Viswam

Viswam (“The Universe”) is a 2024 Telugu action comedy co-written and directed by Sreenu Vaitla, with a screenplay by Gopimohan, Bhanu-Nandu and Praveen Verma. Gopichand stars with Kavya Thapar, and the film is produced by Chitralayam Studios and People Media Factory. Chaitan Bharadwaj composed the music, with one song by Bheems Ceciroleo. It was released in cinemas on 11 October 2024.

What the story is about

The film opens with a bomb blast at a restaurant, set off by remote control. The bomber turns out to be a student of SSR College of Science and Technology, whose chairman, Bachiraju, is the brother of a central minister and fears the trail will lead back to his chemical factory and his college. From there the story widens into a sprawling action comedy with many characters and subplots, at the centre of which is Gopichand’s hero.

Cast and crew

• Gopichand in the lead
• Kavya Thapar as the heroine
• Sunil as Bachiraju, the college chairman
• Suman as the central minister Seethamrama Raju
• Jisshu Sengupta as Professor Amarnath Sastry

Director: Sreenu Vaitla. Production: Chitralayam Studios and People Media Factory. Music: Chaitan Bharadwaj, with Bheems Ceciroleo. Cinematography: K. V. Guhan. Editing: Amar Reddy Kudumula. Runtime: 154 minutes.

Making the film

Filming began on 24 September in Italy, at Matera, Milan and Rome, where a song was also shot, before moving to Goa, to Manali in January 2024, and then to Hyderabad; about 60% was done by February. People Media Factory joined as co-producer in March, and the teaser came out on 3 September 2024. This was Chaitan Bharadwaj’s first film with both Gopichand and Vaitla; his songs include the dance number “Moroccan Maguva”, with lyrics by Rakendu Mouli mixing English, Telugu and Urdu, and “Mondi Thalli Pilla Nuvvu”, about a mother’s love.

Release and reviews

The censor board asked for fourteen cuts, mostly of gore, violence and offensive dialogue, before granting a U/A certificate; in the UK the BBFC rated it 15 for strong gory violence. Its streaming rights went to Amazon Prime Video and its dubbing rights reportedly sold for ₹12 crore.

Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu found the film “marred by an outdated, meandering narrative”: with dozens of characters and a handful of subplots, she found 155 minutes of its incoherent storytelling tiresome to sit through.

Where to watch Viswam

Amazon Prime Video bought the film’s streaming rights, according to Wikipedia. We have not checked a current Prime Video listing, so availability in your region may differ.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Viswam and the review it cites, linked above; our own cast and crew records.