''Yatra'' () is a 2019 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

-language

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docud ...

starring

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (; born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada ...

in the role as Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy. Directed by Mahi V Raghav, the film is based on

padayatra A padayatra ( sa, पादयात्रा, pādayātrā, journey by foot, translit-std=ISO) is a journey undertaken by politicians or prominent citizens to interact more closely with different parts of society, educate about issues concerning ...

of Reddy who served as

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...

from May 2004 to June 2009 representing

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

. The film is produced by Vijay Chilla, Shashi Devi Reddy under 70mm Entertainments and music composed by K.

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 a ...

commenced on 20 June 2018 in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

. The film was released on 8 February 2019 alongside dubbed versions in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

and Tamil. Despite receiving critical acclaim, the film did not perform commercially.

Plot

Cast

as Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy *

Suhasini Maniratnam Suhasini Maniratnam (born 15 August 1961) known mononymously as Suhasini, is an Indian actress, director, producer and writer in the Tamil film industry. She has worked as an actress in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. She made her ...

Sabitha Indra Reddy Patlolla Sabitha Indra Reddy (born 5 May 1963) is an Indian politician who has been the Minister for Education of Telangana state since 2019. Reddy started her political career with the Indian National Congress and in 2009 became the first wom ...

Jagapathi Babu Veeramachaneni Jagapathi Rao Chowdary (born 12 February 1962), professionally known as Jagapathi Babu (), is an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has also appeared in a few Tamil, , Kannada and Malayalam films ...

as Y. S. Raja Reddy *Ashrita Vemuganti as

Y. S. Vijayamma Yeduguri Sandinti Vijayalakshmi (born 19 April 1956), better known as Y. S. Vijayamma, is an Indian politician from the Rayalaseema region of Andhra pradesh. She served as an MLA representing Pulivendla constituency. She was the chairper ...

Rao Ramesh Raavu Ramesh Rao (born 25 May 1968) is an Indian actor known for his works primarily in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre, and television. He is the son of veteran actor Rao Gopal Rao. Rao Ramesh initially appeared in '' Seema Simham'' (2002), '' ...

K. V. P. Ramachandra Rao Dr. K.V P Ramachandra (fondly called as "KVP") (born 21 June 1948), is a Member of Parliament in India and chief adviser to the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy. He belongs to Indian National Congress. After Bi ...

Anasuya Bharadwaj Anasuya Bharadwaj (born 15 May 1985) is an Indian television presenter and actress who works in Telugu films and television. She has received two South Indian International Movie Awards, an IIFA Utsavam Award and South filmfare Awards for he ...

as Gowru Charitha Reddy *

Sachin Khedekar Sachin Khedekar (born 14 May 1965) is an Indian actor and director known for his work in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Gujarati language films. His well-known films include ''Kaksparsh'', ''Astitva'' and Shyam Benegal's '' Neta ...

Ghulam Nabi Azad Ghulam Nabi Azad (born 7 March 1949) is an Indian politician who served as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha between 2014 to 2021. He also served as the Chief Minister of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from 2005 to 2008. On 26 September ...

Posani Krishna Murali Posani Krishna Murali (born 22 January 1958) is an Indian screenwriter, actor, director and producer who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He worked as a writer for over 150 Telugu films and directed a number of films. In 2009, he also conte ...

as Y Venkatarao *

Prudhvi Raj Balireddy Prudhviraj (born August 6, 1964) is an Indian actor and politician who appears in Telugu films. Known for his comic roles, he has acted in over 100 films. He is noted for his dialogue of ''30 Years Industry'' in the 2002 film '' Khadg ...

as Sujaya Krishna Ranga Rao * Vijayachander as Mandipalli Narayana Reddy *

Thalaivasal Vijay Thalaivasal Vijay is an Indian actor and dubbing artist. He was born on 4 August 1962 in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India. He has acted predominantly in numerous Tamil and Malayalam films. Career Vijay's debut film was '' Thalaivaasal'' (1992) ...

Tulla Devender Goud Tulla Devender Goud is an Indian politician from the Telugu Desam Party. He founded the Nava Telangana Praja Party (NTP) to fight for separate statehood for the Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh, but later returned to his parent outfit. A ba ...

