Chanakya

Chanakya is an Indian Telugu-language spy action thriller directed by Thiru and produced by Rama Brahmam Sunkara under AK Entertainments. It stars Gopichand, Zareen Khan and Mehreen Pirzada, and it marked the Telugu debuts of Thiru as a director and of Zareen Khan as an actress. It was released in October 2019 and, according to the source, was an average grosser.

Story

Arjun, an undercover RAW agent, helps capture the right-hand man of India’s most wanted terrorist. When a Pakistani terrorist kidnaps his teammates and his cover is blown, his own agency disavows him. He sets out on a rescue mission in Karachi, enlisting the help of another agent, Zubeida.

Cast

Gopichand leads the cast, and Mehreen Pirzada reunites with him after Pantham. Zareen Khan plays a key role in her first Telugu film. The supporting cast includes Rajesh Khattar, Upen Patel, Jayaprakash, Raja Chembolu and Aadarsh Balakrishna.

Production and music

Gopichand launched the film, his 26th, in February 2019 with the Tamil director Thiru, and shooting began that month in Jaipur. Vishal Chandrasekhar and Sricharan Pakala composed the music, with lyrics by Ramajogayya Sastry.

Release

The source gives both 4 and 5 October 2019 as the release date. A Hindi dubbed version was released on television and YouTube on 27 December 2020, and a Malayalam version, Agent Chanakya, followed in 2020.

Reception

The Hans India gave it 2.5 out of 5 and called it a well-treated story told in an interesting way. The Times of India gave it 2, calling it a meandering drama unsure whether to be a serious spy thriller or a commercial entertainer. Firstpost also gave it 2 and criticised it for treating a spy drama as a masala film.

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.