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''Dookudu'' () is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language
action comedy film The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the Americ ...
directed by
Srinu Vaitla Srinu Vaitla (born 24 September 1972) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his work in Telugu cinema, particularly in the action comedy genre. He has received several accolades, including five Nandi Awards—three for Nandi Aw ...
and written by Vaitla, Kona Venkat, and Gopimohan. It is produced by Ram Achanta, Gopi Achanta, and Anil Sunkara under the banner 14 Reels Entertainment. The film stars Mahesh Babu, Samantha,
Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English language, Engl ...
, and
Sonu Sood Sonu Sood (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian actor, film producer, Model (person), model, humanitarian, and Philanthropy, philanthropist who works predominantly in Hindi cinema, Hindi, Telugu cinema, Telugu and Tamil cinema, Tamil films. He is k ...
alongside
Brahmanandam Kanneganti Brahmanandam (born 1 February 1956) is an Indian actor and comedian known for his work in Telugu cinema. Recognised as one of India's finest and highest-paid comic actors, he holds the Guinness World Record for the most screen cred ...
who played a supporting role. The film revolves around Ajay Kumar (Babu), a police officer and son of ex-MLA Shankar Narayana (Raj), who awakes from
coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...
, but his health remains perilous. To aid his recovery, Kumar masquerades as a MLA fulfilling his father's ambition for him, while also hunting his father's foes. The film was inspired by the 2003 German film '' Good Bye, Lenin!''. The film began production on 28 June 2010 at
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. Shooting began on 22 October 2010 in Turkey and lasted till mid-September 2011. The film was predominantly shot in Hyderabad, with portions shot in Mumbai, Gujarat, Istanbul, Dubai, and Switzerland. S. Thaman composed the music and M. R. Varma edited the film, while K. V. Guhan handled the cinematography after Prasad Murella left the project mid-way. ''Dookudu'' was released on 23 September 2011 on 1800 screens worldwide. Upon release, ''Dookudu'' received positive reviews and was declared a success at the
box-office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...
. It was cited as "The biggest hit you've never heard of" by the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''. The film collected a distributor share of 58.9crore in its lifetime and grossed more than 101crore in its lifetime making it the highest-grossing Telugu film of that year and the second highest-grossing Telugu film of all time. In addition, the film won various accolades, which include seven
Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are annual awards presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to recognise excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television, as well as lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. The awards are named after the monolithic ...
, six
Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Times G ...
, eight SIIMA Awards and eight CineMAA Awards. The film was remade in Bengali as '' Challenge 2'' (2012) and in
Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
as '' Power'' (2014). It was dubbed in
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
as ''The Real Tiger'',
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
as ''Athiradi Vettai'' and
Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
as ''Choodan'', Odia as ''Dookudu'', and Kannada as ''Police Power''.


