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Magadheera () is a 2009 Indian Telugu language-language Epic film Romance film Fantasy film action film co-written & directed by S. S. Rajamouli, based on a story by V. Vijayendra Prasad and with dialogues by M. Rathnam. Produced by Allu Aravind under Geetha Arts, the film stars Ram Charan, Srihari, Kajal Aggarwal and Dev Gill. The film follows a street-bike racer who discovers his connection to a 17th-century warrior through reincarnation and sets out to rescue his lover from a vengeful adversary tied to their past lives.
Made on a budget of 3544 crore, Magadheera was the most expensive Telugu film at the time of its release. The film's principal photography commenced on 19 March 2008. The film's soundtrack and background score were composed by M. M. Keeravani, with cinematography by K. K. Senthil Kumar. Action sequences were choreographed by Peter Hein and the duo Ram–Lakshman. Notably, it was the first Telugu film to list a "visual effects producer" in its credits.
Magadheera was released on 31 July 2009 to critical acclaim and commercial success. It became the first Telugu film to enter the 100 crore club, collecting a distributors' share of ₹73.4 crore and grossing ₹150.5 crore during its theatrical run. It became the highest-grossing Telugu film in history at the time. Its 1000-day theatrical run surpassed Chandramukhi (2005) as the longest-running South Indian film. The film won the National Award for Best Choreography and Best Special Effects at the 57th National Film Awards, along with six Filmfare Awards, and nine Nandi Awards. In 2016, it was featured at the Fantastic Fest.
Magadheera was the first Telugu film to be released in the Blu-ray format in India. It was later dubbed into Tamil as Maveeran which earned him fanbase in Tamilnadu and Malayalam as Dheera: The Warrior, both released on 27 May 2011. The Japanese-dubbed version, released in August 2018, became one of the highest-grossing Indian films at the Japanese box office. The film was remade in Odia as Megha Sabarire Asiba Pheri (2010) and in Bengali as (2014).
Four hundred years later, in 2009, Harsha, a street-bike racer, briefly touches the hand of a woman trying to board his Auto rickshaw, triggering strange visions. Curious, he searches for her and unknowingly asks Indira "Indu" about her, not realising she is the same woman. Believing he is stalking her, Indu misleads him and, along with her friends, exploits him for favours. However, after Harsha defends her from harassers, she begins to develop feelings for him.
Indu's father, Pratap Varma, was evicted from their ancestral estate in Rajasthan by Omdev, his late sister’s husband, who had no rightful claim to the property. The man and his son, Raghuveer, murder several lawyers to maintain control of the estate before travelling to Hyderabad to kill Pratap. However, upon seeing Indu, Raghuveer becomes infatuated with her. When his father dismisses his obsession, Raghuveer kills him and manipulates Indu and Pratap into believing he died of natural causes. He subsequently offers them the estate in an attempt to gain their trust.
One night, while attempting to touch a sleeping Indu, Raghuveer experiences visions of a warrior slitting his throat. Seeking answers, he consults a Tantra, Ghora, who reveals that in a past life, he was a prince who lusted after Indu and was killed by her lover, a warrior. Meanwhile, Harsha discovers Indu’s deception and pranks her in retaliation, leading them to fall in love. Determined to eliminate his past-life enemy, Raghuveer learns that Harsha is the warrior’s reincarnation. He murders Pratap, frames Harsha, manipulates Indu and takes her away in a helicopter. Harsha fails to stop them and falls into a lake, where he experiences visions of his past life.
In 1609, the kingdom of Udaigarh, ruled by King Vikram Singh, faces an impending invasion by Emperor Sher Khan. The kingdom’s bravest warrior, Kaala Bhairava (Harsha), is secretly in love with Vikram Singh’s daughter, Yuvarani Mithravindha Devi (Indu), who reciprocates his feelings. However, Bhairava refrains from expressing his love. Ranadev Billa (Raghuveer), son of Vikram Singh's late sister and the royal general, desires to marry Mithra. He arranges a duel with Bhairava, declaring that the winner will marry her and the loser will be banished. Bhairava wins, leading to Ranadev's exile. Vikram Singh later persuades Bhairava to reject Mithra’s love, fearing that he will die in battle, leaving her widowed. Bhairava, though heartbroken, complies.
