Keshava (film)

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Keshava
Keshava movie poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Sudheer Varma
Screenplay bySudheer Varma
Dialogues by Krishna Chaitanya
Story bySudheer Varma
Produced byAbhishek Nama
Starring Nikhil Siddharth
Ritu Varma
Isha Koppikar
CinematographyDivakar Mani
Edited byM. S. Rajashekhar Reddy (S. R. Shekhar)
Music by Sunny M. R.
Production
company
Release date
  • 19 May 2017 (2017-05-19) [1]
Running time
117 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu
Budget₹3 crore [2]
Box officeest.₹30 crore [3]

Keshava is a 2017 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film directed by Sudheer Varma and produced by Abhishek Nama. [4] [5] It stars Nikhil Siddhartha in the titular role, alongside Ritu Varma and Isha Koppikar, Rao Ramesh, Brahmaji, Ajay, Raja Ravindra, Vennela Kishore and Priyadarshi Pullikonda. The music was composed by Sunny M. R., while the cinematography and editing were handled by Divakar Mani and S. R. Shekhar. [6]

Contents

Keshava was released worldwide on 19 May 2017 to positive reviews from critics and became a commercial success. [7]

Plot

A family, travelling in a car, gets hit by a police jeep and left to die. Keshava wakes up in the hospital to learn that his parents are killed and his younger sister lost her legs. Keshava, now a youngster, walks in a desolate forest road and asks a biker for a lift. After a while, the biker halts to attend nature's call and Keshava stabs him to death. Keshava is a law student with a rare heart condition called dextrocardia, which prevents him from activities resulting in a faster heart beat. A fisherman witnesses the dead body of the biker hanging from a tree and informs the police.

The police identify the victim as a police officer. Satyabhama attends the same college as Keshava, where she recognizes Keshava as her childhood friend, but he dismisses her and keeps avoiding her. As the police fail to find any clues, the police commissioner appoints Sharmila Mishra, a special branch officer, to investigate the case. Keshava is sipping tea in front of a police station and identifies another police officer as someone, who tried to kill him and his sister in hospital. He follows the officer on his bike and kills him in a desolate place. Sharmila finds the dead body hanging from a construction crane. Sharmila connects the dots and figures out that these two murders are done by the same person.

After investigation, Sharmila concludes that the killer is left-handed. Satyabhama notices Keshava writing with his left hand and remembers him doing the same in their childhood. She follows him to the library and notices him reading about the murders. Satyabhama manages to get the attendance register and finds out that Keshava was absent during both days of the murders. She goes to his home and makes him admit that he is her childhood friend. Keshava, Satyabhama and his friends go to Annavaram to volunteer for a temple program. Keshava comes across another officer and recognizes him as one of the officer who had left his family to die after the accident.

Keshava kills the officer after a fight, but he is noticed by watchmen while returning and one of them hits him with a stone on the back of his head. After returning to the accommodation, Keshava's friends confront him to confess his activities. Keshava narrates his past, which leads him to kill some people. They decide to help Keshava and gets him treated for his head injury from a local doctor, who later informs the police after watching the news about the murder and details of the suspect on TV. The next day while travelling in a bus, Sharmila apprehends Keshava and takes him to Visakhapatnam for interrogation. Keshava denies all charges on him and his friends destroys the evidence of his involvement.

Meanwhile, Krishna Murthy, a retired officer, is reportedly attacked by a person matching the description of the killer. Keshava is eventually released and meets Krishna Murthy. He narrates that he is among the people responsible for the death of his parents. While returning from election duty, Nakul was driving while intoxicated and had caused the accident. Although his colleagues requested them to save the victims, Nakul ignored them. Keshava later narrates to Sharmila that he is not avenging the accident, but murder. He reveals that his parents were alive after the accident and that the policemen returned and drove over them to ensure that there would not be witnesses against them.

Keshava finds another officer Bheemeswar and kills him in broad daylight. Nakul tries to locate Keshava but to no avail. Sharmila gets suspicious of Krishna Murthy and confronts him, but he knocks her. Keshava is kidnapped by Nakul's henchmen, but he manages to escape and kills Nakul. Krishna Murthy and Sharmila have a heated argument, where Krishna Murthy admits that he drove the jeep at the time of the accident and is the main culprit. He rescued Keshava from the police so that Keshava will kill Nakul and he would inherits benami properties of Nakul. Keshava is already on the spot when Krishna Murthy was narrating these events to Sharmila. In a subsequent chase, Krishna Murthy meets with an accident. Keshava warns him not to drink and drive in his next life, and burns the car. Sharmila closes the case as an accident. Keshava starts a new life with his sister and Satyabhama.

