Pelli Choopulu
2016 Indian film by Tharun Bhascker
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Pelli Choopulu (transl. Matchmaking) is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Tharun Bhascker and produced by Raj Kandukuri and Yash Rangineni. It features Vijay Deverakonda and Ritu Varma in the lead roles. Partly based on a real-life incident of "Spitfire BBQ" food truck,[6] the film revolves around a boy and a girl who meet during match-making. How their aspirations bring them together forms the rest of the story.
- Raj Kandukuri
- Yash Rangineni[1]
| Pelli Choopulu | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Tharun Bhascker |
| Written by | Tharun Bhascker |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Nagesh Banell |
| Edited by | Ravi Teja Girijala |
| Music by | Vivek Sagar |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Budget | ₹60 lakh–₹1.2 crore[2][3][4] |
| Box office | est. ₹30 crore[5] |
The film was released worldwide on 29 July 2016 to positive reviews from critics and became a commercial blockbuster.[7][8] The film provided breakthrough for the film's cast and crew. It is considered one of the "25 Greatest Telugu Films Of The Decade" by Film Companion.[9]
The film won two National Film Awards–Best Telugu Film and Best Screenplay, two Andhra Pradesh State Nandi Awards–Best Feature Film and Best Actress, Telangana State Gaddar Film Awards for Second Best Feature Film, and two Filmfare Awards South including Best Telugu Film.[10][11] The film was remade in Hindi as Mitron (2018), in Malayalam as Vijay Superum Pournamiyum (2019) and in Tamil as Oh Manapenne! (2021).[12]
Plot
Prasanth, an unmotivated engineering graduate who took five years to clear his backlogs, arrives at Chitra's house for an arranged matchmaking meeting. Despite his laziness, Prasanth harbors a secret dream of becoming a chef and opening his own restaurant, a passion his traditional father completely refuses to support. Chitra, by contrast, is an ambitious and highly focused woman working toward her dream of moving to Australia, though her father ignores her aspirations due to regressive gender biases. During their introductory meeting, Chitra's young cousin accidentally locks the bedroom door from the outside. Because the door frequently jams, the two are left trapped inside. To pass the time while waiting for a locksmith, they begin discussing their past lives.
Chitra reveals that she was previously in love with a North Indian man named Vikram, with whom she planned to launch a food truck venture. While Vikram traveled to Delhi to secure his family's approval for their relationship and business, an enthusiastic Chitra bought the truck to surprise him. However, Vikram never returned, succumbing to his family's demands for a lucrative dowry elsewhere. Realizing they were abandoned, Chitra's humiliated father decided to hastily arrange her marriage to any available suitor.
Prasanth then shares his own background, explaining how he spent his post-college years unemployed, hanging out with two equally aimless friends. Seeking an easy path to success, they initially produced online cooking videos to showcase Prasanth's genuine culinary talents. When the channel proved unprofitable, they pivoted to making public prank videos, which abruptly ended when Prasanth's father caught them red-handed. Forced into a call center job through his father's connections, Prasanth began dating a woman simply to boast to his friends. The relationship imploded when her secondary boyfriend called him at his desk, prompting Prasanth to pick a fight with his boss and quit on the spot.
Following their lengthy conversation, the door is finally opened, leading to the sudden realization that Prasanth had accidentally entered the wrong house number and missed his actual appointment. Prasanth departs for his correct matchmaking date with a wealthy family, while Chitra formally rejects her intended suitor, stating she has no interest in domestic life. However, because the family of Prasanth's wealthy prospective bride demands he demonstrate business acumen before marriage, Prasanth approaches Chitra with a proposal. They agree to partner up and operate Chitra's idle food truck, utilizing Prasanth as the head chef and Chitra as the business manager. The joint venture faces immediate friction due to the sheer laziness of Prasanth and his friends, culminating in a major argument that temporarily halts the business.
Determined to set things right, Prasanth visits Chitra's father, advising him to take pride in his independent daughter and asserting that anyone would be fortunate to have a child like her. Touched by his sincerity, Chitra retaliates by visiting Prasanth's father. By preparing one of Prasanth's signature recipes, she successfully demonstrates his immense culinary talent to his critical family. Reinvigorated by the newly earned support of both their households, the duo relaunches the food truck, which quickly becomes a massive commercial success.
Through their shared triumphs, Prasanth and Chitra gradually fall in love, though neither openly acknowledges it due to their respective upcoming arranged marriages to other people. As the weddings approach, the two emotionally drift apart in silence. Realizing the depth of their feelings at the final hour, their mutual friends intervene, organizing a public confession on a popular live radio show. Backed by the blessings of their fully reformed families, Prasanth and Chitra happily call off their weddings and permanently unite as romantic and business partners.
