Upon release on 10 January 2018, during the Sankranti festival weekend, it received highly mixed reviews from both critics and audiences, alike. The production values, cinematography, music, dialogues, action sequences and Kalyan's performance were acclaimed. However, the direction, screenplay, writing, and pacing were criticized.[5] The film was a box-office bomb.[6]
Plot
Govinda "Vindha" Bhargav, a powerful businessman, receives news of his younger son Mohan Bhargav's death in a car accident while in Italy. Soon after, assassins enter his hotel room, and one of them holds up a phone. On the other end, Vindha's friends Sarma and Varma reveal that they orchestrated his son's death and plan to take over his empire. Vindha secretly records this conversation before being killed by the gunmen.
The news of Vindha's death reaches his second wife, Indrani Bhargav, who discovers the audio file of Vindha's alleged killers. She contacts Appaji, the brother of Vindha's deceased first wife Krishnaveni, to summon an unknown person. Appaji informs the unknown person, who is revealed to be Abhishikth Bhargav, Vindha's eldest son. After performing his father's last rites in Varanasi, Abhi travels from Assam to Hyderabad, where his father's possible killers live. He gets a job in his father's company under the pseudonym Balasubramanyam and befriends Sukumari, Varma's daughter, and Suryakantham, Sarma's secretary.
Abhi discovers that the recorded phone conversation was faked, as there are no international calls registered on Sarma and Varma's phones. Meanwhile, unknown assailants attempt to kill Abhi, but he kills them in self-defense. The last attacker reveals that the true mastermind is Seetharam, the son of Vindha's former business partner, Dheenabandhu.
ACP Sampath, leading the police investigation, delves into Vindha's past. Vindha, originally a middle-class man, built a successful pharmaceutical company and planned to set up a factory in a remote village. However, Vindha refused to bribe a local politician, who incited villagers to attack Vindha's factory with help from Vindha's friend Aditya Bandaru. During their escape on a charter plane, Vindha's medicine vial is destroyed, but Vindha secretly keeps a second vial. Vindha begins to suspect his friends after observing their behaviour.
While on a holiday in Bali with his pregnant first wife Krishnaveni, there is an attempt on her life. She is presumed dead, but it is revealed that another woman wearing the same robe was mistakenly killed. Vindha sends Krishnaveni to her brother Appaji's house for safety, but she dies shortly after giving birth to Abhi. Vindha raises Abhi to be indifferent to wealth, considering it a necessary trait to lead his empire. With Abhi's consent, Vindha marries Indrani, who becomes Mohan's mother.
Abhi takes over the company, revealing his true identity as Vindha's son. He tortures Sarma, Varma, and Koteswara Rao, who harass women in the workplace. Seetharam, upon learning of Abhi, returns to India and demands proof of Abhi's lineage. Abhi travels to Bulgaria with Sukumari and Suryakantham to retrieve Vindha's will, which names Abhi as the heir. However, Seetharam, with Appaji's help, steals and destroys the will, eliminating the evidence.
During the election for the future CEO, Abhi battles Seetharam's goons on the company rooftop. He reveals that the will Seetharam destroyed was fake and that Appaji was part of Abhi's plan. After defeating most of Seetharam's goons, a board member reveals himself as Aditya's brother and admits to being part of Vindha's murder to avenge his brother. Abhi confronts him, and the board member and Seetharam's henchman Parag fall from the rooftop, resulting in their deaths.
Abhi reveals to Seetharam that the company "AB group" was named after Aditya Bandaru, not himself. He then assumes the position of CEO and assures Indrani he will fulfill his father's duties. In the end, Abhi ensures that Seetharam is exiled to an isolated island.
Cast
Pawan Kalyan as Abhishikth Bhargav, Vindha's eldest son who disguises himself as Balasubramanyam and the main protagonist
Aadhi Pinisetty as Seetharam, Dheenabandhu's son who wishes to take Vindha's company and the main antagonist
Principal photography began on 3 April 2016 with a small coffee shop scene, shot at Ciclo Cafe, then moved to a special set erected in Ramoji Film City for an action sequence. Some parts of the film were shot in Annapurna Studios and a major sequence and a song were shot in Bangkok. The unit moved to Bulgaria on 26 October 2016 for 15 days to shoot two songs. After the foreign schedule, shooting continued in Hyderabad and was completed by the end of November 2016, including a brief period of shooting at Varanasi.[7][8][9]
The soundtrack was composed by Anirudh Ravichander, making his Telugu debut. The first song, "Baitikochi Chusthe", was unveiled on 1 January 2018, the birthday of director Trivikram Srinivas.
The film was released on 10 January 2017.[12] It was then later released on Sun NXT for digital streaming, and the satellite rights are owned by Gemini TV. It was later dubbed and released in Hindi as Yevadu 3 on YouTube and aired on Sony Max by Goldmines Telefilms on 20 December 2018.[13] It was also dubbed in Malayalam as Yuvarajavu which was aired on Surya TV & in Tamil as Maraivaasi which was aired on Sun TV.
Reception
Critical reception
Times of India critic Neeshita Nayapati gave the film 2.5/5 stars, noting, "Despite all the pomp and show, Agnyaathavaasi, has been an amazing ride had it either been taken seriously or been made with the same old Trivikram-Pawan Kalyan touch. Pawan Kalyan aces through his role as usual.[14] In his review for The Indian Express, Manoj Kumar R stated, "It is strictly for fans of Power Star as Trivikram has spent the entire runtime gushing over Pawan Kalyan."[15] Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu wrote: "The film is beautifully shot (cinematography by Manikandan) and Anirudh Ravichander comes up with refreshing music that gives a classy sheen to this urban masala film. But these aren't enough to salvage the film.
Writing for Variety, Joe Layden described the film as "a ferociously eager-to-please musical melodrama about ruthless ambition, violent revenge, and exuberantly schmaltzy music-video-style production numbers."[16]
Box office
The film grossed ₹95 crore (equivalent to ₹127 crore or US$15 million in 2023) against a budget of ₹70 crore (equivalent to ₹94 crore or US$11 million in 2023).[2][1] The film was an average grosser at the box-office, recovering its investment.[6]
Plagiarism allegations
French director Jérôme Salle alleged that the film was plagiarised from his 2008 film Largo Winch.[17] Following this, T-Series, which owns the remake rights of Largo Winch, sent a legal notice to the makers of the film, asking for the censored copy of the film. It was later reported that T-Series was demanding ₹15 crore (equivalent to ₹20 crore or US$2.3 million in 2023) from the makers of Agnyaathavaasi for allegedly violating copyright.[18] The agreement between Agnyaathavaasi makers and T-Series management was amicably closed after the makers agreed to compensate them after taking into consideration that though the director had not taken the entire plotline of Largo Winch, he had written a few key scenes of Agnyaathavaasi based on scenes from the French film.[19]
See also
Saaho, 2018 Indian film, also alleged to be a remake of Largo Winch
