Alludu Sreenu is an upcoming 2014 Telugu comedy drama film directed by V. V. Vinayak. Produced
by Bellamkonda Suresh on his banner Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Productions, the film marks the
debut of his son Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas as a hero with Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Brahmanandam
and Prakash Raj playing important roles while Tamannaah made a special appearance by dancing
in an item number. Devi Sri Prasad composed the music for this film while Chota K. Naidu
and Gautham Raju handled the cinematography and editing of the film respectively.
The film was officially launched on February 15, 2013 at Hyderabad. After altering the
bound script twice, the film's principal photography commenced at Annapoorna Studios in Hyderabad
in October 2013. Majority of the film was shot in and around Hyderabad while significant
portions were shot at Alleppey in Kerala. The songs were shot in the locales of Japan,
Dubai and Italy apart from the sets built in Hyderabad. The film is scheduled for a
worldwide release on July 25, 2014 in theaters.
Cast Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas
Samantha Ruth Prabhu Brahmanandam
Prakash Raj Pradeep Rawat
Tanikella Bharani Raghu Babu
Vennela Kishore Ravi Babu
Tamannaah in a special appearance. '''Others'''
Production Development
On December 5, 2008 when Bellamkonda Suresh was celebrating his birthday at the Devnar
School for the Blind in Begumpet at Hyderabad, V. V. Vinayak who came as a guest to the function
revealed the first news of Sai Sreenivas' film debut. He said "I share an emotional
bonding with Bellamkonda Suresh for a long time as he gave me the first break as a director.
It was Bellamkonda Suresh who introduced me as a director. Now I want to direct Bellamkonda
Suresh’s son Sai’s debut film. I wish to make Sai a nice hero." Bellamkonda Suresh
spoke "I would like to thank VV Vinayak for offering to introducing my son as a hero.
My son Sai will be introduced as hero in 2011. I will send him to USA to learn more about
acting. I am indebted to VV Vinayak for the favor he is doing to me." On February 15,
2013 the film was officially launched at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad and along with the film's
crew, celebrities like Venkatesh and Dasari Narayana Rao attended the event. On that day,
Devi Sri Prasad was announced as the music director while Chota K. Naidu and Gautham
Raju were selected as the cinematographer and editor of the film respectively. In mid-May
2014, reports emerged that the makers were considering to title the film as Alludu Sreenu.
The same was officially confirmed by Samantha in her twitter on May 26, 2014.
Casting In early February 2013, Samantha Ruth Prabhu
was selected to play the heroine in this film as a part of the three film deal she entered
with Bellamkonda Suresh. She stated that she accepted to be a part of the film only due
to her good relationship with Bellamkonda Suresh when he helped her during the time
when she was suffering with serious skin ailments. She said "Bellamkonda Suresh has stood by
me during the toughest phase in my life and I am doing this film for him." A photo shoot
was conducted later on Samantha and Sai Sreenivas in the same month. In mid-March 2013, it was
reported that Tamannaah was selected as the other heroine of the film and it was said
that Bellamkonda Suresh offered her a huge remuneration for the film. She too confirmed
the news that she is sharing the screen along with a debutante hero. But since the previous
two scripts were not accepted by Vinayak himself and after penning a fresh script, Tamannaah
was no more a part of the film as the new one required a single heroine only. In the
end of January 2014, Prakash Raj reacted in his twitter about the speculations that he
would play a double role in Mahesh Babu's Aagadu that he is not playing a dual role
in that film but he is playing a dual role in this film which he called an "interesting"
one. In the end of March 2014, it was reported that Tamannaah would do a special song in
the film. It was said that she would participate in
the shoot for this song in the end of April 2014 or early May 2014. It was also said that
the song would be the introduction song of the hero in the film. But by the time the
reports emerged into the media, Tamannaah wrapped up the shoot of the song in the film
on March 31 and V. V. Vinayak thanked her for accepting the offer in his Facebook page.
