Gentleman

Gentleman (also billed as Nani Gentleman) is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language romantic thriller directed by Mohan Krishna Indraganti, who co-wrote it with R. David Nathan. It was produced by Sivalenka Krishna Prasad’s Sridevi Movies. Nani plays a double role alongside Nivetha Thomas, Surbhi, Tanikella Bharani, Srinivas Avasarala and Vennela Kishore. Released on 17 June 2016, it was well reviewed and a commercial success.

Story

On a flight home to Hyderabad, two women, Aishwarya and Catherine, swap stories about the men they love. Aishwarya’s fiancé is Jai, a young businessman, and Catherine’s boyfriend is Gautham, who runs an adventure club. On landing, Catherine is shocked to find that Jai looks exactly like Gautham. When Gautham later dies in an accident, she suspects Jai was involved and begins spying on him, uncovering more about both men.

Cast

• Nani in a double role as the two lookalikes
• Surbhi as Aishwarya, a rich young entrepreneur
• Nivetha Thomas as Catherine, in her Telugu debut
• Vennela Kishore as Sudarshanam, a suspicious team leader
• Sreemukhi as Nithya, an investigative journalist
• Srinivas Avasarala and Tanikella Bharani

Development

After Bandipotu (2015), Indraganti reworked a script by Tamil writer R. David Nathan to suit Telugu audiences. Nathan was credited with the story, and Indraganti wrote the screenplay and dialogue. Indraganti dedicated the second half to Alfred Hitchcock. The film also marked producer Sivalenka Krishna Prasad’s return after eight years. Because the hero is suspected of being a villain but is in fact a gentleman, the title carried the tagline “Hero? Villain?”. Indraganti cast Nani after his performance in Yevade Subramanyam, their second film together after Ashta Chamma. Nivetha Thomas learned Telugu during the shoot and dubbed her own lines.

Production

Shooting ran from November 2015 to April 2016, mostly in and around Hyderabad, with one schedule in Kodaikanal. P. G. Vinda was the cinematographer, Mani Sharma composed the songs and score, and Marthand K. Venkatesh edited the film.

Release and box office

Made on a budget of ₹15 crore according to the source, the film opened on 700 screens worldwide on 17 June 2016. At the time, that was the third-widest United States release for a South Indian film by screen count. It grossed ₹32.6 crore worldwide, with a distributor share of ₹16.3 crore.

Reception and legacy

Critics and audiences responded positively. Nivetha Thomas won the SIIMA Award for Best Female Debut (Telugu) for her role. The film was remade in Bengali as Villain and in Odia as Blackmail, both in 2018.

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.