Chirutha

Chirutha
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Puri Jagannadh
Written by	Puri Jagannadh
Produced by	C. Aswani Dutt
Starring	Ram Charan Neha Sharma Prakash Raj Ashish Vidyarthi
Cinematography	Shyam K. Naidu
Edited by	M. R. Varma
Music by	Mani Sharma
Production company	Vyjayanthi Movies
Release date	28 September 2007 (2007-09-28)
Running time	151 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu

Chirutha (transl. Cheetah) is a 2007 Indian Telugu-language action film written and directed by Puri Jagannadh, and produced by C. Aswani Dutt under the banner Vyjayanthi Movies. The film stars debutants Ram Charan and Neha Sharma alongside Prakash Raj and Ashish Vidyarthi while Tanikella Bharani, Sayaji Shinde, Daniel Balaji and Brahmanandam play supporting roles. The film revolves around Charan, a young man in pursuit of a gangster who murdered his parents.

The film's soundtrack and score is composed by Mani Sharma and cinematography was by Shyam K. Naidu. Its filming began in 2007 and was shot extensively in Thailand. Chirutha was released worldwide on 28 September 2007. The film held the record of being the highest-grossing Telugu film for a debut actor until it was surpassed by Uppena (2021). Charan won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut – South and Nandi Special Jury Award for Best Performance in Debut film.

Plot

An auto driver witnesses Mattu Bhai murdering a journalist and captures Mattu Bhai and his henchmen until the police arrive. Later, the auto driver returns home to his wife and young son, Charan. That night, Mattu Bhai and his men invade their home, killing the auto driver and injuring his wife, but Charan survives. Charan's mother is critically injured, and Charan and his uncle lack the money for her operation. The local mafia leader's son has committed a murder and offers Charan a deal. To pay for his mother's surgery, Charan falsely confesses to the crime and goes to prison.

Twelve years later, Charan is released from prison. He learns from his uncle that his mother has died. Charan meets Sanjana, whose father is Karthikeya, a wealthy business magnate. A police officer named Ajay helps Charan obtain a passport, and Charan plans to go to Bangkok to join a travel agency recommended by his uncle. Sanjana and her friends arrive in Bangkok as tourists, where Charan works as a tour guide. Charan seems irritable around Sanjana, but when a gangster named Biku and his henchmen bother her, Charan intervenes and saves her.

A few days later, Biku's men attack Sanjana again, and Charan rescues her. They escape on a water bike, but it runs out of gas, leaving them stranded in the sea. They swim to a nearby island, where Charan confesses his love for Sanjana. Karthikeya and others believe Charan has kidnapped Sanjana because they discover Charan's criminal record. Karthikeya organizes a search party to find Sanjana. Charan spots a helicopter but Sanjana, who now loves him, does not want to be found, fearing her father’s disapproval. Charan reveals that he came to Bangkok to kill Mattu Bhai, who runs a notorious criminal network in Bangkok and other cities.

Charan had tried to kill Mattu Bhai at a bar, but he escaped and stopped coming to Bangkok. While Charan and Sanjana talk, an army of black assassins arrives, and a fight ensues. Karthikeya arrives in a helicopter. Sanjana runs to her father, explaining that Charan saved her, but when she admits she loves Charan, Karthikeya orders his men to kill Charan. Charan is knocked unconscious but later rescued by a company member. Sanjana argues with her father and runs back to Charan.

Karthikeya contacts Charan, revealing that his mother is alive and that his uncle lied about her death. Karthikeya offers to trade Charan's mother for Sanjana. Charan brings Sanjana to the arranged meeting spot, telling her that his mother has no one else, while Sanjana still has her father. Karthikeya takes Sanjana and releases Charan's grateful mother. Meanwhile, Mattu Bhai sees Charan and Sanjana's pictures on television and recognizes Charan. He instructs Biku to kidnap Sanjana.

During the exchange, a shootout occurs. Karthikeya's men are killed, and Biku escapes with Sanjana. Karthikeya, shot in the leg, acknowledges Charan's love for his mother and urges him to rescue Sanjana. Charan leaves his mother with Karthikeya and chases Biku but fails to catch him. Biku's men capture Charan and take him to the island where Mattu Bhai and Biku are hiding.

Mattu Bhai lets Charan and Sanjana escape, intending to hunt them. However, Charan kills all of Mattu Bhai’s men, including Biku. He lures Mattu Bhai into a trap and kills him in the same manner Mattu Bhai killed Charan's father. It is at this moment that Mattu Bhai realizes who Charan is.