The song, a romantic one, was shot in Hyderabad in a vineyard set for 5 days. In an interaction
to Chennai Times, Tamannaah's father said "The primary reason why she agreed to do this
song was because it is the most important song in the film. It is not an item song but
a romantic number and the director narrated how he intends to shoot it. It is true that
a year ago, when the script was first written, Tamannaah had chosen to be a part of this
film. However, when the script was changed, we mutually agreed to part ways. But despite
that, both Tamannaah and Vinayak have mutual respect for each other and that is why, when
Vinayak requested Tamannaah to do this one song for him, she agreed."
Filming The film's first schedule of shooting started
at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad in the end of October 2013 due to delay in script work
and a song on Samantha and Sai Sreenivas was shot there. After completing the first schedule
silently, the film unit proceeded to Japan to shoot a song on Sai Sreenivas and Samantha
in the exotic locales of that country. The regular shooting continued for some time after
the unit's return from Japan and after a brief gap, the shooting continued from February
19, 2014 at Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad where some street scenes were shot on Sai
Sreenivas and Samantha. Later again after a brief gap due to Samantha's busy schedules,
the filming continued at Fort Grand in Hyderabad which was known for its picturesque setting.
Later it was reported that the film's shoot would continue in Dubai after a song was filmed
on the leads in Hyderabad. After completion of the Hyderabad schedule of Kaththi, Samantha
joined the sets of the film on April 1, 2014. She left the sets after completing her part
in the schedule and joined the sets of Kaththi again and took a break from there in the first
week of May. Later she joined the sets of this film at Alleppey in Kerala. After returning
from there, Samantha tweeted in the second week of May that the team would go to Italy
for filming a song on Sai Sreenivas and herself. After filming few sequences of a song there,
the team returned to Hyderabad on May 11. Later the shoot continued at Aluminium factory
at Gachibowli in Hyderabad. Soundtrack
Devi Sri Prasad composed the music and background score for the film re uniting with V. V. Vinayak
after Adhurs which released in 2009. On June 21, 2014 it was declared that the film's audio
would release on June 29, 2014. On June 25, 2014 the venue of the audio launch was confirmed
as Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad. It was reported that N. T. Rama Rao Jr. was invited
as the chief guest for the audio launch. The official track list featuring 6 songs was
released before the soundtrack album's launch. The event was aired live on MAA Movies starting
from 7:30 PM. While N. T. Rama Rao Jr. did not attend the function turning the reports
as rumors, Venkatesh, S. S. Rajamouli and Pranitha Subhash attended as the chief guests
and the audio was released on Aditya Music label.
The audio received viral response and all the songs in the soundtrack were praised by
the audience. Reviewing the album, The Times of India wrote "Devi Sri Prasad seems to have
dished out a standard edition album with a little bit of everything. All in all, it's
the kind of album that's good to listen to but will not exactly make you go for a repeat
listening" and rated the album 3/5. The soundtrack album had a record number of sales for which
Aditya Music thanked Devi Sri Prasad and the film's makers.
Release In a press meet held on June 21, 2014 the
makers officially declared the film's release date as July 24, 2014. On June 28, 2014 reports
emerged that Gemini TV bagged the satellite rights of the movie for an undisclosed price.
On July 5, 2014 a press note was issued which stated that the film would release a day later
i.e. on July 25, 2014 in theaters. Marketing
The first look posters were also released on the same day itself but none of them featured
the title of the film. New posters were released after the shoot at Japan but they too didn't
bear the title of the film. But Sai Sreenivas and Samantha were appreciated for their looks
in those posters. The title logo of the film was revealed on June 6, 2014. The first look
poster bearing the title and few stills were released on June 21, 2014. Those stills received
positive response and Samantha's glamour in those stills received a strong positive response.
The theatrical trailer and video promos of the songs were released on June 29, 2014 and
they received positive response in which Sreenivas was appreciated for his dances, looks, acting
and fighting skills; Samantha and Tamannaah were appreciated for their glamour show. Particularly,
Tamannaah's item number received great positive response which generated good buzz for the
film. References