Paagal

Paagal (“Crazy”) is a 2021 Telugu romantic comedy written and directed by debutant Naresh Kuppili and produced by Bekkem Venugopal for Lucky Media, with Dil Raju’s Sri Venkateswara Creations presenting. Vishwak Sen stars with Nivetha Pethuraj and Murali Sharma, and Bhumika Chawla makes a cameo. After repeated COVID-19 delays it was released in cinemas on 14 August 2021 and was a moderate box-office success.

What the story is about

Prem lost his mother to cancer as a small boy. Missing her affection, he takes a friend’s advice to look for love as a source of comfort, and sets out to find a girl who will love him the way his mother did. What follows is a string of proposals, rejections and short-lived romances as Prem keeps searching, which The Hindu summed up as the story of “a man seeking mother’s love from his life partner”.

Cast and crew

• Vishwak Sen as Prem
• Nivetha Pethuraj as Theera
• Murali Sharma as MLA Raja Reddy “Raji”
• Simran Choudhary as Sofie, Megha Lekha as Radha and Indraja Shankar as Baby
• Mahesh Achanta as Mahesh and Rahul Ramakrishna as a youth leader
• Bhumika Chawla as Prem’s late mother (cameo)

Writer and director: Naresh Kuppili. Producer: Bekkem Venugopal. Music: Radhan, with one song by Leon James. Cinematography: Manikandan. Editing: Garry BH. Runtime: 138 minutes.

Making the film

Paagal was announced and launched with a pooja on 19 March 2020, just before the COVID-19 lockdown halted production. Filming began on 21 September 2020 under COVID protocols, mostly in Hyderabad, with a song shot in Pondicherry, and wrapped in December 2020. Vishwak Sen told The Times of India that he had at first hesitated to restart with a small crew. The film was first dated for 30 April 2021 and then 1 May before the second COVID wave pushed it back again; the makers screened the trailer only in theatres, not online.

Music

Radhan’s soundtrack, released by Aditya Music, includes the title song sung by Ram Miriyala, “Saradaga Kasepaina”, “Ee Single Chinnode”, “Aagave Nuvvagave” sung by Sid Sriram, and “Kanapadava”, composed by Leon James. Several reviewers, among them Asianet News Telugu, counted the music among the film’s highlights.

Reviews and box office

Reviews were generally negative about the story and screenplay but kind to Vishwak Sen and the music. The Times of India (two and a half out of five) called it “an over-drawn yet quirky love story with a flimsy storyline”. The Hindu called it a “bizarre romcom drama” with a contrived premise. The Hans India (two and a half out of five) rated it average, with some decent comedy, and NTV felt a strong premise was let down by misguided narration. Deccan Chronicle dismissed it as “a half-baked romcom”.

Audiences were more forgiving: T2BLive put its worldwide gross at ₹20.60 crore.

Where to watch Paagal

According to Wikipedia, Paagal premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 3 September 2021. We have not checked a current Prime Video listing, so availability in your region may differ.

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