Parugu

Parugu (meaning “The Run”) is a 2008 Telugu romantic action drama written and directed by Bhaskar and produced by Dil Raju under Sri Venkateswara Creations, the pair’s follow-up to Bommarillu. Allu Arjun stars with Sheela Kaur and Prakash Raj, with music by Mani Sharma and cinematography by Vijay K. Chakravarthy. Released on 1 May 2008, it received positive reviews, was a commercial success, and won Allu Arjun the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. It was later remade in Hindi as Heropanti (2014).

What the story is about

Neelakanta is a respected man in his village whose two daughters, Subbalakshmi and Meenakshi, mean everything to him. On the night of her arranged wedding, Subbalakshmi elopes. Neelakanta’s men round up the young men they suspect of helping her, including Krishna, a carefree drifter from Hyderabad known for being impossible to hold, and lock them up near Neelakanta’s house. Just as they are about to escape, Krishna catches sight of Meenakshi and falls in love with her, though she has no idea he exists. Staying put means facing the whole village; the story of the search, and of Krishna’s unlikely romance, unfolds from there.

Cast

• Allu Arjun as Krishna
• Sheela Kaur as Meenakshi
• Prakash Raj as Neelakanta, a role he called the best in the film
• Subbaraju as Chinnabbayi, with Sunil, Saptagiri (in his debut as a comedian), Dhanraj and Srinivasa Reddy as Krishna’s friends
• Poonam Bajwa as Subbalakshmi, and Jayasudha and Ali in cameos

How it was made

After Arya, Dil Raju wanted another film with Allu Arjun; Bhaskar brought them a story he said was based on real people and events. It was the sixth film for both actor and producer. The film was launched on 15 March 2007 and went through several rumoured titles, including Romeo and Premikudu, before Parugu was chosen. Allu Arjun shed the weight he had built for Desamuduru to look like an ordinary middle-class young man. Priyamani was first cast as the heroine but left, and Sheela replaced her. Shooting began in June 2007 and moved through Kodaikanal, Kerala, Hyderabad and Rajamahendravaram, with songs filmed in Jordan, wrapping in April 2008.

Music

Mani Sharma composed six songs, with lyrics by Sirivennela Sitaramasastri, Anantha Sreeram and Chandrabose. Aditya Music launched the album on 29 March 2008 with Chiranjeevi as chief guest, and it was successful enough for a platinum disc function on 17 May 2008. Saketh was nominated for a Filmfare award for “Nammavemo Ganee”.

Release and box office

Parugu opened worldwide on 1 May 2008. Wikipedia reports a distributors’ share of ₹20 crore and describes the film as a commercial success. A Malayalam-dubbed version, Krishna, was also a hit.

What critics said

Reviews were mixed to positive, with most praising the first half and Allu Arjun. The Hindu called it “a must watch for more than one reason”, saying Allu Arjun “downplays his role and gives a heartfelt performance”. Cinegoer (3.25 out of 5) felt Bhaskar proved “he’s not a one film wonder”. Idlebrain.com (3 out of 5) found the second half weaker and the climax ambiguous, and Sify called it “an average film at best”.

Awards

Besides Allu Arjun’s Filmfare award, Parugu won the Nandi Award for Third Best Feature Film and a Nandi Special Jury Award for Allu Arjun, and was nominated for Best Film and Best Director at the Filmfare Awards South.

Where to watch Parugu

We do not have a confirmed streaming platform for Parugu on file. The OTT details on this page will be updated when a platform’s own listing confirms it.

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