Released · Telugu film · 2016
Kshanam
క్షణం
Kshanam release date: 26 February 2016 (theatres). Directed by Ravikanth Perepu; starring Adivi Sesh, Satyam Rajesh and Adah Sharma.
- Film release
- 26 February 2016 · All 2016 films
- Director
- Ravikanth Perepu
- Music
- Sricharan Pakala
- Production
- PVP Cinema
- Writing credits
- Adivi Sesh, Ravikanth Perepu
- Runtime
- 118 min
- Language
- Telugu
OTT release
Sun NXT holds the digital rights; the OTT release date is not announced yet.
Film release: 26 February 2016 · all 2016 Telugu films.
Source: the film’s Wikipedia article, checked 25 September 2026. Only what the source states is shown.
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Kshanam (transl. Moment) is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language mystery thriller directed by Ravikanth Perepu and co-written by its star, Adivi Sesh. Adah Sharma co-stars, with Anasuya Bharadwaj, Satyadev, Vennela Kishore, Satyam Rajesh and Ravi Varma in supporting roles. Released on 26 February 2016 to strong reviews, it was later remade in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Sinhala.
Story
Rishi, an investment banker in San Francisco, gets a call from his former girlfriend Swetha, who married someone else at her father’s insistence. He travels to India and learns that her five-year-old daughter, Riya, has been kidnapped. No one, not even her husband, believes the child exists, and Rishi sets out to find the truth.
Production
Prasad V. Potluri of PVP Cinema agreed to produce, and Sesh’s friend Ravikanth Perepu made his directing debut. The two spent ten months on the screenplay, deliberately discarding predictable options. They kept the budget low and worked with a crew of 20. Perepu edited the film with Arjun Shastri, and Shaneil Deo was the cinematographer. Sesh said Rishi shared his own sensibilities, apart from being an alcoholic.
Inspiration
The idea came from a moment when Sesh felt afraid for a young girl at a school in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. The core premise was influenced by the 2005 film Flightplan.
Music
Sricharan Pakala composed the songs and score, released by Junglee Music. The background score was widely praised, and “Cheliya” and “Ee Kshanam” topped the charts.
Reception and remakes
Critics were enthusiastic. The Times of India and Deccan Chronicle gave it 3.5 out of 5, and The Hindu praised the taut screenplay and called it a terrific directing debut. According to the source, it grossed about ₹4.8 crore in the Telugu states in ten days. It was remade as Sathya (Tamil, 2017), Baaghi 2 (Hindi, 2018), Aadyaa (Kannada, 2020) and Kidnap (Sinhala, 2023).
Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.
Trailer from the official YouTube channel of PVP Cinema, published 10 Feb 2016.
Cast of Kshanam (2016)
- Adivi Sesh as Rishi
- Satyam Rajesh as Ravi Chowdary
- Adah Sharma as Swetha
- Anasuya
- Satyadev Kancharana as Karthik
- Vennela Kishore as Babu Khan
Additional cast
Further acting credits recorded for this film; voice-only and dubbing credits are excluded.
- Ravi Varma as Bobby
- Ravikanth Perepu as Marwari Seth
Also in the cast (TMDB): Anasuya Bharadwaj as Jaya Bharadwaj, Baby Dolly as Riya, Abuzy as Nigerian, Marcellein koffi Houessou as Nigerian, Kunle Awonsanya as Nigerian, Seedha Ahmed as Nigerian, Ravi Raja Maguluri as Assassin, Shashank Kalavala as Anil, Vaishnavi Sridhar as Rishi's Mother, Nicola Vann as Stacy, Anusha Gavarapati as Pooja, Rachna Koduri as Seetha's Friend.
Character names as listed on TMDB, checked 10 Oct 2026.
What critics said
The article describes positive reviews for the thriller, its screenplay and its debut director.
- The Times Of India (Pranita Jonnalagedda) called it something meaningful yet exciting that should not be missed.
- Deccan Chronicle (Suresh Kavirayani) praised Sricharan Pakala's score and the cinematography, noting some logical flaws.
- 123 Telugu called it an intense and enjoyable thriller.
- Idlebrain found it decent and engaging despite a couple of unconvincing points.
- The Hindu (Sangeetha Devi Dundoo) praised the taut screenplay and called it “a terrific directorial debut”.
Summarised by Tollywood Desk from the reception section of the Wikipedia article Kshanam (revision 1371666119), which cites the reviews named above. Quotation marks show words quoted in that article; no ratings or scores are added here.
Source record: Q23013685 on Wikidata. Dates are those on record and can change; this is not a studio announcement. Spotted an error? Send a correction.