Aakashavaani
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''Aakashavaani'' () is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language
slice-of-life Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to Naturalism (theatre), naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence ...
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
directed by debutant Ashwin Gangaraju and produced by Padmanabha Reddy. It features
Samuthirakani P. Samuthirakani (born 26 April 1973) is an Indian actor and film director who works predominantly in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. He worked as an assistant to director K. Balachander, in '' Paarthale Paravasam''. He won the National F ...
,
Vinay Varma Vinay Varma is an Indian actor, script writer, and casting director who primarily works in Telugu and Hindi-language films. Career Vinay Varma, founder of Sutradhar, started out as an amateur theatre practitioner. He has been involved with ...
, Teja Kakumanu and Prashanth in prominent roles. The film tells the story of tribal people in a remote location of
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
who treat a radio as a talking God. The music is composed by
Kaala Bhairava Koduri Kaala Bhairava is an Indian playback singer and music director, who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has sung songs in Tamil, Hindi and Kannada in addition to Telugu. He was the composer of the films '' Mathu Vadalara, Kart ...
with editing by A. Sreekar Prasad. Initially scheduled for a theatrical release, the film was released on the
streaming platform An over-the-top media service (also known as over-the-top television, or simply OTT) is a digital distribution service of video and audio delivered directly to viewers via the public Internet, rather than through an over-the-air, cable, satell ...
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on 24 September 2021 owing to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.


Plot

A tribe in the forests hills of
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
lives under the tight grip of ''Dora'' (
Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...
in Telugu) who forbids anyone from entering or leaving the village without his permission. Violators are severely punished and at times killed by Dora's henchman Sambadu. The tribe, however, believes that Dora is a do-gooder who is equal to God. Rangadu's son Giddadu is responsible for herding the sheep. One day, he comes across a
radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3  hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
with a
cotton candy Cotton candy, also known as candy floss (candyfloss) and fairy floss, is a spun sugar confection that resembles cotton. It is made by heating and liquefying sugar, and spinning it centrifugally through minute holes, causing it to rapidly cool ...
distributor and exchanges it for a lamb. Sambadu is furious that the lamb was traded without his knowledge and brutally thrashes Giddadu. The tribe's priest is unable to heal Giddadu and asks everyone to pray the God for his life. They listen to the murmuring sound of the radio and follow its instructions to save Giddadu. The tribe, who have no knowledge of what a radio is, believe it's an incarnation of God speaking to them. Meanwhile, Dora's only child is in critical condition due to
jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or, less frequently, greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving ...
. The tribe meets Dora and asks his permission to build a temple for their newfound God. Upon hearing that God saved Giddadu, Dora accepts their proposal with an intention to
sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...
Giddadu to save his child's life. He sets up a painted electrical pole as Dhwaja Stambham and inaugurates the temple. Dora and his assistant Lingayya realize that the tribe was praying to the radio but laugh it off. During their celebration, Giddadu is kidnapped and sent for sacrifice. The tribe watches a light climb up the hill and believes God was taking Giddadu away. Ranga helplessly begs God to save Giddadu, and the radio replies to stop the light before it reaches the hilltop. Ranga runs to save Giddadu but the light reaches the hilltop before him. While returning, he comes across Chandram and Srinu who met with an accident. Rangadu takes them to their village for treatment. The tribe is wary of outsiders but the radio asks them to treat their relatives nicely. Upon realizing that Dora was using the villagers as his salves for his illegal
Cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...
cultivation, Chandram exposes him when Dora kicks the priest for non-compliance. The tribe still refuses to believe that Dora is evil, and sends Chadram and Srinu away upon his orders. Later, they are kidnapped by Dora who orders his men to kill them. While they are being taken to the hilltop on a tractor, Chandram wakes up and fights off the driver. The tribe for the first time watches the light (which is revealed to be the tractor's headlight) come down the hill and believe that Chandram is sent back by God. Chandram makes the tribe listen to
Hiranyakashipu Hiranyakashipu (, ), also known as Hiranyakashyap, was a daitya king of the asuras in the Puranas. In Hinduism, Hiranyakashipu's younger brother, Hiranyaksha, was slain by the Varaha (boar) avatar of Vishnu. Angered by this, Hiranyakashipu ...
and
Prahlada Prahlada () is an asura king in Hindu scriptures. He is known for his staunch devotion to the preserver deity, Vishnu. He appears in the narrative of Narasimha, the lion avatara of Vishnu, who rescues Prahlada by disimboweling and killing hi ...
's story on the radio, and compares Dora to the evil Hiranyakashipu and the tribe to the benevolent Prahlada. He convinces them that he had met the God who asked him to rid the village of Dora. On the other hand, Dora's child is dead and Sambadu complains to him that they lost their hold on the tribe due to the radio. Dora and his men attack the tribe who fights back. Sambadu goes on to destroy the radio but Rangadu kills him in retaliation. Dora hacks Rangadu from behind and dares God to kill him if he exists. Lightning strikes the electric pole and kills Dora who was standing beneath it.