Plot

During the political realm of N. T. Rama Rao, Shankar Narayana is an independent MLA of the constituency of Shankar Nagar, which is named after him, in Hyderabad, and is regarded as a champion for the poor. When a truck collides with the car his brother Satyam and he is in, Shankar goes into a coma. Except for his family, everyone else presumes that he is killed in the accident. His son Ajay is a police officer in Mumbai who fights against the mafia and is on a mission to apprehend
Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...
don Nayak who is involved in
illegal drug trade The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of drug prohibition, prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibitionism, prohibit trade, exce ...
,
extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...
, and
arms trafficking Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms, explosives, and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal tra ...
. When he heads to Turkey in an undercover operation, he meets Prashanthi, the daughter of Ajay's senior police officer and soon falls in love with her. She initially rejects his advances, so he pretends to give up. However, he is successful in the undercover operation and arrests Nayak's brother Bunty. After returning to India, he again meets Prashanthi. He tells her father to appreciate what she does and not be so strict. This, to his surprise, makes her reciprocates his feelings. In an attempt to arrest Nayak, Bunty and the police commissioner are killed and Shankar's loyal follower Sivayya reveals to Ajay that Nayak, along with Shankar's rival, Mallesh Gowda, and Shankar's other followers Meka Narsingh Rao, Ambarpet Ganesh, were behind Shankar's accident, so Ajay plots to kill all of them. When Shankar comes out of the coma, the doctors who treated him advise his family that his life is at risk if he encounters or hears anything upsetting, disturbing, or shocking. Ajay hides the events surrounding the accident and shifts his family to his previously abandoned mansion which is now being used for film-making. Ajay creates a dummy political set-up at this mansion. In the guise of a reality television program, Ajay tricks an aspiring but unsuccessful film actor Padmasri by making him believe that the television show is being sponsored by actor Akkineni Nagarjuna's television channel and that Nagarjuna wants to offer Padmasri high remuneration for his realistic performance in the show. On the other hand, aspiring actors Bokka Venkata Rao and Mallesh Goud are tricked by Ajay with a real estate business deal to exploit his criminal nexus. Ajay keeps this drama under wraps from Shankar by making him believe that Ajay is also an MLA revered by people fulfilling his dad's wishes. He marries Prashanthi after gaining her family's consent much to Shankar's delight. Meanwhile, Ajay manages to kill Ganesh and Mallesh without the knowledge of anybody while Shankar believes that they died due to ailments. Nayak reaches Hyderabad to kill Ajay and Ajay's drama is exposed before everybody except Shankar. Meka Narsingh Rao is killed by Nayak while the latter's henchmen are killed by Ajay and others in an encounter. Nayak is later killed in a Ramlila event. Shankar also learns of Ajay's drama and is happy about the affection his son showed for him.


Cast


Production


Development

Ram Achanta, Gopi Achanta and Anil Sunkara under the banner 14 Reels Entertainment agreed to bankroll a film directed by
Srinu Vaitla Srinu Vaitla (born 24 September 1972) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his work in Telugu cinema, particularly in the action comedy genre. He has received several accolades, including five Nandi Awards—three for Nandi Aw ...
starring Mahesh Babu in the lead role after completing their debut venture '' Namo Venkatesa'' (2010). Regarding the same, Vaitla said that it would be a romance action film and a majority would be shot in North India using a Super 35. Mahesh Babu's brother Ramesh Babu was a co-producer. Vaitla worked on the script for more than a year and shelved it temporarily for further modification as he felt it became monotonous and resembles his previous work. The film was officially launched on 28 June 2010 in Ramanaidu Studios at
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. Kona Venkat wrote the dialogues and Gopimohan penned the screenplay. S. Thaman was selected as the music director marking his first collaboration with Vaitla as the latter's regular music composer
Devi Sri Prasad Gandham Sriprasad (2 August 1979), known as Devi Sri Prasad or more commonly by his initials DSP, is an Indian music composer, singer, and lyricist primarily known for his work in Telugu cinema, along with Tamil cinema. He has received numerous ...
had shortage of dates to accommodate. The film was titled ''Dookudu'' in mid September 2010 despite initial reports stating that it may be titled ''Power''. Prasad Murella was selected as the cinematographer who walked out after having an argument on the film's sets with Vaitla because of differences. K. V. Guhan was selected to finish the remaining part. Regarding the same, Vaitla said "I had made family dramas with Prasad before but in Dookudu, the demand increased from my side and we couldn't get in sync with each other. I liked the photography in '' Athadu'' done by Guhan. We gelled and he has done a fantastic job."


Casting

Samantha was selected as the female lead while Sonia Deepti was selected to play the role of her best friend. Srihari was selected for a crucial role but was replaced by
Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English language, Engl ...
later. Mahesh Babu was reported to be seen as a police officer in the film.
Sonu Sood Sonu Sood (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian actor, film producer, Model (person), model, humanitarian, and Philanthropy, philanthropist who works predominantly in Hindi cinema, Hindi, Telugu cinema, Telugu and Tamil cinema, Tamil films. He is k ...
was cast as the antagonist. Earlier, Kajal Aggarwal was rumoured to be the female lead while Venkatesh was rumoured to provide a
voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...
. Gopimohan denied the latter's inclusion as a rumour while the former's inclusion remained unconfirmed. Ravi Prakash was selected for a supporting role.
Brahmanandam Kanneganti Brahmanandam (born 1 February 1956) is an Indian actor and comedian known for his work in Telugu cinema. Recognised as one of India's finest and highest-paid comic actors, he holds the Guinness World Record for the most screen cred ...
and M. S. Narayana were also selected for supporting roles.
Parvati Melton Parvati Melton is an American model and actress known for her works in Indian Telugu and Malayalam-language films. She was a 2004 Miss Teen India Bay Area winner and is a trained ballet and classical Indian dancer. She debuted in the film ind ...
was selected for an
item number In Indian cinema, an item number or special song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films ( Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu c ...
. Meenakshi Dixit was selected for performing the title song. Regarding the limited role of Samantha, Vaitla clarified that a lot depended on the film's subject and it was done mainly to develop the chemistry between the lead pair.