Cast

Production

Keshava was primarily filmed in Visakhapatnam, Araku, Kakinada, and Narasapuram, as the story is set in these locations. Director Sudheer Varma selected these areas due to his personal connection, having studied in Visakhapatnam and Kakinada. [8] Some scenes were even shot at his former school. Varma ensured the locations added depth to the narrative. For example, the Mada forests in Kakinada, previously shown briefly in other films, were explored in detail to highlight their natural beauty. Around 80% of the film was shot in these regions, with the locations playing an integral role in the story. [8]

Music

Keshava
Studio album by
Sunny M.R.
Released2017 (2017)
Recorded2016–17
Genre Film soundtrack
Length17:56
Label E3 Music
Sunny M.R. chronology
Bhale Manchi Roju
(2015)		Keshava
(2017)		 Husharu
(2018)

Music was composed by Sunny M.R. Music released on E3 Music Company. [9]

Track list
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Kala Bhairava Ashtakam"Harsha Gudi, Satya Yamini, Sri Soumya02:40
2."Telusa Neeku Bahusa" Shalmali Kholgade, Sunny M.R.03:41
3."Yedisthe Rarevaru" Arijit Singh 03:45
4."Po Poradi"Arijit Singh03:14
5."Kala Bhairava Ashtakam (Re-Created)"Harshika Gudi, Satya Yamini, Sri Soumya03:36
Total length:17:56

Reception

Critical response

Ch Sowmya Sruthi of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote, "The movie makes for a decent watch with commendable performances and gripping screenplay." [10] Idlebrain gave 3/5 stars and wrote, "Keshava is a stylish revenge drama that appeals to a set of audiences." [11]

Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu said, "Keshava is good, but it had potential to be smarter and exceptional." [12] Suresh Kavirayani of Deccan Chronicle said, "Sudheer Varma has taken a regular revenge plot and narrated it in a stylised manner." [13]

Box office

Keshava grossed ₹11.4 crore worldwide on its first three-day weekend, earning a distributor share of ₹7.5 crore. [14] The film grossed ₹30 crore at the global box office. [3]

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References

  1. ↑ "Nikhil Siddharth's 'Keshava' gets a release date". The Times of India .
  2. ↑ "Sharwanand bags the Andhra Pradesh rights of Nikhil Siddhartha's upcoming thriller 'Keshava'". Times of India. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2022. Keshava is made on a strict budget of Rs 3 crore which comes in as a surprise ..... The amount however is what it costed the makers excluding the remunerations of Nikhil and director Sudheer Varma.
  3. 1 2 Kavirayani, Suresh (16 July 2017). "When small is big". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 16 August 2022. Nikhil, whose last film Keshava collected an amount of Rs 30 crore gross ....
  4. ↑ "Keshava first look poster: Nikhil draws his gun for another actioner, see pic". The Indian Express. 24 December 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  5. ↑ "Nikhil Siddharth's movie 'Keshava's' teaser is out". The Times of India. Times of India. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  6. ↑ Chowdhary, Y. Sunita (17 May 2017). "Mood for movies". The Hindu– via www.thehindu.com.
  7. ↑ "Keshava day 1 box office collection: Sudheer Varma's set to become biggest opener for Nikhil Siddharth". International Business Times. 19 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  8. 1 2 "Interview with Sudheer Varma about Keshava by Maya Nelluri". Idlebrain.com . 18 May 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  9. ↑ "Atozmp3.in".
  10. ↑ "Keshava Review {3/5}: The movie makes for a decent watch with commendable performances and gripping screenplay". The Times of India.
  11. ↑ "Keshava review by jeevi - Telugu cinema review - Nikhil Siddharth, Ritu Varma & Isha Koppikar". Idlebrain.
  12. ↑ Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (19 May 2017). "Keshava: A few notches higher?". The Hindu.
  13. ↑ "Keshava movie review: A striking revenge drama". Deccan Chronicle. 22 May 2017.
  14. ↑ "Keshava box office collection: Nikhil Siddhartha-starrer mints Rs. 11.4 crore in three days". The Indian Express. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
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