Khaleja

Khaleja
Film poster
Directed by	Trivikram Srinivas
Produced by	Singanamala Ramesh C. Kalyan S. Satya Rama Murthy
Written by	Trivikram Srinivas
Starring	Mahesh Babu Anushka Shetty Prakash Raj Sunil Brahmanandam
Music by	Mani Sharma
Cinematography	Yash Bhatt, Sunil Patel
Editing by	A. Sreekar Prasad
Distributed by	Geetha Arts
Release date(s)	7 October 2010 (2010-10-07)
Country	India
Language	Telugu

Khaleja (Telugu: ఖలేజా) is a 2010 action comedy Telugu film starring Mahesh Babu and Anushka Shetty directed by Trivikram Srinivas. It is the second collaboration between Mahesh Babu and Trivikram. Singanamala Ramesh and C Kalyan produced the film as a Kanaka Ratna Movies production. Mahesh Babu plays the role of a cab driver in the film, while Prakash Raj plays a negative role. Sunil and Brahmanandam play key roles. The film was released on 7 October 2010. It won two Filmfare South awards under the categories of Best Male Playback Singer and Best Lyricist.^[1]

This film is loosely inspired from the Amish Tripathi's novel "The Immortals of Meluha".

Story

The story revolves around a remote village in Andhra Pradesh plagued by a strange disease killing a lot of people. The soothsayer of the village predicts that God would come to their village for rescue. Meanwhile, Raju (Mahesh Babu) a cab driver in Hyderabad goes to Rajasthan to handover an insurance cheque to a man's family who dies in his car. In a strange situation, Raju meets a man from the village and gets to know about their problem. Soon Raju realizes he is none other than the God-sent, the soothsayer predicted, and the rest of the story is all about how Raju takes up the responsibility to rescue the village from the clutches of evil.

Cast

• Mahesh Babu as Alluri Seetarama Raju
• Anushka Shetty as Subashini
• Prakash Raj as GK
• Sunil as Baabji
• Brahmanandam as Miriyam
• Tanikella Bharani as DP
• Ali as Tom
• Shafi as Sidhappa
• Rao Ramesh as village head
• Penumatsa Subbaraju as Govardhan

Critical Reception

The movie received mixed reviews. The Sify explained "No doubt, Mahesh Babu is the cynosure of the movie, shouldering the entire responsibility." ^[2] MSN rated the film as above average says "'Mahesh Khaleja' is worth a watch for Mahesh's strong screen presence and charisma. Mahesh carries off his role with elan and looks superb too. Anushka looks pretty but doesn't share a good on-screen chemistry with Mahesh. The first half of the film is dull. It does pick up pace in the second half but the narration is inconsistent and tedious. The climax is little better.^[3] Rediff gave a two and half star rating noted "The duo of Mahesh-Trivikram delivers a product that is watchable, entertaining with good humour, couple of well-orchestrated action sequences and songs and with a bit to take home as well. It's Mahesh's show all the way, much to the delight of his fans. Mahesh is the soul of the movie.Be it his dialogue delivery, his action, his dances or emotions, he is effortless.^[4]

However CNN-IBN gave a negative review stated "The movie is all about Mahesh Babu and he occupies almost every frame in the movie. Back after a gap of 3 years, Mahesh looks great with stylish costumes. The movie deals with a serious theme but director Trivikram Srinivas mixes it with a lot of unnecessary situational comedy which dilutes the intensity of the movie."^[5] Local review sites Idlebrain and GreatAndhra gave a three star rating praised mahesh's performance. The Hindu said "The star looks leaner and handsomer and does his role with aplomb" adding "The film is a laugh riot from the word go. Trivikram who is also the dialogue writer skilfully blends comical situations into the script and Mahesh Babu's timing in delivering the one-liners is excellent".

Audio Release

The soundtrack was composed by Mani Sharma. The music was released on September 27, 2010.^[6] The starcast of the movie, including Mahesh Babu, actress Anushka Shetty, music director Mani Sharma and director Trivikram Srinivas released the audio at Radio Mirchi FM radio station in the Hyderbad. Mahesh Babu's wife Namrata Shirodkar was also present. music director Mani Sharma said the album contains six songs and the lyrics are written by Ramajogayya Shastri and Seetharama Sastry.^[7]

Soundtrack

khaleja
Soundtrack album by Mani Sharma
Released	September 27, 2010 (2010-09-27)
Label	Venus

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Om Namo Siva Rudraya"		Karunya , Ramesh	4:57
2.	"Boomshaknaka Bhoota Sundari"			4:26
3.	"Piliche Pedavula Paina"			4:27
4.	"Makthika Machinra"			3:55
5.	"Om Namo Siva Rudraya (Theme Music)"			1:12
6.	"Sunday Munday"		Hema Chandra	4:21
7.	"Anna e Road Nee Babu Gadi Somma"			4:49

Awards

Filmfare Awards South

Won

• Best Lyricist: Ramajogaiah Sastri - "Sada Siva Sanyasi"
• Best Male Playback Singer: Ramesh Vinayagam & N. C. Karunya - "Sada Siva Sanyasi"

Nominated

Best Supporting Actor - Shafi

References

1. ^ http://telugu.16reels.com/news/Movie/2912_Winners-of-58th-Idea-Filmfare-Awards-2010-(South).aspx
2. ^ http://www.sify.com/movies/telugu/review.php?id=14958111&ctid=5&cid=2430
3. ^ http://entertainment.in.msn.com/southcinema/reviews/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4450135&page=2
4. ^ http://movies.rediff.com/report/2010/oct/07/south-mahesh-khaleja-review.htm
5. ^ http://ibnlive.in.com/news/telugu-review-khaleja-fails-to-pack-a-punch/132981-47-79.html
6. ^ http://entertainment.oneindia.in/telugu/top-stories/2010/mahesh-babu-khaleja-200910.html
7. ^ http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/28/stories/2010092856070200.htm

External links

• Mahesh Khaleja at IMDb
• http://hindu.theuniversalwisdom.org/khaleja-collections-first-week
• http://www.newsofap.com/newsofap-26248-24-mahesh-babus-khaleja-movie-on-october-20th.html
• http://www.heyandhra.in/2010/09/mahesh-khaleja-business-budget/