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
began on 22 October 2010 in Turkey where a few action sequences and a song on Babu and Samantha were shot. The schedule lasted till November 2010 and the team returned to India on 10 November 2010. The second schedule was conducted in
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
. After returning from Dubai, the next schedule began at
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
on 27 November 2010. In mid January 2011, filming then moved to Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad. Scenes featuring Babu, Samantha and Deepthi were shot at Levis showroom in Banjara Hills of Hyderabad and the schedule ended on 29 January 2011. Filming continued in
Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
where a song on Babu and Samantha was shot at the Little Rann of Kutch. On its completion on 11 February 2011, the next schedule was planned to be shot in Hyderabad from 15 February 2011 to 3 March 2011. The film's unit planned to leave to
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
on 24 February 2011 for filming a song but the makers opted to shoot the same along with few scenes at Chiran Fort Club in Hyderabad from the next day. Few chase sequences were shot in Old city area of Hyderabad in mid March 2011. Filming continued at
Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
from 20 March 2011 after a few action sequences in Ramoji Film City. The film was shot at Padmalaya Studios in late April 2011 after which filming was planned at Switzerland where a song and few scenes were shot. Some scenes were shot in a central jail set erected in Ramoji Film City with which the Hyderabad schedule was completed in mid May 2011. Some comedy and action scenes were shot in the set which was earlier erected for '' Dhee'' (2007), Old City and other areas apart from Ramoji Film City. A long schedule was shot in Switzerland later and Babu stayed back for taking rest on the schedule's completion and returned on 30 May 2011 to participate in the shoot from the next day. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the film's shoot was delayed multiple times and by late June 2011, 40 days of shoot was pending. Key scenes featuring Babu, Brahmanandam, M. S. Narayana and others were shot in a private apartment in Somajiguda in mid July 2011. Few scenes were shot in Jayabheri House in late July 2011. The song "Adara Adara" was shot at Chiran Fort club in late August 2011 under the choreography of Dinesh. The film's climax sequences were shot in early September 2011 at Tolichowki in Hyderabad. A special set was erected at Ramoji Film City for the shoot of the item number on Babu and Melton which began on 6 September 2011. On its completion, the filming came to an end.


