Yogi (2007 film)

Yogi
Yogi
	Film poster
Directed by	V. V. Vinayak
Written by	Rajendra Kumar (dialogues)
Story by	Prem
Based on	Jogi
Produced by	P. Ravindranath Reddy
Starring	Prabhas; Nayanthara; Sharada; Kota Srinivasa Rao; Pradeep Rawat; Ali
Cinematography	Sameer Reddy
Edited by	Gautham Raju
Music by	Songs:; Ramana Gogula; Score:; Gurukiran
Release date	14 January 2007;
Running time	155 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu
Box office	₹48 crore

Yogi is a 2007 Indian Telugu-language action drama film directed by V. V. Vinayak, starring Prabhas, Nayanthara and Sharada. It also features Ali, Subbaraju, Pradeep Rawat and Kota Srinivasa Rao in the supporting roles. Ramana Gogula composed the music for V. V. Vinayak's earlier hit Lakshmi, also composed music for this film. Songs were shot in Canada, Egypt, and Malaysia. This film is a remake of the 2005 Kannada blockbuster film Jogi by Prem. The film was released on 12 January 2007.^[2]

Plot

Eeswar Chandra Prasad is the son of Ram Murthy and Shantamma. Murthy wants his son to do some job. However, Shantamma pampers Eeswar very much, so he doesn't want to leave the village. Murthy dies, and to fulfil his last wish, Eeswar goes to the city to earn money on the advice of his friend Basha, who was a pickpocket. Eeswar could not meet Basha.

On the other hand, Kotayya runs a big land mafia in Hyderabad and is a bitter rival of Narsing Pahilwan. Saidulu is Narsing's brother. Once, Saidulu hacks Kotayya and his assistant, when Eeswar accidentally saves him. Eeswar gets a job in a tea stall run by Chandranna. He earns money, purchases two gold bangles for his mother, and plans to leave the city. At this juncture, Narsing humiliates Eeswar for saving Kotayya and stamps his mother's gold bangles. Irked over this, Eeswar kills Narsing and turns the biggest goon of the city. Meanwhile, Shantamma reaches Hyderabad as Eeswar killed Narsing. Kotayya wants Eeswar to join him but to no avail. Chandranna encourages Eeswar, who is now Yogi, to stay back in the city to save the poor, who get harassed by the goons. Yogi remains a terror for the goons. So, Kotayya and Saidulu join hands and hatch a plan to kill Yogi. While trying to carry it out, Yogi kills Saidulu. Nandini is also after Yogi for an interview to complete her practicals. Somehow, she falls in love with him. Though Yogi and Shantamma live in the same city, they cannot meet each other. One day, Yogi meets Basha, who reveals he saw Shantamma.

Though Basha and Santamma go to the address, they cannot find Eeswar because he is known as Yogi to the people. Shantamma waits for her son in front of a temple, as Basha tells her that Yogi is in the habit of visiting the temple every Monday. But Eeswar did not turn up on Monday, fearing an attack by Saidulu's people. Shantamma dies in front of the temple, and Basha arranges the funeral for her. At this time, Yogi comes but fails to have a look at the covered face and helps the orphan body lifters with money for cremation. He puts flowers on his mother's body, though he is unaware that the body is his mother's until it is moved to the fire cabin. Basha finally arrives and explains the trauma, but it is too late. Yogi realizes the truth only after Nandini shows the belongings of his mother, who came to see him. The film ends with this emotional scene.

Cast

Prabhas as Eeswar Chandra Prasad alias Yogi
Nayanthara as Nandini, Yogi's love interest
Sharada as Santhamma, Yogi's mother
Kota Srinivasa Rao as Kotayya, the main villain
Pradeep Rawat as Narsing Pahilwan, Kotayya's opposition (guest appearance)
Subbaraju as Saidulu, Narsing's brother
Ali as Basha, Yogi's friend
Chalapathi Rao as Ram Moorthi, Yogi's father
Chandra Mohan as Chandranna, Yogi's supporter
Fish Venkat as Yogi's henchman
Devaraj
Rajan P. Dev
Venu Madhav
M. S. Narayana
Bandla Ganesh
Raghu Karumanchi
Prabhas Sreenu
Uttej as Drunkard
Shankar Melkote as Journalism Professor
Sunil as Ramu (Cameo appearance)
Mumaith Khan in item number "Orori Yogi"

Production

The film's title was speculated to be Basava.^[3]

Music

Yogi (Telugu Version)

The music of the film was launched on 15 December 2006.^[4] The film has six songs composed by Ramana Gogula:

"Dolu Baja" - Shankar Mahadevan
"Orori Yogi" - Karthik & Bangalore Sunitha
"Ye Nomu Nochindo" - Suresh
"Gilli Gichi" - Rajesh Krishnan & Ganga
"Nee Illu Bangaram" - Tippu & Sunitha
"Gana Gana Gana" - Adnan Sami & Sudha

Yogi (Malayalam Version)

"Kuvalathil Malatharam" - Madhu Balakrishnan
"Kalakalakala" - Jassie Gift, Sheela Mani
"Poramo Yogi" - Vidhu Prathap, Jyotsna Radhakrishnan
"Eda Kothiyaa" - Afsal, Manjari
"Sivapoojakal" - Biju Narayanan
"Neeyallo" - Vidhu Prathap, Preetha

Reception

The film opened to mixed reviews. A critic from Rediff.com wrote that "When the director says, 'the feel never ends,' he was probably right. This is a ridiculously sentimental flick not worth wasting money at all".^[5]

Box office

Yogi managed to gross ₹25 Crore in its distributor‘s share.^[6] But, film was commercially successful at box office and proved to be money spinner especially b and c centre it ran well 50 days in 111 centres and 100 days in 90 centres .^[2] The film was later dubbed in Hindi and Malayalam under the same title and in Tamil as Murattu Thambi.