Bhairava takes Mithra, his soldiers, and caretakers to Bhairavakona Temple atop a cliff to seek Lord Shiva's blessings before battle. Mithra urges Bhairava to confess his love, but when he remains silent, she disrupts the puja and paints his image with her blood. An injured soldier arrives with news that Ranadev has allied with Khan’s army, and has killed Vikram Singh and is advancing toward them. Khan challenges Bhairava to kill 100 of his soldiers. Bhairava succeeds but is severely wounded. Impressed by his bravery, Khan has a change of heart and befriends him. However, Ranadev insists on continuing the battle and fatally stabs Mithra before Bhairava beheads him. As Mithra dies, she asks Bhairava to confess his love, but before he can, she falls off the cliff. Devastated, Bhairava jumps after her, embracing the same fate.
In the present, Harsha is rescued by Solomon (Sher Khan’s reincarnation) and learns that Indu’s past-life memories must be revived within the day, or she will remain with Raghuveer forever. With Solomon’s help, he kidnaps Indu and takes her to the now-ruined Bhairavakona Temple. In the struggle, Raghuveer accidentally kills Ghora. Harsha tries to convince Indu of their past love, but she does not believe him. Raghuveer arrives by helicopter and urges Indu to leave with him, but she sees Mithra’s painting, triggering her past-life memories. She reunites with Harsha and asks for his forgiveness. Furious, Raghuveer attacks Harsha, who overpowers him. As the duel intensifies, Raghuveer’s henchmen try to push Harsha off the cliff using the helicopter, but Solomon destroys it with his car. Realising he cannot have Indu, Raghuveer attempts to drag her off the cliff with him, but Harsha severs his right hand. Raghuveer falls to his death, and Harsha and Indu finally reunite.
After fifteen years, Prasad's son S. S. Rajamouli selected this script for the film he was to direct with Ram Charan under Geetha Arts banner. But, he made several changes to it. Rajamouli re-characterized the Rajamatha character as a princess to create a vital love story for the film, as he felt that the relationship between a queen and a bodyguard would be only about loyalty and honesty.
Production for the film was officially launched on 2 March 2008 at Film Nagar Cultural Center (FNCC) in Hyderabad. B. V. S. N. Prasad co-produced the film with Allu Aravind under his production banner, Geetha Arts. M. Rathnam was announced as the dialogue writer while Rajamouli's usual collaborators K. K. Senthil Kumar, Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao, and M. M. Keeravani worked on the film's cinematography, editing, and music respectively. After many potential titles, Magadheera was considered and finalised in early February 2009.
Dev Gill was selected to portray the film's antagonist. Rajamouli was criticized for selecting him considering Gill's previous film, Krishnarjuna (2008), but remained adamant about casting him. He said that he had to cast a good-looking man as the film's villain because the heroine needed to find him trustworthy. For this film, Gill had to practice horse riding in Ramoji Film City; Ram Charan was already an experienced equestrianism. Srihari was cast in his role in the film in early April 2008. Kim Sharma was selected to perform one of the two in the film in early June 2008. Saloni Aswani made a cameo appearance in the film and shot for three days. She was subsequently signed for Rajamouli's next project, Maryada Ramanna (2010), before Magadheera was even released.
Rao Ramesh was cast as a Tantra who helps Gill's character in the present era. Mumaith Khan was selected for another item number, a remix version of the hit song "Bangaru Kodipetta" from Gharana Mogudu (1992); Gharana Mogudu's music was also composed by M. M. Keeravani. Chiranjeevi made a special appearance after the song, making Magadheera the first film he appeared in after his entry into politics. When Rajamouli suggested the idea of a cameo appearance, Chiranjeevi was initially hesitant till the director narrated the complete sequence and the importance of the song.
To design the armor used by Charan in his role as Kala Bhairava, art director R. Ravinder wanted precise measurements of Charan's body; they used plaster of Paris to make a mold of Charan's body shape from which they created a statue. They designed costumes for the statue and had Charan try them on once they were satisfied with the designs. In an interview with Radhika Rajamani of Rediff.com, the film's stylist, Rama Rajamouli, said that it took one month to develop the right look for the olden period before she began working on the materials and costumes for the film. She added that all of the film's costumes were designed by her and stitched in Hyderabad and that Kajal's costumes were heavily detailed as she needed to look rich, elegant, and bright. Rama Rajamouli had some disagreements with cinematographer K. K. Senthil Kumar over the colors of the costumes. Her decision of having Kajal wear a dress of baby pink and pista green during the war sequence at Bhairavakona was initially opposed by Rajamouli, but later agreed to after the director saw the final edit. She also used minimal jewelry for the princess' outfits.