Themes and influences

Many critics have stated that the film's story is inspired by the German
tragicomedy Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragedy, tragic and comedy, comic forms. Most often seen in drama, dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the ov ...
'' Good Bye, Lenin!'' (2003). Regarding the same, Vaitla said "I saw ''Good Bye, Lenin!'' when the scripting of ''Dookudu'' was 50 per cent complete. It was a coincidence. I had the idea of showing Mahesh in a new way as a young MLA. I also had the idea of the father. Then, Gopimohan came in, and we worked on the script for seven months. It's a multi-layered film and writing the screenplay for it was tough." He added that the idea of how lies are told and you get people to believe them was already shown in his earlier film ''
Ready Ready may refer to: Film and television * ''Ready'', a 2002 British short starring Imelda Staunton * Ready (2008 film), ''Ready'' (2008 film), an Indian Telugu-language film by Srinu Vaitla ** Uthamaputhiran (2010 film), ''Uthamaputhiran'' (201 ...
'' (2008). He chose a father-son relationship in the film as he wanted to show the emotions between them. Apart from that, Vaitla was inspired by other small things from ''Good Bye, Lenin!''. One such inspired sequence is where the protagonist and his team create fake news broadcasts and newspapers for showing them to his father to make the drama believable which includes making N. T. Rama Rao the Prime minister of India in 2011. And, the scene where the protagonist lies to his father about few things without knowing that the latter is aware of the drama is inspired from the climax of ''Good Bye, Lenin!''. A reviewer from ''
Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...
'' felt that some of the scenes and characters are inspired by Babu's previous films '' Athadu'' (2005) and ''
Pokiri ''Pokiri'' () is a 2006 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language action thriller film written and directed by Puri Jagannadh. The film was produced by Jagannadh and Manjula Ghattamaneni by their respective production companies Vaishno Academy a ...
'' (2006) apart from the Hindi '' Patiala House'' (2011). In one of the comedy scenes, M. S. Narayana is seen performing spoofs of '' Yamadonga'' (2007), '' Magadheera'' (2009), '' Simha'' (2010) and '' Enthiran'' (2010). According to K. Moti Gokulsing and Wimal Dissanayake, authors of the book ''Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas'', the parodies too received positive response.


Music

S. Thaman composed the soundtrack which consists of six songs. Viswa and Bhaskarabhatla penned lyrics of one song each while
Ramajogayya Sastry Darivemula Ramajogayya Sastry (born 24 August 1970) is an Indian film lyricist, known for his works in Telugu cinema and music. Early life Ramajogayya Sastry was born in Arepalli Muppalla, Ipuru Mandal near Narasaraopet of Palnadu distric ...
penned lyrics for the remaining songs. The film's soundtrack, marketed by
Aditya Music Aditya Music India Private Limited is an Indian music record label company, which owns the label Aditya Music. It produces music for the Telugu cinema industry and is headquartered at Hyderabad, Telangana. Overview The company was founded b ...
, was unveiled by hosting a promotional event at Shilpakala Vedika on 19 August 2011. The soundtrack was successful in its collections.


Marketing

The teaser poster featuring Babu along with a teaser trailer was unveiled on 31 May 2011 on the birthday eve of Babu's father, actor Krishna Ghattamaneni. The second teaser was unveiled on 9 August 2011 on the eve of Babu's birthday, and it received a positive response from viewers. Melton's look in the item number was unveiled after the completion of the film's shoot and those stills received positive response. In an interview to Karthik Pasupulate of ''
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 ...
'', Anil Sunkara said "When the pre-release hype was hitting a fever pitch, we (producers) toured all over the state, meeting fan associations and telling them that it was a family entertainer, and distributing merchandise like stickers, badges and ribbons". A thanksgiving tour began in
Vijayawada Vijayawada ( ), formerly known by its colonial name Bezawada, is the second largest city and a major commercial hub in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. The city forms an integral part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is situated on th ...
where Vaitla, Anil and comedian Siva Reddy promoted the film at Hotel Mid City after which they went to
Eluru Eluru ( ) is a city and the district headquarters of Eluru district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the List of municipal corporations in India#Andhra Pradesh, 14 municipal corporations ...
. The film's success meet was held at Hotel Novotel in Hyderabad on 11 October 2011. Another event was planned at Vijayawada for celebrating the completion of the film's 50-day run. The event was held at Velagapudi Ramakrishna Siddhartha Engineering College grounds on 12 November 2011. Udaya Bhanu hosted the event.


Release


Distribution

The distribution rights for Ceded, Nellore, Nizam, Guntur and Karnataka regions were sold for an amount of while the Uttarandhra region distribution rights were sold to Gayathri Films for an amount of . FICUS Inc. acquired the overseas distribution rights. The film was announced to be released on 23 September 2011 by the producers in the end of August 2011 after the release of the soundtrack.


Censorship

The first copy was submitted to
Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory Motion picture content rating system, film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of ...
on 19 September 2011 for censoring. The board awarded an U/A certificate on 21 September 2011 after a few cuts were done. To prevent illegal streaming, the makers approached the High Court for a John Doe order. The film released in 15 screens in
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
.


