''Sankranthiki Vasthunam'' () is a 2025 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

-language

action comedy 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 America ...

film written and directed by

Anil Ravipudi Anil Ravipudi (born 23 November 1982) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Telugu cinema. He is best known for writing and directing action comedies. His directorial debut was the action comedy ''Pataas'' (2015) and won the S ...

and produced by

Sri Venkateswara Creations Sri Venkateswara Creations is an Indian film production company based in Hyderabad. It was established by Dil Raju in 2003 and has produced several Telugu films. The company also has a subsidiary film distribution business named Sri Venkateswar ...

. It stars Venkatesh,

Aishwarya Rajesh Aishwarya Rajesh (born 10 January 1990) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. Aishwarya is a recipient of several awards including two Filmfare Award South, one Tamil Nadu State Film Award and fo ...

and Meenakshi Chaudhary, P. Sai Kumar,

VTV Ganesh Ganesh Janardhanan, also known by his stage name VTV Ganesh'','' is an Indian actor and producer who works in Tamil and Telugu films. He is best known for his raspy voice, and appearances in films featuring Silambarasan. He made his debut in t ...

Sarvadaman D. Banerjee Sarvadaman D. Banerjee (born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu language, Telugu and Hindi language films and television series. He is best known for playing Krishna in Ramanand Sagar's hit television series ''Krishna (TV seri ...

Upendra Limaye Upendra Limaye (born 8 November 1969) is an Indian actor, who won the National Film Award for his role in the Marathi film '' Jogwa''. On the centenary of Indian cinema in April 2013, ''Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazin ...

and

Srinivas Avasarala Srinivas Avasarala (born 19 March 1984) is an Indian actor, film director and screenwriter who works in Telugu cinema. He received two Nandi Awards and a SIIMA Award. Early life Srinivas Avasarala was born on 19 March 1984 in Kakinada, Andhra ...

. The film features music composed by

Bheems Ceciroleo Bheems Ceciroleo is an Indian composer, lyricist, and singer who is best known for his works in Telugu cinema. His unusual last name comes from his father, who named him after Ceciro and Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei ( ...

, and cinematography by

Sameer Reddy Sameer Reddy is an Indian film cinematographer who works in Telugu and Hindi films, and Cinema of the United States The cinema of the United States, primarily associated with major film studios collectively referred to as Hollywood, has ...

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 ...

took place in

Rajahmundry Rajahmundry ( ), officially Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and district headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the fifth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the district of Rajahmu ...

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 ...

Kasaragod Kasaragod () is a municipal town and the administrative headquarters of the Kasaragod district in the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1966, Kasaragod was the first municipal town in the district. It is the northernmost district of Kera ...

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

Mussoorie Mussoorie () is a hill station and a municipal board, in Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hil ...

, and

Rishikesh Rishikesh, also spelt as Hrishikesh, is a city near Dehradun in the Indian state Uttarakhand. The northern part of Rishikesh is in the Dehradun district while the southern part is in the Tehri Garhwal district. It is situated on the right bank ...

. ''Sankranthiki Vasthunam'' was released on 14 January 2025, coinciding with the

Sankranthi Sankranti () refers to the transmigration of the sun from one zodiac to another in Indian astronomy. In ''Saurmana'' ''varsha'' (Hindu Solar year), there are twelve Sankrantis corresponding with twelve months of a year. The Sankrantis can be broa ...

festival and it received mixed reviews from critics. The film grossed worldwide and emerged as the highest grossing Telugu film of the year and third highest grossing Indian film of the year.

Plot

Satya Akella, a renowned businessman, comes to India for a business vacation on the CM Keshava’s invitation. Upon the party president's suggestion, he comes to eat in a farmhouse but gets kidnapped by Biju Pandey’s gang, in order to use him as a hostage to get his brother Papa pandey released. However the jailer George Antony refuses to release Papa Pandey without official statement from the government (which Keshava is not willing to do as Akella’s kidnap will jeopardize his position). Meenakshi, a police officer investigates, and takes help from her ex YD Raju a former encounter specialist. However Raju is married to Bhagyam and has 4 children, and has never told Bhagyam about his ex. Meenakshi comes to Raju and asks him to come help, but Bhagyam is worried that their relationship might rekindle and demands to join the operation as well, along with her son father and their household worker. Left with no choice the CM allows it. The group sneak into the jail where Papa Pandey is arrested and arrange for a fight so that Pandey gets injured and needs hospitalization. They trick George Antony and his subordinate Manikya Rao in order to take Papa with them, and escape. Unfortunately on the way Papa pandey gets pushed off a cliff by Bhagyam when she tries to get him to eat her food. Left with no choice Raju trucks Biju Pandey by changing Papa pandey’s clothes and using strings to make him act like a puppet. Bhagyam and Meenakshi keep fighting between themselves while Raju and the remaining group struggle to keep the peace. Finally at a shootout between Pandey gang and their rival, Biju pandey finds out that Papa is dead but the group escapes with Akella. However they track them down where Raju expresses his frustration with both Bhagyam and Meenakshi and takes down the entire gang and kills Biju. At the end however Raju takes Akella with him and tells the CM that Raju’s teacher was humiliated and accused of a crime by an MLA (who happened to be Keshava’s uncle), and demands that an apology be given, or news of Akella’s kidnapping would be leaked. Raju’s teacher is exonerated, and Akella returns to the US. Raju and Bhagyam return home but to their shock Meenakshi is transferred to their village and is now their new neighbor, setting the scene for further trouble for Raju between his wife and his ex.

