Macherla Niyojakavargam

Macherla Niyojakavargam (transl. “Macherla constituency”) is a 2022 Telugu political action comedy written and directed by film editor M. S. Rajashekhar Reddy in his directorial debut, starring Nithiin, Krithi Shetty and Catherine Tresa, with Samuthirakani, Rajendra Prasad, Murali Sharma, Vennela Kishore and Subhalekha Sudhakar. It was produced by Nithiin’s family under Sreshth Movies, with music by Mahati Swara Sagar. Released on 12 August 2022, it drew negative reviews and disappointed at the box office. Our record lists a running time of 159 minutes.

What the story is about

Siddharth Reddy is a cheerful young IAS officer posted as district collector of Palnadu with the job of holding a peaceful election. Standing in his way is Rajappa, a corrupt politician who terrorises the district. Siddharth learns that Swathi, the woman he loves, wants revenge on Rajappa, because her brother, a former collector, was killed after contesting against him. Siddharth vows that the election will be held peacefully, Swathi’s grandfather Raghavaiah decides to stand, and a cat-and-mouse game with Rajappa begins.

Cast

• Nithiin as N. Siddharth “Siddhu” Reddy
• Krithi Shetty as Swathi
• Catherine Tresa as Nidhi
• Samuthirakani in a dual role as MLA Rajappa and Veera
• Rajendra Prasad as Surendra, Swathi’s father
• Vennela Kishore as Guru
• Murali Sharma as Narendra Reddy, Siddhu’s father
• Indraja as Siddhu’s mother
• Jayaprakash as the Chief Minister
• Subhalekha Sudhakar as Raghavaiah, Swathi’s grandfather
• Brahmaji as Narayana, the MRO of Macherla
• Anjali in the song “Ra Ra Reddy I’m Ready”

Making and music

Sreshth Movies announced the film with a puja on Vinayaka Chaturthi, 10 September 2021, in association with Aditya Movies & Entertainments, and shooting began that month. Prasad Murella shot the film and Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao edited it. Mahati Swara Sagar’s music, his third album for Nithiin after Bheeshma and Maestro, was released by Aditya Music. The singles were “Chill Maro”, sung by Nakash Aziz and Sanjana Kalmanje (31 May 2022), and “Ra Ra Reddy I’m Ready” (9 July 2022), which recreates part of “Ranu Ranu Antundi Chinnadho” from Nithiin’s debut Jayam.

Reviews and box office

Critics were harsh. Neeshitha Nyayapati of The Times of India gave it 1.5 out of 5, calling it “all style and no substance”. Arvind V of Pinkvilla (2/5) said it “checks all the wrong boxes” from a bygone era, and 123Telugu called it a “routine and outdated action drama with a select few mass moments”.

The Times of India reported a first-day collection of ₹6.5 crore despite the reviews, and News18 Telugu’s five-day report described it as another flop for Nithiin.

Where to watch Macherla Niyojakavargam

ZEE5 acquired the post-theatrical streaming rights and premiered the film on 9 December 2022; Zee Telugu holds the satellite rights. A Hindi-dubbed version, MCK: Macherla Chunav Kshetra, premiered directly on Sony Max on 11 December 2022. Our OTT record is based on the film’s Wikipedia article, which also links to the ZEE5 page.

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