100% Love

100% Love is a 2011 Telugu romantic comedy directed by Sukumar and produced by Bunny Vasu under Geetha Arts. Naga Chaitanya and Tamannaah Bhatia play cross-cousins locked in a love–hate rivalry, and Devi Sri Prasad composed the music. Released worldwide on 6 May 2011, it was well received and a commercial success, and it is still one of the best-remembered campus romances of the period. It was later remade in Bengali as Prem Ki Bujhini (2016) and in Tamil as 100% Kadhal (2019).

What the story is about

Balu is the brilliant, egotistical topper of his college. When his cousin Mahalakshmi (whose very long full name he refuses to remember) moves into his family’s home to study, she is in awe of him, and he offers to tutor her. The plan backfires when she beats him in the next exam. Wounded pride turns into a quiet war of sabotage between the two, while a third student quietly walks off with the top rank. The film follows how a rivalry between two stubborn people keeps getting in the way of what they actually feel; the story is told in flashback, and we leave the rest to the film.

Cast

• Naga Chaitanya as Balu
• Tamannaah Bhatia as Mahalakshmi
• Vijayakumar and K. R. Vijaya as the cousins’ grandparents
• Naresh as Balu’s father, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as their uncle John Acharya, and M. S. Narayana as the college dean
• Nandu (credited as Anand) as Ajith, the rival student, and Tara Alisha Berry as Swapna

How it was made

Sukumar had first discussed the idea with Geetha Arts before Arya 2, with a different lead pair, but that version did not go ahead. The film with Naga Chaitanya was announced in February 2010, Tamannaah signed on the following month, and it was launched at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad on 8 June 2010: D. Ramanaidu launched it, Nagarjuna clapped the first shot, S. S. Rajamouli directed it, and Akkineni Nageswara Rao handed over the script. It was shot untitled until 20 March 2011, when the name 100% Love was announced; working titles reported in the press included Balu Weds Mahalakshmi and I am Number One. A planned December 2010 release was pushed back by industry strikes.

Music

Devi Sri Prasad, Sukumar’s regular collaborator, composed the score and an album of eight songs including short “bit” songs, with lyrics by Chandrabose, Ramajogayya Sastry and Sri Mani. Aditya Music released it on 2 April 2011 at Rock Gardens in Hyderabad, launched by Nagarjuna, Allu Arjun and Ram Pothineni, and it became one of the best-selling soundtracks of 2011. “A Square B Square” and “Infatuation” were both nominated at the Filmfare and SIIMA awards.

Release and box office

100% Love opened on 6 May 2011. Wikipedia records that it completed 50 days in 65 centres in Andhra Pradesh and reached its 100th day in theatres on 13 August 2011. No lifetime gross is given in the article’s cited sources, so we do not quote one.

Awards

The film won two Nandi Awards: Best Home-Viewing Feature Film for Bunny Vasu and Best Child Actor for Master Nikhil. Tamannaah won Best Actress at the CineMAA Awards and the Hyderabad Times Film Awards. It was nominated for Best Film, Director, Actress and Music Director at the 59th Filmfare Awards South, and for nine awards at the first SIIMA ceremony, including Best Actor for Naga Chaitanya.

Where to watch 100% Love

We do not have a confirmed streaming platform for 100% Love on file. The OTT details on this page will be updated when a platform’s own listing confirms it.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on 100% Love and the sources it cites, including The Times of India; Wikidata; our own cast and crew records.