Cast

*
Samuthirakani P. Samuthirakani (born 26 April 1973) is an Indian actor and film director who works predominantly in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. He worked as an assistant to director K. Balachander, in '' Paarthale Paravasam''. He won the National F ...
as Chandram Master *
Vinay Varma Vinay Varma is an Indian actor, script writer, and casting director who primarily works in Telugu and Hindi-language films. Career Vinay Varma, founder of Sutradhar, started out as an amateur theatre practitioner. He has been involved with ...
as Dhora * Teja Kakumanu as Sambadu * Prashant as Giddadu * Mime Madhu as Rangadu * Shaking Seshu as Lingayya *
Getup Srinu Boddupalli Srinu, popularly known by his stage name Getup Srinu, is an Indian actor and stand-up comedian who primarily works in Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedica ...
as Srinu


Production

In November 2018, filmmaker S. S. Rajamouli's son S. S. Karthikeya announced his maiden production ''Aakashavaani.'' The film marks the directorial debut of Ashwin Gangaraju, an alumnus of Ramanaidu Film School. The film was shot for around 55 days in Paderu of
Visakhapatnam district Visakhapatnam district is one of the six districts in the Uttarandhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, headquartered at Visakhapatnam. It is one of the twenty-six districts in Andhra Pradesh state. The district shares borders wi ...
,
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
. Nearly 90% of the shoot was completed by April 2019. In May 2020, Karthikeya opted out of the project citing creative differences and the production was handed over to A. Padmanabha Reddy of AU&I Studios.


Release

The film was initially scheduled to release theatrically on 4 June 2021 but was deferred due to
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. Later, the makes opted for a direct-to-streaming release on
SonyLIV Sony LIV is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Culver Max Entertainment. Sony LIV was introduced in 2013 as the first OTT service in India. As a streaming service, it provides live sports, origina ...
on 24 September 2021.


Reception

Y. Sunitha Chowdhary of ''
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
'' called it an "original gem" and appreciated Gangaraju's screenplay and Raghutu's cinematography. She praised the performances of Mime Madhu, Samuthirakani, Varma and other cast. ''Cinema Express'' critic Ram Venkat Srikar rated the film 3 stars of 5 and said, "
he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
might be overlong but its unadulterated intentions coupled with an equally coherent story-telling make it a worthwhile watch." He opined that not having a clear protagonist was one of the film's drawbacks. Writing for ''
The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'', Sravan Vanaparthy also felt the same and wrote: "''Aakashavaani'' might have its flaws but it has a novel storyline backing it up and engages in parts." Surya Prakash in his review for ''
Asianet News Asianet News is an Indian Malayalam-language free-to-air news channel, operated by the Asianet News Network, a subsidiary of Asianxt Digital Technologies. The channel is based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Asianet News is currently one of th ...
'' compared the story with the South African film ''
The Gods Must Be Crazy ''The Gods Must Be Crazy'' is a 1980 comedy film written, produced, edited and directed by Jamie Uys. An international co-production of South Africa and Botswana, it is the first film in ''The Gods Must Be Crazy'' series. Set in Southern Afri ...
'' (1980) but felt that the director faltered while making the film in a Telugu setting with a much serious tone. A reviewer from ''NTV'' appreciated the performances and production values but criticized the slow-paced narration. ''
Eenadu ''Eenadu'' (; ) is the largest circulated Telugu-language daily newspaper In India predominantly distributed in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It was founded by Ramoji Rao in 1974 in Visakhapatnam and has been a significant presen ...
'' also gave a mediocre review for the film.


References


External links

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Aakashavaani
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924010653/https://www.sonyliv.com/movies/aakashavaani-1000136746 , date=24 September 2021 on
SonyLIV Sony LIV is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Culver Max Entertainment. Sony LIV was introduced in 2013 as the first OTT service in India. As a streaming service, it provides live sports, origina ...
Films set in Andhra Pradesh Films shot in Andhra Pradesh 2021 direct-to-video films 2021 directorial debut films 2021 drama films 2021 films Indian drama films Direct-to-video drama films SonyLIV original films Films about radio Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films not released in theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films scored by Kaala Bhairava