Okkadu

Okkadu (meaning “One Person”) is a 2003 Telugu romantic sports action drama co-written and directed by Gunasekhar and produced by M. S. Raju under Sumanth Art Productions. Mahesh Babu plays a kabaddi player who rescues a young woman from a feared factionist, with Bhumika Chawla and Prakash Raj. Mani Sharma composed the music. Released on 15 January 2003 to critical acclaim, it was Mahesh Babu’s first big commercial breakthrough, won eight Nandi Awards and four Filmfare Awards South including Best Film, and was remade in seven other languages, most famously as the Tamil Ghilli (2004).

What the story is about

Ajay Varma is a hot-headed kabaddi player from Hyderabad’s Old City and the son of a strict police officer, who would rather he studied for the civil services. In Kurnool for a state tournament, he saves Swapna from Obul Reddy, a dangerous faction leader who has killed her brothers and is determined to marry her by force. Ajay smuggles Swapna back to Hyderabad, hides her in his own room with his sister’s help, and sets out with his friends to get her a passport and visa so she can join her uncle in the United States, all while Obul Reddy hunts them and Ajay’s own father is ordered to find her. The chase around the Charminar that follows is the film’s centrepiece.

Cast

• Mahesh Babu as Ajay Varma
• Bhumika Chawla as Swapna Reddy
• Prakash Raj as Obul Reddy
• Mukesh Rishi and Geetha as Ajay’s parents; Mukesh Rishi called it a “soft role after a string of ferocious roles”
• Chandra Mohan as Swapna’s father, and Telangana Shakuntala as Obul Reddy’s mother
• Brahmanandam, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam and M. S. Narayana in comic roles

How it was made

Gunasekhar had long wanted to make a film set around the Charminar and wrote a gang-rivalry story inspired by West Side Story (1961). He made the hero a kabaddi player who defies his father after reading about badminton player Pullela Gopichand’s struggles. He chose Bhumika after seeing her in Yuvakudu, and the Paruchuri Brothers wrote the dialogue. Because shooting at the real Charminar was not permitted, the team built a replica on ten acres of D. Ramanaidu’s land near Hyderabad: 300 workers spent three months on it, at a cost of ₹1.75 crore. The overall budget was ₹8–9 crore. Sekhar V. Joseph shot the film and A. Sreekar Prasad edited it, switching a non-linear first cut to a linear one on the Paruchuri Brothers’ advice. The climax was shot over 11 days in December 2002 with 1000 junior artistes.

Music

Mani Sharma composed the songs, with lyrics by Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry. The audio was released on 19 December 2002, and Sify wrote that he “dished out some memorable tunes”.

Release and box office

Okkadu opened on 15 January 2003 in 165 screens. The Hindu‘s 2003 mid-year report is cited for a distributors’ share of ₹25–30 crore.

What critics said

Sify wrote that “Mahesh Babu has managed to get the right mix” in “a live-wire action thriller”. Idlebrain.com found the first half very good and the second half slower, but predicted that it had “all the ingredients” to become the blockbuster Mahesh Babu deserved.

Remakes

Okkadu was remade in Tamil as Ghilli (2004) and in Kannada as Ajay (2006), with Prakash Raj reprising his role in both, as well as in Odia, twice in Bangladesh, in Hindi as Tevar (2015) and in Sinhala as Kabaddi (2021).

Where to watch Okkadu

Our OTT record lists Okkadu on Sun NXT, based on Wikipedia’s note that the film has been available to stream there, not on a checked platform listing. Availability changes by country and over time, so confirm on the platform before subscribing.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Okkadu and the reviews and reports it cites, linked above; Wikidata; our own cast, crew and OTT records.