Bharathanatyam

Bharathanatyam is a 2024 Telugu crime comedy directed by KVR Mahendra, known for his debut Dorasani, and written by its lead actor, Surya Teja Aelay, in his acting debut, with Meenakshi Goswami, Viva Harsha (Harsha Chemudu) and Harsha Vardhan. The film was promoted with the tagline “cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world”, as The Times of India noted, and released in cinemas on 5 April 2024. It is not the Malayalam film of the same name.

What the story is about

As Cinema Express outlines it, Raju Sundaram is an aspiring filmmaker who cannot come up with a gripping story, and whose girlfriend is unhappy about his lack of money. Desperate to write something realistic, he plants voice recorders around town to capture real conversations, and overhears talk of a drug deal. Tempted by easy money, he decides to follow it up, against his better judgement. Meanwhile a cinema-loving drug baron, too violent for his own good, has his own problems. How Raju’s decision comes back to bite him is the film.

Cast and crew

• Surya Teja Aelay as Raju Sundaram
• Meenakshi Goswami as Raju’s girlfriend
• Viva Harsha (Harsha Chemudu) as a wannabe actor
• Harsha Vardhan as a drug baron
• Temper Vamsi, Ajay Ghosh, Saleem Pheku and Gangavva

Director: KVR Mahendra. Writer: Surya Teja Aelay. Music: Vivek Sagar.

Reviews and box office

Cinema Express found it “an otherwise inconsistent film” with “plenty of good moments”: it starts well in the vein of Hollywood dark comedies but “fails to keep up with its wackiness”, with subplots that slow it down. The critic singled out Harsha Chemudu, “the only one relentlessly having fun through the film”, and a final act “equal parts bizarre and hysterical”. OTTPlay also praised the climax, Viva Harsha’s scenes and Vivek Sagar’s background score, but reported that the low-budget film was a “massive flop at the box office”. We have not found collection figures from a named outlet.

Where to watch Bharathanatyam

Aha acquired the digital rights, and OTTPlay reported that it would stream from 27 July 2024; our record has the same date. That comes from a news report rather than a platform listing, so check Aha before you press play.

Sources: Cinema Express, OTTPlay and The Times of India, linked above. This Bharathanatyam has no Wikipedia article; every fact on this page comes from those outlets or our own records.