life superstar actor Rajinikanth — who plays a fictional superstar actor in this film — spoofing blockbuster movies such as Zorro, Lawrence of Arabia, House of Flying Daggers, and the James Bond series.[1]

No.	Song	Singers	Length (m:ss)
1	"Cinema Cinema"	Shankar Mahadevan	6:08
2	"Challe Challe"	Hariharan, Sujatha Mohan, Baby Rajini, Baby Pooja	6:13
3	"Om Zaarare"	K. S. Chithra, Daler Mehndi	7:12
4	"Vatche Vatche"	Shreya Ghoshal	4:34
5	"Ra Ra Ra Ramayanna"	Kailash Kher, V Prasanna	5:36

Production

Development

Following P. Vasu and Rajinikanth's film Chandramukhi in 2005, Vasu had been keen to cast Rajinikanth in another role. Before signing Kathanayakudu, he had narrated a story titled Vettaiyan, which would have been a sequel of a character featured in Chandramukhi.[2] Early in 2008, Rajinikanth signed up for S. Shankar's Robo, while Kathanayakudu was launched at the Taj Coromandel in Chennai on 14 January 2008, coinciding with Pongal. P. Vasu signed up Rajinikanth and Jagapathi Babu to portray the lead roles, while Aswani Dutt agreed to produce the film in Telugu.[3] The film is a remake of the Malayalam film Kadha Parayumbol, which was written by Sreenivasan, who also played the lead role in the film.

Casting and crew

Vasu made it clear that Rajinikanth would not perform an honorary role in the film, which Mammooty had portrayed in the original, but would play a full role, stating that, "the whole story revolves around him [Rajnikanth]". In the Telugu version, comedy actors Sunil, Brahmanandam, Tanikella Bharani and Venu Madhav all signed up to play the roles of Jagapati Babu's fellow villagers.[4] Ileana D'Cruz turned down an offer to act in the film, citing scheduling conflicts.[5] Like the Tamil version, it was said that several prominent Telugu actors had been approached to be a part of a song in the project, but none were selected.[6][7] Technicians were common in both versions in the two films. with G. V. Prakash Kumar operating as the music composer and Arvind Krishna as the cinematographer.[8]

Filming

The film's launch was on 7 March 2008 at the AVM Studios in Chennai with the leading artists present.[9] P. Vasu said that the shooting lasted 82 days, with the versions being shot simultaneously and that most of the movie was shot inside the Ramoji Rao film city, with other destinations including Kerala and Pollachi.[10]

Release and marketing

Rediff gave the film two and a half stars (2.5 Star) and wrote: "P Vasu conceives everything in a larger than life canvas keeping in sync with the image of the superstar he is directing. And while he seems to have gone overboard by moving away from the original, Kathanayakudu is worth a watch for the touching last moments."[11] The promotional event took place on 19 July 2008 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.[12]

References

External links

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