Screening and statistics

The film released in 71 screens in Hyderabad surpassing the record set by '' Magadheera'' which released in 68 screens. The film released in 1600 screens worldwide and 89 theatres in North America. It was released in 21 countries including Canada, Trinidad, South Africa, Netherlands and Finland making it the first Telugu film to be released there. It became the first Telugu film to be released in 21 cities in North India. The film released in 79 theatres in the United States. It became the first Telugu film to be released in Botswana. The Telugu Association of Botswana screened it in Village Cinema at 10:30 am on 9 October 2011 with each ticket costing 40 pula. Apart from them, the film released in countries like Singapore,
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
, Ireland and United Kingdom while the producers received calls from
Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...
for the distribution rights.


Legal issues

The film was shot at Vikarabad railway station on 31 July 2011 after seeking necessary permission to shoot till 5:00 pm with police security. The shoot was called off because of rain and Babu left the premises at 4:30 pm. Shortly, seven Telangana Students JAC activists landed at the railway station raising slogans against Samaikhyandhra supporters. On seeing them, the crew started preparing to vacate the spot. While they were leaving, the activists started pelting stones at them. Police later dispersed the mob and production manager Rambabu and Ramesh filed a complaint against them. The activists disrupted the screening of the film in six theatres in
Ranga Reddy district Ranga Reddy district is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The district headquarters is located at Kongara Kalan Village, Ibrahimpatnam Mandal. The district was named after the former deputy chief minister of the United Andhra Prade ...
and accused the unit members for registering false cases against them during the film's shoot at a railway station. They entered theatres at Vikarabad, Parigi, Tandoor, Chevella and Shamshabad and asked the managements not to screen the film but were dispersed by the police. Later Rambabu and Ramesh met them and assured them that the cases would be withdrawn immediately. Police protection was given to the theatres screening the film in Hyderabad while the screening was much delayed in many centres in Telangana. The shows began from 6:00 am in all other regions, particularly in the ceded area.


Home media

The television broadcast rights were purchased by MAA TV for 54 million. Illegally copied versions of the film's DVDs were seized by the Vijayawada city police on 11 October 2011. Volga Videos released the film's DVD and
VCD Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, and also known as Compact Disc Digital Video), (not to be confused with CD Video which is a type of LaserDisc, Laserdisc) is a home video format and the first format for distributing films on standard optical di ...
on 1 January 2012. FICUS Inc., released the overseas DVD on 16 March 2012. The film is also available on
Disney+ Hotstar Disney+ Hotstar, also known as JioHotstar or simply Hotstar, is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Disney Star. The brand was introduced as Hotstar for a streaming service carrying content from Di ...
.


Reception


Critical reception

Suresh Kavirayani of ''
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 ...
'' rated it 4 out of 5 and wrote "''Dookudu'' is a typical Srinu Vytla film with a generous sprinkling of comedy. His narrative manages to keep the audience engaged until the end of the movie. This movie comes as a blessing for not just Mahesh Babu, but also for Tollywood, which is badly in need of a hit, after the recent spate of box office debacles. Srinu Vytla and Mahesh Babu have come out with a winner in ''Dookudu''". ''Sify'' called the film "entertaining" and wrote "Despite the drawbacks, ''Dookudu'' holds the power to lure the crowds, with its commercial values. It is a bonanza to Mahesh Babu's fans and it will not disappoint the family crowds either." ''IANS'' rated it 3.5 out of 5 and stated "''Dookudu'' is a treat for Mahesh's fans. But others can also enjoy this film for its comedy elements and Mahesh's powerful presence." In contrast, B. V. S. Prakash of ''
Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Hyderabad, India. Founded in 1938, it was initially launched as a Weekly newspaper, weekly and later converted into a daily. The newspaper's name reflects its origins in the ...
'' rated the film 3 out of 5 and wrote "Although, it is a tale of an honest cop who is on the trail of a dreaded don, director Sinu Vaitla relies on a band of comedians like Brahmanandam and M.S. Narayana to sustain audience interests, before his protagonist accomplishes his mission. Audiences have to leave behind their thinking caps at home to enjoy this comic-caper since the screenplay has few gaping holes and is repetitive as well." Pavithra Srinivasan of ''
Rediff Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...
'' gave it 2.5 out of 5 and criticised the film's screenplay and logic-defying sequences, but praised Babu's performance, calling his role a "cakewalk" and recommending the film for his fans in particular. Ramchander of ''
Oneindia Oneindia.com is an Indian news website established in January 2006 by BG Mahesh. The website provides news updates, information on sports, events, travel, entertainment, business, lifestyle, videos, and classifieds in seven different Indian lang ...
Entertainment'' wrote "To sum up, ''Dookudu'' is just another average entertainer and not in the same league as Mahesh Babu"s earlier blockbusters like Athadu and Pokiri".