K. K. Senthil Kumar scouted for locations in Gujarat, looking for dry, open lands to shoot the chariot race sequence. They found salt lands with white sands in Dholavira. To shoot the sequence there, they wanted a lightweight vehicle to follow the horses; they bought a Maruti Suzuki, removed the vehicle's top, and mounted the camera along with a jimmy jib atop it. A part of the song Dheera Dheera was also shot there, requiring filmmakers to plant a dry tree and a couple of oxen for use in the song's backdrop. An item number featuring Kim Sharma and Ram Charan was shot in late June 2008 in a specially erected fishermen colony. It was set up on the first floor of Annapurna Studios and cost less than 30 lakh. Ravinder explained, "The set should look like an outdoor location, but need to be constructed on an indoor floor. I constructed the exteriors of around 28 houses on that floor with a detailed interior plan for the house Srihari. I also constructed a small boat and a big-wheeled fish with a thermocouple. When the director wanted a smoke effect for a shot I held the heavy smoke machine on my shoulders at a low angle for the required effect."
After filming key parts of the film in Rajasthan, in suburbs of Hyderabad, and at Badami in Karnataka, filming continued in Ramoji Film City in a specially erected set named Bhairavakona in late October 2008. Two more schedules, one from 3–10 December and one in January, were also shot at the Bhairavakona set. The sequence of Charan killing 100 warriors, also at Bhairavakona, included a bridge. As the set did not permit shooting with low angles, a separate half-bridge was erected at Bhoot Bangla in Road No. 22 of Banjara Hills. The bridge, which had a height of and a length of , was constructed on top of a rocky hill using steel beams as the skeleton and wooden material as support. It was built in around 20 days by over 60 men amid heavy rains. 20 trucks of black soil were transported from Ramoji Film City for the bridge set, as that type of soil was only available in the former location.
After the completion of shooting at the arena set in Ramoji Film City, the arena set was demolished and a set for the heroine's house was constructed in its place. This was the last set constructed for this film. By late September 2008, 70% of the film's shoot was complete. The remix version of "Bangaru Kodipetta" was shot by Ram Charan and Mumaith Khan under the supervision of Prem Rakshith at Chennai Port, although Visakhapatnam Port was first considered. Filming continued in and around Hyderabad very discreetly in November 2008. Stunt sequences by Ram Charan and some stuntmen were shot in mid-December 2008 at Hyderabad. By mid-February 2009, the film's scripted part had been wrapped up, with only some songs left to shoot. The song "Nakosam Nuvvu" was shot in Switzerland while "Panchadara Bomma Bomma" was shot at Golconda Fort in Hyderabad. Both songs were duets featuring Ram Charan and Kajal. K. K. Senthil Kumar said in an interview that Magadheera could not have been made in eight months because of its long pre-production and post-production phases. Over two worth of props, including swords, daggers, knives, bows and arrows, pouches, armor, footwear, and other accessories, were used in the film. They were designed by 160 workers, including welders, molders, carpenters, painters, cobblers, artists, tailors, and leathermen, who worked for two months in the Geetha Arts Studio. Five people were appointed exclusively to look after these props. However, during the film's shoot both Peter Hein and Ram Charan suffered major injuries. The former fell down from a height of 8090 feet during the composition of a stunt and was advised a bed rest for four months. Charan faced severe leg fractures, while Rajamouli said that Peter "met with an accident on the sets, had two broken ribs, fractured hands and jaw and lost all his teeth. Within a month, he was back on the sets with his face and body covered in bandages and plaster. He could barely lift his hands to shoot."
Pete Draper, who worked with Kamalakanna in Ghajini (2008), was selected as the pipeline technical director of the film. At that time, Kamalakannan was in Iran finalizing the CG stadium and City with Adili. The majority of the film was shot in anamorphic format, but a Super 35 camera gate and lens were used for the stadium episode to minimize distortion. Post-production of the stadium scenes was given to Prasad EFX, and the film set up their own render farm in Chennai. The post-process was done in several stages after the scan. The live stadium had only 7 steps, in which live people were positioned in 6 steps while the remaining 12 steps were CG extensions. Adili created 3D CG people to fill the CG steps and their actions in a library of 3000 frames.
Draper designed the birds in two flows: one flow kept flying around the stadium, while the other flow took off from a position dome and landed on a target dome. Rajamouli used those birds in several shots. Upon finishing the stages of the stadium composite, Kamalakannan flew to Iran again to work with Adel on the 3D city shots which were created entirely in CG. Adili designed 3D horses for the hero and villain and Draper designed the 3D people flocking behind the horses. About Adili's work, Kamalakannan said, "When we started the city-shot renders, it has taken several hours to render one frame. But Adili re-corrected the geometry and applied several path-breaking ideas, so even on 24 July, just a week before the film release, we were able to do corrections, render and submit." 4 crores ($825,000) was spent solely on VFX for Magadheera.
