Jatadhara

Jatadhara (జటాధార) is a 2025 supernatural thriller written and directed by Venkat Kalyan and Abhishek Jaiswal and shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi. Sudheer Babu plays Shiva, Sonakshi Sinha makes her Telugu debut as the demon Dhanapisachini, and Divya Khosla Kumar plays Sitara. Produced by Zee Studios, it opened on 7 November 2025, runs 135 minutes, and streams on ZEE5.

What the story is about

The film draws on the myths and theories around the sealed vaults of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala. Shiva, a man “born from sacrifice”, stumbles on secrets hidden beneath the temple’s vaults and is pulled into a battle with Dhanapisachini, the demon of greed, in a story about greed, sacrifice and spiritual awakening.

Cast and characters

• Sudheer Babu as Shiva
• Sonakshi Sinha as Dhanapisachini and Divya Khosla Kumar as Sitara
• Shilpa Shirodkar as Shobha and Indira Krishnan as Devi, Shiva’s mother
• Ravi Prakash as Vasu, Shiva’s father, and Rajeev Kanakala as his uncle
• Srinivas Avasarala as Manish Sharma and Subhalekha Sudhakar as Neelakanta Sastri
• Jhansi, Rupa Lakshmi, Chakrapani Ananda and Pradeep Rawat

How it was made

Zee Studios announced the film in August 2023 and revealed Sudheer Babu as the lead the next month; Sonakshi Sinha’s casting was announced on International Women’s Day 2024. Filming ran from March 2024 to May 2025 across several schedules, much of it on sets built to resemble the temple interiors. Sameer Kalyani shot the film and Venkat Kalyan edited it. The music is by a team that includes Samira Koppikar and Raees & Zain-Sam; the singles were “Soul of Jatadhara”, “Dhana Pisaachi” and “Pallo Latke Again”. Prabhas unveiled the teaser on 8 August 2025 and Mahesh Babu launched the trailer on 17 October 2025.

Reviews

Critics were mostly negative. Firstpost gave it 3/5, calling the concept unique but the editing confusing, and ABP Live found it an engaging mix of mythology and mystery. Hindustan Times and The Indian Express gave it 2/5, India Today 1.5/5 and News18 1/5, while The Hindu and Scroll.in criticised the writing and effects. No box-office figure is on record from a cited source.

Where to watch Jatadhara

Jatadhara streams on ZEE5, according to the platform’s listing. The OTT box on this page shows the current status and its source.

More Telugu films like this on Tollywood Desk: Honey, Bakasura Restaurant, Mareechika.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Jatadhara and the reviews it cites; the ZEE5 listing; our own cast, crew, release and OTT records.