Cast

Production

's third collaboration with Venkatesh after '' F2: Fun and Frustration'' (2019) and '' F3: Fun and Frustration'' (2022) was announced in July 2024. The film was produced by

who also produced their earlier collaborations. Meenakshi Chaudhary and

were cast as the female leads. The title was announced as ''Sankrantiki Vasthunam'' in November 2024.

began on 11 July 2024. Filming took place in

Tiruchirapalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of Ta ...

Koraput Koraput is a town and a Municipality in Koraput district in the Indian state of Odisha. Koraput town is the district headquarter of Koraput district. History The district of Koraput derives its name from its headquarters in the present town o ...

and

. The climax of the movie was shot in

Kadapa Kadapa is a city in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located in the Rayalaseema region, and is the district headquarters of YSR Kadapa district. It is located south of the Penna River. The city is surrounded on three sides by ...

Music

The soundtrack album was released on 14 January 2025 after the film's release.

Release

Theatrical

''Sankranthiki Vasthunam'' was released in theatres on 14 January 2025, coinciding with

Distribution

The overseas rights were acquired by Phars Film Co, while Shloka Entertainments bought the distribution rights for

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. The

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

theatrical rights were sold to Dreamz Entertainment. The distribution rights in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

were acquired by Hamsini Entertainment and Tolly Movies International.

Home media

The satellite and digital rights of the film were acquired by

Zee Telugu Zee Telugu is an Indian Telugu-language general entertainment pay television channel in India. It was launched on 12 September 2004 as '' Alpha TV Telugu''. and was rebranded as ''Zee Telugu'' on 18 May 2005. The channel is owned by Zee Entert ...

and

ZEE5 ZEE5 or Z5 is an Indian subscription video on demand and over-the-top streaming service, owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. The ZEE5 mobile app is available on We ...

, respectively. ZEE5 acquired films digital streaming rights sold for ₹30 crore. The film was telecast on Zee Telugu before its OTT release on 1 March 2025. It began streaming on ZEE5 from 1 March 2025.

Reception

Critical response

Avad Mohammad of ''

OTTplay HT Media is an Indian mass media company based in Delhi. It has holdings in print, electronic and digital media. HT Media's flagship newspaper is the ''Hindustan Times'', the second most widely read English newspaper in India after ''The Times of ...

'' gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "''Sankranthiki Vasthunnam'' is a perfect festival watch packed with loads of entertainment. Venkatesh leads from the front, delivering a hilarious performance. While the predictable storyline may not appeal to everyone, the family audience is sure to enjoy the film." T. Maruthi Acharya of ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

'' gave 3/5 stars and wrote "With its mix of engaging comedy and uneven storytelling, ''Sankranthiki Vasthunnam'' is a decent outing for families seeking light-hearted entertainment." B.H. Harish of ''

Cinema Express ''Cinema Express'' was an Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language entertainment fortnightly magazine published from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was a part of The New Indian Express, The New Indian Express Group, which also publishes ''Samakalika Mal ...

'' gave 3/5 stars and wrote "But then again, it depends on you if you want to judge this film from that lens. For everyone else who merely wants to have a few hearty laughs, ''Sankranthiki Vasthunam'' offers them in plenty." Sashidhar Adivi of ''

Times Now Times Now is an English-language news channel in India owned and operated by The Times Group. The channel launched on 23 January 2006 in partnership with Reuters. It is a pay television throughout India. Until 2016, it was India's most popula ...

'' gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "''Sankranthiki Vasthunnam'' will often make you laugh, especially if you are a fan of out-and-out slapstick comedies. A focused script, tighter editing and impressive cinematography would have elevated the film a few notches. The muddled-up storyline and how the events pan out leave much to be desired."

Sequel

After the success of ''Sankranthiki Vasthunam'', Ravipudi planned a sequel named ''Malli Sankranthiki Vasthunam''. The film will be released on January 2027, coinciding

Notes

References

External links

* {{Anil Ravipudi 2025 films 2025 action comedy films 2020s Indian films 2020s Telugu-language films Films directed by Anil Ravipudi Films scored by Bheems Ceciroleo Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films shot in Dehradun Films shot in Kasaragod Films shot in Mussoorie Indian action comedy films Sri Venkateswara Creations films Films set in Odisha Films set in Rajahmundry Films set in Andhra Pradesh Films set in Telangana Fictional portrayals of the Telangana Police Films set in Hyderabad, India