Narappa

Narappa (transl. “Guardian of the people”) is a 2021 Telugu period action drama written and directed by Srikanth Addala, starring Venkatesh in the title role with Priyamani, Karthik Rathnam and Vasishta N. Simha. It is a remake of Vetrimaaran’s Tamil film Asuran (2019), itself based on Poomani’s novel Vekkai. Produced by D. Suresh Babu and Kalaipuli S. Thanu under Suresh Productions and V Creations, it skipped theatres and premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 20 July 2021. Our record lists a running time of 153 minutes.

What the story is about

The film opens in 1980s Anantapur district with a man and a boy crossing a river carrying homemade bombs, while elsewhere a woman, a man and a young girl hide from the police. They are Narappa, a farmer from Ramasagaram, his younger son Seenappa, his wife Sundaramma, her brother Basavaiah and his daughter. A flashback explains how they got here: Panduswamy, a landlord from the neighbouring village, wants Narappa’s three acres for a cement factory, the family refuses to sell, and Narappa’s fiery elder son Munikanna will not back down. Narappa, quiet and seemingly meek, is at odds with his younger son and keeps trying to avoid confrontation, for reasons the film reveals later. Like Asuran, it deals with caste oppression and the struggle over land, and its turns are best seen rather than summarised.

Cast

• Venkatesh as Narappa
• Priyamani as Sundaramma
• Karthik Rathnam as Munikanna, the elder son
• Vasishta N. Simha as Seenappa, the younger son
• Nassar as Shankaraiah
• Rao Ramesh as lawyer Varadarajulu
• Rajeev Kanakala as Basavaiah
• Ammu Abhirami as Kannamma
• Brahmaji as Munappa, Narappa’s elder brother
• Aadukalam Naren as Panduswamy
• Raj Deepak Shetty as Doraswamy
• Sritej as Rangababu

Making of the film

Srikanth Addala confirmed in November 2019 that he would remake Asuran with Venkatesh, their second film together after Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (2013), and the title was revealed in January 2020. Shooting began on 22 January 2020 at Paalturu village near Uravakonda in Anantapur district, then moved to Tamil Nadu for action scenes supervised by Peter Hein at Kurumalai, the Theri Kaadu dunes and around Tirunelveli. The pandemic halted work in March 2020; filming resumed in Hyderabad on 9 November 2020 and wrapped by the end of January 2021. Shyam K. Naidu shot the film and Marthand K. Venkatesh edited it. Wikipedia notes that the core plot draws on the 1968 Kilvenmani massacre in Tamil Nadu.

Mani Sharma composed the soundtrack, his first full album for Srikanth Addala. The singles “Chalaaki Chinnammi” (11 July 2021) and “Ooo Narappa” (16 July) came out before the premiere, and “Rage of Narappa” (23 July) after it.

Release and reviews

Narappa was due in theatres on 14 May 2021 but the second COVID-19 wave stopped that, and the makers announced in July a direct premiere on Prime Video. Producer Suresh Babu said he was happy to show the film “to audiences across 240 countries and territories”.

Reviews were largely positive, though most compared it with the original. Neeshita Nyayapati of The Times of India gave it 3.5 out of 5 and said Addala had left the comfort zone of his usual bright family dramas. Ram Venkat Srikar of Cinema Express called it “as faithful a remake can get”, perhaps “too immaculate for its own good”, but “a welcome change in Telugu cinema”. Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion said it “isn’t quite as good as Asuran” but is “pretty good” on its own terms. Janani K of India Today felt it lacked “the freshness and soul of Asuran”, and Sasidhar Adivi of the Deccan Chronicle called the story old and predictable but the performances enough to make it “a decent watch”.

Where to watch Narappa

Narappa is an Amazon Prime Video release: it premiered there on 20 July 2021 instead of in cinemas. Our OTT record is based on the film’s Wikipedia article rather than our own check of the platform listing.

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