In her book Bimal Roy's Madhumati: Untold Stories from Behind the Scenes, writer Rinki Bhattacharya compared the reincarnation theme of Magadheera with that of Madhumati (1958), Karz (1980), Karan Arjun (1995) and Om Shanti Om (2007). Touching the heroine unleashes locked memories within the hero that transport him to Rajasthan in 1609 from contemporary Hyderabad. Bhattacharya also compared Magadheera to another Telugu film, Mooga Manasulu (1964). Rajamouli told Subhash K. Jha that he was inspired by Karan Arjun to make films based on reincarnation.
Tamil and Malayalam dubbed versions were planned in mid-February 2009. The film's Tamil dubbed version was titled as Maaveeran, named after the 1986 Tamil film. Geetha Arts collaborated with Udhayanidhi Stalin for the Tamil version and distributed it under his production banner, Red Giant Movies. K. Bhagyaraj wrote the dialogues for Maaveeran. The Malayalam version was titled Dheera—The Warrior and was distributed by Pallavi films. The Tamil dubbed version Maaveeran and Malayalam dubbed version Dheera—The Warrior were released in more than 100 screens and 50 screens respectively on 27 May 2011.
Joint collector Gaurav Uppal convened a meeting of film exhibitors and distributors, warning them against black-marketing tickets to Magadheera. This was after local leaders, attempting to acquire a maximum number of tickets, blocked and booked tickets to the film in advance, to enthuse their supporters during the local civic polls in Guntur. Special teams of revenue, police, and commercial tax officers were appointed to keep watch at ticket counters and ensure that each person was issued only one ticket. Priority was ordered to be given to the sanitation, safety, and comfort of the viewers. Authorities in Vijayawada ensured the strict checking and prevention of black-marketing of tickets. However, Ram Charan's fans resorted to sloganeering and an impromptu protest demonstration in the office of Revenue Divisional Officer K. Hymavathi in Machilipatnam. They demanded the screening of a benefit show and the advance sale of tickets after being rejected by the management of the twin theatres, Siri Venkata and Siri Krishna, where the film was screened. The officer rejected their plea and said that the tickets would be issued only to those who came in the queue and that no special concessions would be made for fans.
After the completion of the film's 175-day run, novelist S. P. Chary accused the film of being based on a novel that he had written and published as a serial under the title Chanderi in a monthly magazine in 1998. He demanded that filmmakers compensate him for using his idea without consent, and threatened to take legal action if the producers did not heed his demands, or remade the film in another language. He added that he deserved to be credited for the story and alleged that Allu Arjun and Allu Sirish were trying to postpone his acknowledgment by discussing the issue with him.
A press note announced that the DVDs would be available beginning the third week of March 2010 while the Blu-ray would be available two weeks later. The launch ceremony took place in a Marriott Hotel on 27 February 2010. The first DVD was released by M. M. Keeravani and was presented by journalist Pasupuleti Ramarao. The DVD was released in NTSC video format and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio format on 5 March 2010. The Blu-ray disc was released on 13 April 2010. Magadheera held the top position in sales for its 720p Blu-ray edition with 5.1 Dolby digital sound format as of July 2014.
Radhika Rajamani of Rediff.com called the film "technically brilliant" and wrote "A reincarnation story is not often seen in Telugu cinema and SS Rajamouli uses this theme for Ram Charan Teja's second film Magadheera. It's a magnum opus production with great technical work. The graphics are excellent for a Telugu movie. Overall, the movie is a mainstream one with good packaging." She rated the film 3 out of 5. Sify called the film a "brilliant entertainer" and wrote, "Set against the backdrop of an eerie theme — reincarnation — Magadheera unfolds on the screen with multiple shades of entertainment. When the movie was launched last year, director Rajamouli dared to reveal the central theme of the story. He succeeded in his attempt, as he was able to keep the screenplay and narration gripping from start to finish. The second half has the soul in it." Sify summarised, "In short, the movie encompasses some of the best commercial elements that Telugu audiences have seen in the recent past."
However, Rajamouli was accused of lifting scenes from films like Gladiator (2000), Troy (2004), The Myth (2005) and 300 (2007).
The film completed its 100-day run in 223 centers. By then it had surpassed Rajinikanth's (2007), which grossed 70 crore in Tamil Nadu, and stood second to Ghajini (2008), which reached 200 crore. The film completed a 175-day run in three centers. The film completed a 365-day run in Vijayalakshmi theatre in Kurnool on 31 July 2010 and a 1000-day run in the same theatre on 26 April 2012.