Cast

• Ram Charan as Charan, Sanjana's love interest
  • Akash Puri as Young Charan
• Neha Sharma as Sanjana, Charan's love interest
• Prakash Raj as Karthikeya, Sanjana's father
• Ashish Vidyarthi as Mattu Bhai
• Tanikella Bharani as Venkateswara Rao, Charan's uncle
• Sayaji Shinde as ASP Ajay IPS
• Raghu Babu as Thief
• Brahmanandam as Krish
• Ali as Nachimi
• Daniel Balaji as Biku, Mattu Bhai's son
• Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as Subramanyam, Sanjana's PA
• M. S. Narayana as Babi, Charan's boss
• Venu Madhav as Charan's jailmate and friend
• G. V. Sudhakar Naidu as Jailer
• Uttej as Charan's colleague in Bangkok
• Srinivasa Reddy as Constable
• Bandla Ganesh as Charan's colleague in Bangkok
• Pragathi as Charan's mother
• Surya as Auto Driver, Charan's father
• Satyam Rajesh as Watchman
• Khayyum as Charan’s friend
• Babloo as Charan's colleague in Bangkok

Production

The film had completed its Bangkok schedule and also the Hyderabad schedule. Again the unit left for Bangkok for the final schedule. After the launch and a few days of shooting at Bangkok, the unit returned to Hyderabad. In May 2007, a fight sequence was shot in a huge set was erected at a cost of around ₹70 lakhs at Annapurna Studios under the supervision of Vijayan. Later, the unit left for Bangkok to continue its shooting there. The introductory song was choreographed at Hyderabad under the dance direction of Raghava Lawrence in August.

Soundtrack

Chirutha
Soundtrack album by Mani Sharma
Released	22 August 2007 (2007-08-22)
Recorded	2007
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	32:14
Language	Telugu
Label	Aditya Music
Producer	Mani Sharma
Mani Sharma chronology
Lakshyam (2007) Chirutha (2007) Athidhi (2007)

Mani Sharma composed the film's soundtrack and score. The audio of the film was released on 22 August 2007. The soundtrack received huge response and cassettes and CDs were sold quickly.

Track-List

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Yamaho Yama"	Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry	Tippu	4:57
2.	"Love U Raa"	Ramajogayya Sastry	Deepu, Rita, Sravana Bhargavi	4:50
3.	"Endhuko Pichi Pichi"	Bhaskarabhatla Ravi Kumar	N. C. Karunya	4:31
4.	"Chamka Chamka"	Viswa	Ranjith, Geeta Madhuri	5:07
5.	"Maro Maro"	Bhaskarabhatla Ravi Kumar	Rahul Nambiar, Suchitra	4:41
6.	"Kannethi"	Kandikonda	Mallikarjun	1:47
7.	"Ivala"	Kandikonda	KK, Sunitha Upadrashta	4:28
8.	"Innallu"	Kandikonda	Usha	1:49
Total length:				32:21

Release

The film was initially slated to release on 22 September 2007 but postponed to 29 September 2007. The film released in 708 screens including 532 in Andhra Pradesh, 44 in Karnataka, 4 in Tamil Nadu, 3 in Odisha and 115 overseas. Chirutha collected a first day distributors' share of nearly ₹3.81 crore (US$460,000). In Chennai, it debuted at number 1 and averaged 100% collections from 3 screens in its opening weekend.

Reception

Chirutha received generally positive reviews from critics. Y. Sunita Chowdary of The Hindu mentioned that: "Chiruta is garnished well with commercial trappings. You'll find an adequate dose of romance, sentiment and dollops of violence" and praised Charan's performance that he "earn some serious brownie points for effortless dancing and fights". Sify appreciated Charan's performance stating that: "Ram Charan has rendered excellent performance in the dance and stunts departments [..] He looks smart and promising". Idlebrain rated the film 3 out of 5 stating "The first half of the film is alright. The second half slows down a bit. The plus points of the film are Ram Charan Teja, songs and fights. On the flip side a better heroine and a better second half would have done wonders to the film".

Box office

Chirutha collected a share of 12 crores in AP alone for 7 days. The film collected ₹22.08 crore (US$2.6 million) share in 50 Days and declared as a Box Office Hit worldwide. Chirutha completed 50 Days in 178 direct centres and 15 other shifted centres. the film completed 100 days in 38 direct centres.

Dubbed versions and remakes

The film was dubbed into Tamil as Siruthai Puli. On 14 September 2012 the movie was released in the Malayalam dubbed version named Cheetah. It was remade in Bengali as Rangbaaz (2013) with Dev and Koel Mallick in the lead.

External links

• Chirutha at IMDb