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Khaleja
Khaleja
Soundtrack album by Mani Sharma
Released	27 September 2010
Recorded	2010
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	29:16
Label	Sony Music
Producer	Mani Sharma
Mani Sharma chronology

Khaleja
Khaleja
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Trivikram Srinivas
Written by	Trivikram Srinivas
Produced by	Singanamala Ramesh Babu; C. Kalyan; S. Satya Rama Murthy; ;
Starring	Mahesh Babu; Anushka Shetty; Prakash Raj; ;
Cinematography	Yash Bhatt; Sunil Patel
Edited by	A. Sreekar Prasad
Music by	Mani Sharma
Production; company	Kanakaratna Movies
Distributed by	Geetha Arts
Release date	7 October 2010;
Running time	164 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu
Budget	₹30 crore

Khaleja^[a] (transl. Courage)^[2] is a 2010 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film written and directed by Trivikram Srinivas. The film stars Mahesh Babu, Anushka and Prakash Raj, while Shafi, Sunil, Sameer Hasan, Amit Tiwari, Subbaraju, Tanikella Bharani, Brahmanandam and Ali play supporting roles. The plot follows Raju (Mahesh Babu), a cab driver who gets hailed as God in a remote village and ends up facing GK (Prakash Raj), a powerful industrialist, to save the village. The film deals with illegal-mining in India, and related environmental damage.^[3] It marks Babu's return as an actor after a three-year hiatus in his second collaboration with Trivikram after Athadu.

The film was released on 7 October 2010 to positive reviews from critics and audience alike but was declared a box office failure. Despite the debacle, the film won two Filmfare South awards for Best Male Playback Singer and Best Lyricist.^[4]^[5] Over the years the film has undergone re-evaluation and has achieved a cult following as it was deemed ahead of its time in terms of story telling and technicality. The film was listed in the Film Companion's "25 Greatest Telugu Films of the Decade."^[6]

Plot

A remote village in Pali is struck by a mysterious plague that consumes many lives, leaving the villagers terrified and devastated. The village priest prophesies a savior and sends his assistant, Siddha, in pursuit of him.

Elsewhere in Hyderabad, Raju, a short-tempered taxi driver, is left with heavy damage to his taxi in an incident where his passengers are violently attacked and murdered. Consequently, his supervisor instructs him to deliver insurance money to one of the victim's families in Rajasthan. While there, a gang of goons sent by GK, a ruthless industrialist, ambush Raju and mortally wound him. After he fends off his attackers, Raju is found by Siddha under circumstances described in the priest's prophecy. Siddha rescues him and takes him back to the village.

After recovering, Raju is shocked to find out that he is revered by the villagers as a deity and fails to convince them otherwise. Although he is initially apathetic towards their troubles, Raju is compelled by Siddha to help the villagers. Upon further investigation, he finds out that GK has been deliberately polluting the village's air and water to drive out its residents and extract precious ores from their land afterwards. He also learns that GK had ordered the hits on Raju's passengers, a geologist and a villager, and later on Raju to prevent them from interfering with his plans.

GK confronts Raju in the village, kills Siddha, and threatens to massacre the villagers for uncovering his ploy. A furious Raju assaults GK's goons and amputates his hand. GK wanders off panicking and meets his death as prophesized, ending the village's calamity.

Cast

Mahesh Babu as Alluri Seetharama Raju
Prakash Raj as GK, Gopalakrishnan
Anushka as Subhashini (Subbu) (voice dubbed by Sowmya Sharma)
Suneel as Baabji
Brahmanandam as Miriyam
Ali as Tom Cruise
Amit Tiwari as GK's son
Supriya Karnik as GK's wife
Archana as GK's assistant
Sudha as GK's assistant
Shafi as Siddha
Subbaraju as Govardhan
Kota Srinivasa Rao as Raju's grandfather
Tanikella Bharani as Durga Prasad, Subhashini’s father
Rao Ramesh as Tantrik, Village Head
Raghu Babu as Sundaram
Aman Dhaliwal as John
Ananth Babu as Ananth
Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as Taxi Owner
M. S. Narayana as Villager
Gundu Sudarshan
Sriranjani as Subbu’s mother
Baby Annie as revived dead girl
Micky Makhija as Dr. Paranji

Music

The soundtrack was composed by Mani Sharma. The music was released on 27 September 2010.^[7] 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 Hyderabad. Mahesh Babu's wife Namrata Shirodkar was also present. The album contains six songs and the lyrics are written by Ramajogayya Sastry and Sirivennela Sitaramasastri.^[5]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Sada Siva"	Ramajogayya Sastry	Ramesh Vinayagam, Karunya,	4:57
2.	"Bhoom Shakana"	Ramajogayya Sastry	Ranjith, Sravana Bhargavi	4:26
3.	"Piliche"	Sirivennela Sitaramasastri	Vedala Hemachandra, Shweta Mohan	4:27
4.	"Makathika"	Ramajogayya Sastry	Karthik, Saindhavi	3:55
5.	"Sunday Monday"	Ramajogayya Sastry	Vedala Hemachandra, Malavika	4:21
6.	"Taxi"	Ramajogayya Sastry	Ranjith	4:49
Total length:				29:16

Reception

Sify rated 3 out of 5 explained "No doubt, Mahesh is the cynosure of the movie, shouldering the entire responsibility."^[3] MSN rated 3 out of 5 and described the film as "just an above average venture", commenting, "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.^[8] Rediff gave a 3 out of 5 rating and 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.^[9]

CNN-IBN gave a mixed review stating "The movie is all about Mahesh Babu and he occupies almost every frame in the movie. Back after a gap of 4 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."^[10]