* Jeeva *Thotapalli Madhu as V. Hanumantha Rao *Tarun Dhanrajgir as N.D. Tiwari *

Vinod Kumar Vinod Kumar Alva (born 1 April 1963) is an Indian actor who has worked predominantly in Telugu cinema & also appeared in Kannada, Tamil & Malayalam films. Filmography Telugu *''Mayadari Mogudu'' (1984) *'' Mouna Poratam'' (1989) *''Adavi ...

as K. Chennakesava Reddy * Nagineedu as Telapalli Raghavayya * Nassar as Teacher Venkatappa *

Surya Surya (; sa, सूर्य, ) is the sun as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja and a ...

as Doctor *Dil Ramesh as Veerappa *Mahesh Achanta as Obulesh *Sanjay Swaroop as D.C.P. *

Ravi Kale Ravi Kale is an Indian actor known for his works in Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Marathi films. Filmography ;Marathi *'' Bangarwadi'' (1995) *''Sumbaran'' (2009) *'' Pipani'' (2012) *'' Vanilla,Strawberry & Chocolate'' (2018) ;Hindi *'' ...

as Henchman * Chatrapathi Sekhar as Farmer *

Kalyani Kalyani may refer to: Film and television * ''Kalyani'' (1940 film), a Hindi film * ''Kalyani'' (1952 film), a Tamil film * ''Kalyani'' (1971 film), a Kannada film * ''Kalyani'' (1979 film), a Telugu film * ''Kalyani'' (1983 film), an Oriya ...

as Worker

Soundtrack

The music is composed by K, while the lyrics are written by

Sirivennela Sitaramasastri Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry (born Chembolu Seetharama Sastry; 20 May 1955 – 30 November 2021) was an Indian poet and lyricist known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He acquired the stage name Sirivennela after writing the ...

. The first single "Samara Shankham" was released on 2 September 2018 on the anniversary of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy's death.

Production

By early January 2018, the producers Vijay Chilla and Shashi Devireddy under their banner 70MM Entertainments had registered the title ''Yatra'', while director

Mahi V. Raghav Mahi V. Raghav is an Indian film maker, screenwriter and producer known for his works in Telugu cinema. He is notable for directing Anando Brahma, a comedy horror and Yatra, a biopic of YS Raja Sekhar Reddy, late CM of Andhra Pradesh. He start ...

was at the final phase of scripting.

Casting

Director

said

was the first choice to play the role of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, but it took nearly five months to bring him on board. Mammootty's performance in the 1991 film ''

Thalapathi ''Thalapathi'' () is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language gangster drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, and produced by G. Venkateswaran. The film stars Rajinikanth and Mammootty with Arvind Swamy in his feature-film debut, Jaishankar, Am ...

'' inspired director Mahi V Raghav to cast him in the film. In April 2018,

was chosen to play YSR's personal assistant Sureedu. In May, Hindi actor

was selected to play former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

N. Bhaskara Rao Nadendla Bhaskara Rao (born 23 June 1936) is an Indian politician who served as the Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh for a brief period in 1984. He served the shortest term yet, as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh – 31 days. His son Nade ...

, while

was chosen to play

, a close associate of Reddy. In June,

was cast to portray

, a sister figure to Reddy and the first woman Home Minister in Andhra Pradesh, while television actress

was reported to play a politician from

Kurnool district Kurnool district is one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in the North western part of the state and is bounded by Jogulamba Gadwal district of Telangana in the north, Rai ...

. In July,

was selected to feature Y. S. Raja Reddy, YSR's father.

Release and reception

The film was released on 8 February 2019.

Critical response

Hemanth Kumar of ''

Firstpost ''Firstpost'' is an Indian online news and media website. The site is a part of the Network 18 media conglomerate owned by Reliance Industries, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18. The ''Network 18'' group was originally owned by Ra ...

'' gave 3 out of 5 stars stating "Yatra feels like just its title. The route is long and you are moved to tears at times, but without any major twists or turns that leave you in awe of the whole journey". Manoj Kumar R of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Limited, Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, ...

'' gave 3 out of 5 stars stating "Beyond politics, Mahi V Raghav film Yatra, starring Mammootty, also works as a decent human drama.". Karthik Kumar of ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...

'' gave 3 out of 5 stars stating "Mammootty’s docudrama is at its best when it focuses on the padayatra, devoid of any major twists and turns that usually leave you in awe". ''

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...

'' gave 3 out of 5 stars stating "Political movies work more if you have a similar political bent". Venkat Arikatla of ''Great Andhra'' gave 3 out of 5 stars stating "More than politics, the emotional sequences work out well for all".

Box office

''Yatra'' collected in the first five days. The film, which grossed a total of 28.5 crore worldwide against a budget of 12 crore, performed decently at the box office. Its worldwide distributor's share was 15.8 crore. Yatra Managed to collect ₹ 1.20 crore at the USA Box Office.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt8426840 2010s Telugu-language films Indian biographical drama films 2019 biographical drama films Films scored by K (composer) 2019 drama films 2019 films 70mm Entertainments films Films directed by Mahi V Raghav