More than 50% of the film's lifetime collections were from the Nizam region. The film also did well in the overseas box office. It was released in New Jersey with three prints on three screens and collected a record share of more than 150,000 dollars, turning the highest amount raised overseas by a Telugu film; the previous record holder was Trivikram Srinivas' Jalsa (2008), which collected more than 100,000 dollars. It grossed 102,000 dollars in its first two days in New Jersey and a share of 95,000 dollars in Virginia with two prints as of mid-August 2009. It collected a share of 78,000 dollars in the San Francisco Bay Area with a single print. It managed to sell 2300 tickets in Minneapolis; the previous record for tickets sold there for a Telugu film was 1200. The film's overseas records were beaten two years later by Dookudu (2011), although disputes have arisen over which film holds the Tollywood all-time sales record.
The film was dubbed in Japanese and released there in 2018. This version earned an additional $1 million, the second highest for an Indian film after Muthu (1995), which earned $1.6 million after being released in Japan.
The props used in this film, including weapons like swords and shields, were auctioned by Movie Artists Association. Actors, technicians, and the general public were invited to bid and the proceeds were used to aid poor artists in the Telugu film industry. Actor Sivaji Raja started the bidding by offering 50,000 for the sword that Ram Charan used and comedian Venu Madhav started the bidding for the shield with 25,000. B. V. S. N. Prasad bid for both the sword and knife for 100,000. The bidding started on 7 May 2010 online on the association's official website and ended on 16 May. The winners were declared on 20 May 2010. After Magadheera, S. S. Rajamouli worked on a small budget film Maryada Ramanna (2010) which, according to Crazy Mohan, was similar to the act of S. S. Vasan directing the small budget film Mr. Sampat (1952) after Chandralekha (1948). Rajamouli explained his decision by saying, "I decided that my next project would be Maryada Ramanna during the Magadheera shooting itself because it is a one and half year project that demands a lot of physical labour and mental strain. I didn't want to commit to another physically exhausting film immediately after Magadheera. Maryada Ramanna gave us time to recharge our batteries so that we could come up with another huge project." He revealed Maryada Ramanna's plot before its launch to minimize the expectations of his audience after Magadheera's success.
Tammareddy Bharadwaja said "Ever since Arundhati and Magadheera did well at the box office, the rest of the industry started following their footsteps. Also, since there is an irrational craze to make high-budget films right now, producers are turning towards mythological films. It is the only genre where you can boast of spending crores for creating the sets and the look of the film. But what they don't realize is that if these films flop, the blow to the producer will be severe." Films like Anaganaga O Dheerudu (2011) and Sakthi (2011) were commercial failures and Badrinath (2012) was an average grosser; all being fantasy films in which the protagonist is a warrior. The promos of Badrinath looked similar to Magadheera and the former's director V. V. Vinayak along with its male lead Allu Arjun kept insisting that Badrinath is dissimilar to Magadheera. Producer Natti Kumar said "If a hero delivers a hit, producers run after him for five years and burn their fingers only after six or eight flops. It's the same story with movies. Since Magadheera became a hit, every other hero and director wants to do a period film where there is scope to spend crores. They don't work on the script, story, or relevance. It is a pure display of graphics, heroes' abs, and grandeur. The plot is lost. Magadheera worked because it was a novel genre then, but why will people want to see the same things again?"
Matt Groening, the creator of the television series The Simpsons and Futurama while discussing his inspiration for Disenchantment said, "In a given show there might be homages to Buster Keaton and to an Indian filmmaker named S. S. Rajamouli, who has made some of my favorite films of the last decade. I particularly recommend a movie called Magadheera. I'm getting very obscure now. But this stuff just makes me so happy."
Janani Iyer cited the character of Mithravinda played by Kajal in the film as one of her dream roles. Ram Gopal Varma refused to call Magadheera a film and instead termed it as an event that comes "once in a blue moon". While commenting on Mahesh Babu's Aagadu (2014), he said that Magadheera looked like a 750 crore film when compared to Aagadu if the latter was a 75 crore film and added, "My comparison between " Aagadu" and " Magadheera" is mainly because they both are the most expensive films for their own individual times." Reviewing the Tamil film Anegan (2014), few critics opined that the film had traces of Magadheera mainly due to the theme of reincarnation. The Tamil dubbed version of the Telugu film Yevadu (2014), which featured Charan in one of the lead roles and Kajal in a crucial cameo, was titled Magadheera.
The film was dubbed into Tamil language as Maaveeran and into Malayalam as Dheera: The Warrior and was released on 27 May 2011. Both the dubbed versions were big hits and earned a good fan base for Ram Charan in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
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