Funky

Funky is a 2026 Telugu comedy drama co-written and directed by K. V. Anudeep, starring Vishwak Sen as a chaotic debut director and Kayadu Lohar as the producer’s daughter left to rein him in. It opened in theatres on 13 February 2026, runs 128 minutes, drew mostly negative reviews, and has streamed on Netflix since 13 March 2026.

What the story is about

Producer Sudharsan of Manchi Studio watches an unfinished cut of his film Funky and learns that its first-time director, Komal, has turned a modest budget into a runaway one with songs and fight scenes, and now wants more money to finish. The shock lands Sudharsan in hospital. His daughter Chitra steps in, plans to replace Komal, and is talked into letting him complete the film on a tight budget instead. The comedy comes from a director who finds family ties “weird” and a producer who has to finish his film with him.

Cast and characters

• Vishwak Sen as Komal, the director
• Kayadu Lohar as Chitra, the producer
• Naresh as Sudharsan, Chitra’s father
• Easwari Rao as Subhadra, Komal’s mother
• Sampath Raj as GK, a financier
• Raghu Babu, Jai Krishna, Pammi Sai as Balaji and Muralidhar Goud as the family doctor
• Aditi Bhavaraju as Komal’s sister and Yash Puri as the film-within-the-film’s lead actor

Crew and music

• Director: K. V. Anudeep; writers: K. V. Anudeep and Mohan Sato, who also improvised dialogue on set
• Producers: Naga Vamsi S. and Sai Soujanya (Sithara Entertainments, Fortune Four Cinemas)
• Music: Bheems Ceciroleo; cinematography: Suresh Sarangam

The collaboration was first reported in August 2024, and the title was announced at a muhurat puja in Hyderabad on 11 December 2024. Kayadu Lohar was confirmed as Chitra in October 2025. Anudeep drew on real incidents from the film industry for some sequences. The singles “Dheere Dheere”, “Rattatataav” and “Yama Yamma” came out between December 2025 and February 2026.

Release and reception

Planned first for 25 December 2025, Funky reached theatres on 13 February 2026. Reviews were largely negative, and Wikipedia records it as a commercial failure.

• The Hans India (Suhas Sistu), 3/5: works “as a stress-free entertainer rather than a layered narrative”.
• The Times of India (Shreya Varanasi), 2.5/5: “a compilation of skits rather than a smoothly flowing narrative”.
• The Indian Express (Yashaswini Sri), 2.5/5: squanders its potential with misfired jokes and poor editing.
• Telugucinema.com (Jalapathi Gudelli), 2.25/5: some of Anudeep’s trademark jokes work, but the film feels aimless.
• OTTPlay (Avad Mohammad), 2/5, and Deccan Chronicle (BVS Prakash), 1.5/5.
• India Today (Janani K.), 1.5/5, and Cinema Express (Suresh Kavirayani), 1/5.
• The Hindu (Srivathsan Nadadhur): “undone by a non-existent plot and directionless storytelling”.

Where to watch Funky

Funky streams on Netflix, where it arrived on 13 March 2026 in Telugu with Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam dubs; the Hindi version is titled Mazzaq.

More Telugu films like this on Tollywood Desk: Mr. Work from Home, Bakasura Restaurant, K-Ramp.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Funky and the reviews it cites; our own cast, crew, release and OTT records.