| Guntur Kaaram | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Trivikram Srinivas |
| Written by | Trivikram Srinivas |
| Produced by | S. Radha Krishna |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography |
|
| Edited by | Naveen Nooli |
| Music by | Thaman S |
Production company | Haarika & Hassine Creations |
Release date |
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Running time | 159 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Budget | ₹200 crore[2][3] |
| Box office | ₹108–127 crore[4][5] |
Guntur Kaaram (pronounced [ɡʊɳʈuːɾ kaːɾʌm]; transl. Spice of Guntur) is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by Trivikram Srinivas, and produced by S. Radha Krishna through Haarika & Hassine Creations. It stars Mahesh Babu, Sreeleela, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Ramya Krishna, Jayaram, Prakash Raj, and Jagapathi Babu.
The film was officially announced in May 2021 under the tentative title SSMB28, as it is Mahesh's 28th film in the leading role, and the official title was announced in May 2023. Principal photography commenced in September 2022, mostly shot in Hyderabad, and wrapped by late-December 2023. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Thaman S, with cinematography handled by Manoj Paramahamsa and editing handled by Naveen Nooli.
Guntur Kaaram was released in theatres worldwide on 12 January 2024, coinciding with Sankranti. The film received generally negative to mixed reviews from critics criticizing its direction, screenplay, plot, background score and soundtrack, but Mahesh's performance was praised.[6]
Plot
In 1998 in Guntur, Marx and Lenin, two of the biggest hooligans in the city, burn down Satyam's mirchi factory. Satyam, seeing this, approaches Marx and Lenin to question them, while the factory is burning. In the process, Satyam's brother-in-law decides to kill Lenin, but Satyam takes the blame for the murder, landing him in jail for 12 years. However, his son, Ramana, partially loses his vision in his left eye, rendering him blind during the explosion of the factory. Soon afterwards, seeing how Satyam went to jail, his wife and Ramana's mother, Vasundhara, decides to leave Ramana and moves on with her father, Venkata Swamy.
25 years later, Venkata Swamy makes Vasundhara a minister from his political party, but faces opposition from Kata Madhu, from the rival political party, who threatens to expose the fact that Ramana is Vasundhara's son. To combat this, Venkata Swamy decides to make Ramana sign a document stating that he is not related to Vasundhra or the family, in return for which he will receive money. Ramana refuses to do so if he cannot see his mother one last time. There is a back and forth involving Amulya "Ammu" and Balu trying to get Ramana to sign the document. Venkata Swamy, growing frustrated, decides to have Pani file a fake FIR against Ramana stating that he destroyed valuables in his house and attacked his security guard in order to force him to sign the document. Balu is empathetic towards Ramana, opposes Pani and obtains a bail order for Ramana. Ramana visits Venkataswamy's house in Hyderabad and recreates exactly what was stated in the FIR.
Vasundhara then decides to see Ramana and slaps him, which makes him sign the document. Back in Guntur, Kata Madhu tries to get Ramana to side with him and his party, but Ramana thrashes him. However, Kata is able to steal his wallet and reveals to the media that he is indeed Vasundhara's son. Venkata Swamy seeing this tries to get Ramana arrested again, but fails to do so. Satyam then reveals that Vasundhara immediately wanted to have Ramana's eye operated on after the accident and fought with him, who thought saving his brother-in-law was his main priority. She also wanted to take Ramana with her to Venkata Swamy's house, but Bujji, Satyam's sister and her sister-in-law, shut the doors of the house on her. Meanwhile, in the court, Vasundhara inquires with Bujji about Ramana's eye, to which, she tells her that his eye will never regress to normalcy. Vasundhara is enraged and blames the murder on Satyam. Ramana, learning of this, becomes depressed. "Gelatin" Babji and his men kidnap him and Balu to try to kill them.
It is then revealed that Narayana, Vasundhara's second husband, hired Babji and his men to kill Ramana, under Venkata Swamy's orders. Elsewhere, Vasundhara is struck by a lorry and then hospitalised. Ramana rushes to see how she is; it is then revealed that Hari Das and Kata Madhu planned to murder Vasundhara with the accident. Venkata Swamy convinces Ramana to kill Hari Das to prove that he is Vasundhara's son. In the process, Venkata Swamy reveals to Pani that he orchestrated the attack on Satyam's factory in 1998 to bring his daughter back, as he lost the elections due to Vasundhara marrying Satyam, who was from another caste.
When Ramana goes to kill Hari Das, he reveals that he never planned the murder with Kata and it is revealed that Venkata Swamy orchestrated everything. At the event to make Gopal Reddy the next minister, Narayana also reveals to Venkata Swamy that Gopal Reddy is not Vasundhara's son, but was merely adopted by Vasundhara in making Venkata Swamy a fool to save Ramana from harm. When Ramana learns of this, he becomes enraged at Venkata Swamy, but Vasundhara stops him and they both go to Guntur where the family is reunited.
Cast
- Mahesh Babu as Veera Venkata Ramana alias "Rowdy" Ramana, Satyam and Vasundhara's son
- Sreeleela as Amukta "Ammu" Malyada, Pani's daughter and Ramana's love interest
- Meenakshi Chaudhary as Raji, Ramana's cousin
- Ramya Krishnan as Vasundhara, Venkata Swamy's daughter and Ramana's mother; Satyam and Narayana's wife, Law Minister
- Jayaram as "Royal" Satyam, Vasundhara's first husband and Ramana's father
- Prakash Raj as Venkata Swamy, Vasundhara's father and Ramana's grandfather
- Jagapathi Babu as Marx, Lenin's brother and Satyam's rival
- Rao Ramesh as Narayana, Vasundhara's second husband and Ramana's step-father
- Easwari Rao as Bujji, Satyam's sister and Raji's mother
- Murali Sharma as Pani, Ammu's father and Venkata Swamy's attorney
- Sunil as Lenin, Marx's brother
- Vennela Kishore as Balu, Pani's assistant
- Rahul Ravindran as Gopal Reddy, Vasundhara's adopted son and Ramana's step-brother
- P. Ravi Shankar as Kata Madhu, Venkata Swamy's rival, opposition leader
- Brahmaji as SP
- Madhusudhan Rao as Fake Hari Das
- Ajay Ghosh as Hari Das
- Ajay as Gelatin Babji, blind contract killer
- Raghu Babu as Bujji's husband and Raji's father; Ramana's uncle
- Mahesh Achanta as Lenin's son and Marx's nephew
- Pammi Sai as Yakob
- Poorna in a special appearance in the song "Kurchi Madathapetti"
