Gaali Sampath

Gaali Sampath (“‘Wind’ Sampath”) is a 2021 Telugu survival drama directed by Anish R. Krishna from a screenplay by Anil Ravipudi, with Rajendra Prasad and Sree Vishnu as father and son and Lovely Singh as the son’s love interest. Released in cinemas on 11 March 2021, it opened to mixed reviews, failed commercially and reached streaming eight days later.

What the story is about

In Araku, Sampath cannot speak and communicates only in noises, which is why everyone calls him Gaali (“wind”) Sampath. He lives with his devoted son Suri, a truck driver, who looks after him closely because of a breathing problem. Sampath hates rain, which he blames for every misfortune in his life, and dreams of becoming a performer. Suri, in love with the sarpanch’s daughter Papa, is trying to raise money for a truck of his own so that he can marry her, while Sampath needs money to enter a drama competition. Their plans collide, and a fall into a disused well in the backyard turns the film into a survival story.

Cast and crew

• Rajendra Prasad as Gaali Sampath
• Sree Vishnu as Suri, his son
• Lovely Singh as Papa
• Tanikella Bharani as the Station Master, Sampath’s friend
• Satya as Sampath’s translator
• Raghu Babu as Veerabhadram, the drama company owner
• Srikanth Iyyengar as Haribabu

Director: Anish R. Krishna. Screenplay: Anil Ravipudi, who also supervised the direction team. Story and co-producer: S. Krishna. Production: Imagespark Entertainment and Shine Screens. Music: Achu Rajamani.

Making the film

Announced in October 2020, the film had its muhurat shot at Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad on 16 November 2020 and began filming that month, mostly in the Uttarandhra region of Andhra Pradesh. The Times of India reported Anil Ravipudi’s move into screenwriting for the project.

Reviews and box office

Critics were divided, but nearly all praised Rajendra Prasad. Gabetta Ranjith Kumar of The Indian Express called him “the saving grace of this film”. Y. Sunitha Chowdhary of The Hindu found it not engaging enough: “Loud characters become a liability in this survival drama.” Sify called it “a middling father-son story” diluted by lame writing, while The Hans India was positive, calling it “a first of its kind attempt in Telugu cinema”.

The film was a commercial failure, and Sakshi reported its quick move to streaming.

Where to watch Gaali Sampath

According to Wikipedia, Gaali Sampath began streaming on Aha and Amazon Prime Video on 19 March 2021. We have not checked current platform listings, so availability in your region may differ.

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