Khatarnak

Khatarnak (“Dangerous”) is a 2006 Telugu action comedy directed by the choreographer-turned-director Amma Rajasekhar and produced by B. V. S. N. Prasad. Ravi Teja, Biju Menon and Ileana D’Cruz play the leads, with Prakash Raj and Kota Srinivasa Rao in support, and M. M. Keeravani composed the music. It is inspired by the Korean film Mr. Socrates (2005). Wikipedia dates its release to 13 December 2006; our record and Idlebrain’s review give 14 December.

What the story is about

Dasu is the son of a counterfeiter. When his father goes to jail, he drops out of school after the tenth class and drifts through life. Meanwhile, an honest police commissioner has used an informer, Venu, to break up a drug and arms smuggling gang, though the kingpin escapes. The don’s lawyer suggests turning the trick around: plant one of their own inside the police, someone with no record who is crooked and cunning enough.

Their search ends with Dasu. Threatened into becoming their puppet, he is sent back to school to pass his tenth class, the minimum needed to join the force. There he falls for a teacher, Nakshatra, who wants nothing to do with a man with neither education nor looks, and to win her he starts studying in earnest. The comedy follows a gangsters’ mole who begins to take his police job seriously.

Cast and crew

• Ravi Teja as Dasu
• Ileana D’Cruz as Nakshatra
• Biju Menon as the lawyer
• Prakash Raj as the Commissioner of Police
• Kota Srinivasa Rao as Dasu’s father
• Lal as the smuggler
• Raja Ravindra as Venu, the police informer
• Ali as Sathi Pandu and Venu Madhav as Puli
• Brahmanandam as Phillips and Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as the school principal
• Ankitha in a special appearance in the song “Maatante Maateraa”

Director: Amma Rajasekhar. Producer: B. V. S. N. Prasad. Music: M. M. Keeravani. Runtime: 152 minutes.

Music

Keeravani’s six-song soundtrack was released on 14 November 2006. “Aa Gaganamlo” borrows its tune from Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode”, and “Doma Kudithe Chicken Huniya” is based on “Aa Mudhal Akku”, composed by Srikanth Deva for the Tamil film Jithan.

Reviews and box office

Reviews were harsh. G. P. Aditya Vardhan of Rediff gave it 1.5 out of 5 under the headline “Watch at own risk!”, criticising the writing and direction and concluding that “only a miracle can save this film”. Jeevi of Idlebrain felt the director “could not do the execution right”, and Sify blamed a “confused story, jaded screenplay” and boring songs. Alluru Rahim of Zamin Ryot was also negative. Wikipedia records the film as a box-office failure, citing a 2022 Deccan Herald feature; no collection figures are given.

Where to watch Khatarnak

We do not have a confirmed streaming listing for Khatarnak on file. If we verify one with a platform, it will appear on this page.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Khatarnak and the reviews and report it cites, linked above; our own cast and crew records.