Cast
- Vijay Deverakonda as Prashanth
- Ritu Varma as Chitra
- Priyadarshi Pulikonda as Kaushik
- Abhay Bethiganti as Vishnu
- Nandu as Vikram
- Anish Kuruvilla as Businessman
- Kedar Shankar as Prashanth's father
- Khenisha Chandran as Richa
- Yogi Khathri as Event Manager
- Padmaja Lanka as Satya, Prashanth's mother
- Gururaj Manepalli as Chitra's father
- Sujata Gosukonda as Chitra's mother
- Anisha Alla as Prashanth's ex-girlfriend
- Keshav Deepak as Prashanth's Boss
Production
Development
After making numerous short films, Tharun Bhascker made his directorial debut with this film.[2] According to Tharun, Pelli Choopulu "is a very urban comedy set in a middle class in Hyderabad. It shows the contrast between the old and young generations and the comedy of errors that can happen within the space."[13] Tharun had this basic idea of two contrasting personalities meeting for match-making, both getting stuck in a room is a metaphor for dating while food truck is a metaphor for live-in relationship.[2]
Casting
Ritu Verma who earlier worked in Tharun's Anukokunda was selected as lead actress while Vijay Deverakonda, who portrayed a supporting role in Yevade Subramanyam (2015), made his debut as lead actor with this film.[14] Vijay agreed to do this role as he found it "realistically very lazy" and "so close to my heart because young attitude, irresponsible behaviour was a part of my personal life".[15]
Filming
Tharun shot the entire film in sync sound as he feels it offers freedom for artists to improvise their dialogues. The sync sound equipment, from Mumbai, that was used for Gangs of Wasseypur was used for this film.[13] The filming was completed within 35 days.[15]
Distribution and Box-office
The film's budget was ₹60 lakh to 1.2 crore.[2][3][4] The producer had spent another ₹60 lakh on its promotion. D. Suresh Babu acquired the theatrical rights for an amount of ₹1.50 crore and released it under his banner Suresh Productions across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.[3]
The film collected over ₹5 crore gross at the AP/TG box office in its opening week. In five weeks, the film has grossed over ₹30 crore.[5] The film's theatrical rights in the US had been bought for $200,000 and it went on to gross over $1.22 million, making it the biggest overseas hit in terms of return on investment.[5][16][17]
Gemini TV had acquired its satellite rights for an amount of ₹2.35 crore.[3]
Themes and influences
Tharun followed character arcs from Knocked Up (directed by Judd Apatow). For the food truck business thread, Tharun revealed he drew inspirations from films like 100 foot journey and Chef.[2]
Soundtrack
| Pelli Choopulu | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album to Pelli Choopulu by Vivek Sagar | ||||
| Released | 29 July 2016 | |||
| Recorded | 2016 | |||
| Studio | Tapeloop | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 19:18 | |||
| Language | Telugu | |||
| Label | Madhura Audio | |||
| Producer | Vivek Sagar | |||
| Vivek Sagar chronology | ||||
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This film has six songs composed by Vivek Sagar and lyrics are written by Rahul Ramakrishna, Shreshta, Shri, & Nikhil Bharadwaj. Music released on Madhura Audio.
Vivek Sagar earlier composed music for Tharun Bhascker's short film Sainma, he revealed that the film's music was conceived only after the film was shot.[18] "With no lip sync songs, the music blended in with the narrative", he said.[19]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ee Babu Gariki" | Rahul Ramakrishna | Sooraj Santhosh | 3:10 |
| 2. | "Chinuku Taake" | Shreshta | Amritavarshini KC | 4:38 |
| 3. | "Raalu Raaga Poolamala" | Rahul Ramakrishna, Shri | Shri, Wilson Herald | 3:23 |
| 4. | "Merise Merise" | Shreshta | Haricharan, Pranavi Acharya | 5.04 |
| 5. | "Aanandamayenu" | Instrumental | Tejas Mallela (violin), Ranjani Sivakumar (singer) | 1:41 |
| 6. | "Spitfire Friends" | Nikhil Bharadwaj | Nikhil Bharadwaj | 3:22 |
| Total length: | 19:18 | |||
Accolades
Remakes
Pelli Choopulu was remade in Hindi as Mitron (2018),[29] in Malayalam as Vijay Superum Pournamiyum (2019),[30] and in Tamil as Oh Manapenne! (2021).[31] A Kannada remake Shaadi Bhagya with Gurunandan and Shraddha Srinath in the lead was being planned as of 2017.[32]