Bhola Shankar Reaction first 12 mins
Idiot starts at 12:15
Credits
Banner: Vaishno Academy
Cast: Ravi Teja, Rakshita, Kota, Prakash Raj, Sangeetha, Ali, Jeeva, Giri Babu, Jr. Relangi, Bose, Narsing Yadav, Satya Narayana, Srinivasa Reddy
Music: Chakri
Cinematography: Shyam K Naidu
Lyrics: Kandikonda, Bhaskarabhatla Ravi Kumar & Peddada Murthy
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Art: Chinna
Fights: Ram - Lakshman
Story - Screenplay - Direction - Dialogues - Production: Puri Jagannadh
Release date: 22nd August 2002
Context: Saw it on VHS way back, pretty sure it was my first intro to Raviteja, I didn’t know who this guy was but over the years became a fan because of all the entertaining action comedies he made over the years. Only reason I remember it because of Choopultho Gucci Gucci song and then Rakshita was the heroine and then disappeared. Decided to rewatch for the podcast and the movie was actually really good. Very entertaining and obviously iconic.
Interesting Facts:
- Main is that it is the remake of the Kannada movie Appu which starred Puneeth rajkumar and launched him to stardom and also starred Rakshita as the heroine.
- After Badri, Pawan Kalyan promised to do another film with Puri right after. Puri narrated him 4 stories and Idiot was one of them. Pawan didn’t give the green signal. Narrated it to Mahesh Babu, he said no, Tarun said no, and he was looking for a mass story to give Raviteja a break.
- Then he made Bachi with Jagapathi Babu and had no offers in TFI so he went to Bangalore and got acquainted with raklumar family and directed the Kannada remake of Thammudu with Shivarajkumar titled Yuvaraja. It was successful
- Then he met Puneeth Rajkumar and launched him as hero with the movie Appu it became a super hit. But before it released, they had already started Idiot movie in Telugu. Puri and Raviteja had already worked together on Itlu Sravani Subramaniam,
- Budget was 2 crores when filming started. Political Chintakayala Ayyana Patrudu was a partner in the project and Puri produced the movie on Vishnu Academy banner.
- March 24th, 2002 filming started. Entire talkie portion was filmed in Hyderabad. They filmed two songs in Bangkok and from here started Puri Jagan’s fixation with Bangkok.
- Back in Vijaywada Puri had a friend named Sreenu and he used to talk about himself and boast himself. Puri took him as inspiration for hero character and wrote it and then tagline was Seenu gaadi prima Katha. But since Raviyeja liked the name Chanti as it was his character’s name in Sindhooram, Puri changed it to O chant gaadi prema Katha.
- Released on Chiranjeevi birthday August 22nd, 2002.
- The film opened up to Super-Duper Hit Talk. Ravi Teja's characterization was loved by all. Fans loved how Ravi Teja's character was carefree doing what comes to his mind, without hesitating about someone's opinion... The portrayal of the hero character seemed very new.
- Puri set a new definition for heroism in his own style, saying that the hero should have a strong mentality, behave straight forward, be different in the way of thinking, and not be cynical.
- Ravi Teja's body language was another highlight for the film.
- The budget invested on the film was 2.20 crores and it grossed 16 crores.
- Released with 45 prints, the film reached 100 prints after 4 weeks.
- It played for 100 days at 36 centers.
- The dialogue "‘Commissionerlu osthatu untaru, potu untaru, Chantigadu local, "Ye commissioner kuthurlaki mogudlu rara", and "Roju ee timelo ikkadikochi site kodtanani telusu kada, vachi nilabadalani telida?" are a highlight. The music album of the film is also a big hit.
- Songs like 'Chupulto Guchiguchi Champake' were a big hit at that time. 'Idiot’ set a trend, especially the hero's role.
- Many similar scripts have been made. This is a concept that still does not bore.
- Raviteja age when this movie released was 34. He got his big break that long and waited almost 12 years. His first movie was Karthavyam back in 1990. It launched him to fame
