Yashoda

Yashoda is a 2022 Telugu medical action thriller written and directed by the duo Hari–Harish (Hari Shankar and Harish Narayan) and produced by Sridevi Movies. Samantha plays the title role, with Unni Mukundan, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Sampath Raj, Rao Ramesh and Murali Sharma. Mani Sharma composed the score. Released on 11 November 2022 in Telugu and in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam dubs, it drew mixed reviews that nonetheless praised Samantha’s performance, and it was a commercial success. It has streamed on Prime Video since 9 December 2022.

What the story is about

Yashoda, a young woman working as a delivery rider, signs up to become a surrogate mother to pay for her sister’s surgery. She is taken to Eva, a luxurious, high-tech surrogacy centre run by Dr. Madhubala, where she befriends the other surrogates and realises they are all poor women in need of money. When some of them disappear after going into labour, Yashoda grows suspicious. In parallel, a police officer investigating a staged car accident that killed a businessman and a model follows a trail of mysterious deaths to a cosmetics brand with powerful backers. How the two stories meet is where the thriller’s twists lie, and we will not reveal them here.

Cast

• Samantha as Yashoda
• Unni Mukundan as Dr. Gautham
• Varalaxmi Sarathkumar as Madhubala
• Sampath Raj as Vasudeva, the investigating officer
• Rao Ramesh as Central Minister Giridhar and Murali Sharma as Police Commissioner Balram
• Divya Sripada, Kalpika Ganesh, Priyanka Sharma and Preethi Asrani as women at the centre

How it was made

Samantha signed the film in October 2021, initially as a Telugu–Tamil bilingual; after discussions with executive producer Senthil it was made only in Telugu, and the title Yashoda was announced in December 2021. M. Sukumar was the cinematographer and Marthand K. Venkatesh the editor. Shooting began in December 2021 and took 100 days, wrapping in July 2022 apart from one song. Critics singled out the production design of the vast facility where most of the story is set.

Release and box office

Planned for 12 August 2022, the film was delayed by filming and released on 11 November 2022. Wikipedia reports a pre-release business of ₹55 crore, with theatrical and streaming rights sold for ₹11.50 crore and ₹20 crore respectively, and describes the film as a commercial success; India Today reported steady collections into its second week. The Telugu version premiered on television on ETV on 5 February 2023.

What critics said

Neeshita Nyayapati of The Times of India (3.5 out of 5) recommended it as “something beyond the usual masala fare”, and Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu found it engaging “despite the missteps”. Firstpost (2.75 out of 5) called Samantha “brilliant” in a film that “falters in effectively landing its shocking twists”. Cinema Express and The News Minute gave 2.5 out of 5, and The Indian Express gave 2, saying its “grindhouse treatment” undercut Samantha’s committed performance.

Where to watch Yashoda

Yashoda premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 9 December 2022, in Telugu with Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam dubs. Availability varies by country, so check Prime Video before subscribing. The OTT box on this page has the details we hold.

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