Box office

''Dookudu'' had the largest opening for a Telugu film, and collected a share of 10.11 crore and a gross of 12.58 crore on the first day of its release. The film grossed nearly 4.5 crore on its first day at the Overseas Box office. The film crossed the $1 million mark in the United States and grossed 1.5 crore in two days, in United Kingdom, Australia, Dubai and Canada. The film's three-day worldwide total became 21.22 crore and in three days, the film surpassed the records set by '' Magadheera'' and '' Simha'' in terms of first weekend collections. It collected a share of 25.55 crore and grossed 50.07 crore in its first week. The film collected 0.51 crore in its first week at the Chennai box office. By the end of its second week, ''Dookudu'' grossed 70 crore at the worldwide box office. The film grossed 101 crore by the end of its 50-day run at the worldwide Box office. It grossed 80 crore in India and 21 crore in Overseas by the end of its 50-day run. The film completed 50 days in 312 centres and 100 days in 63 centres. The film earned a share of 58.9 crore at the worldwide Box office in its lifetime.


Awards and nominations


Legacy

''Dookudu'' became one of the biggest hits in the history of Telugu cinema and was the biggest hit in Babu's career by the end of its lifetime run. The film ended the five-year career slump of Babu and marked his image makeover. ''
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 ...
'' called it one of the top ten must watch Telugu films of 2011. The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' wrote a special article about Babu and the film's massive collections in United States and called the film "The biggest hit you've never heard of". After the film's gross crossed 1 billion, Income Tax Department officials conducted a raid on the Jubilee Hills residence of Babu as he was rumoured to get a remuneration of more than 120 million for his next projects. The film's success made Samantha one of the most sought heroines in Telugu cinema. Melton received more offers for performing item numbers post the film's release. Dasari Narayana Rao said the film arrived at the right time and had provided a good amount of relief to the Telugu film industry, which was under a huge loss at that point of time. Samantha auctioned the costumes used by Babu in the film for raising funds for the charity organisation "Pratyusha". Vaitla's next film with Babu namely '' Aagadu'' (2014), which too was produced by 14 Reels Entertainment and had the same technical crew of this film, was a failure at the box office. ''
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 ...
'' cited similarities with ''Dookudu'' as one of the reasons of the film's failure.


Other versions

''Dookudu'' was dubbed and released by 14 Reels Entertainment into
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
entitled ''Athiradi Vettai and
Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
entitled Choodan'' in 2013. The film was also dubbed into
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
as ''The Real Tiger'' in 2012 and into Odia under the same title as the original Telugu version sometime in 2018 at the earliest, plus Kannada as ''Police Power'' in 2021, despite the existence of a remake in that language. The film was remade in
Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
as '' Power'' (2014) and in Bengali as '' Challenge 2'' (2012).


References


Sources

*


External links

* {{SIMMA Award for Best Film - Telugu Indian action comedy films 2011 action comedy films 2011 films Films shot in Gujarat Telugu films remade in other languages Fictional portrayals of the Andhra Pradesh Police 2011 masala films Films shot in Istanbul Films directed by Srinu Vaitla Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films set in Hyderabad, India Films scored by Thaman S 2010s police procedural films Films with screenplays by Kona Venkat Films set in Turkey Films shot in Switzerland 2011 comedy films 2010s Telugu-language films Indian police films Indian political action films Indian neo-noir films Indian gangster films Indian crime action films Films about criminals Films about organised crime in India