S/O Satyamurthy is a 2015 Indian Telugu language action comedy film written and directed by Trivikram Srinivas and produced by S. Radha Krishna under Haarika & Haasine Creations. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Allu Arjun, Upendra, Samantha, Prakash Raj, Nithya Menen, Sneha, and Adah Sharma while Rajendra Prasad, Sampath Raj, Rao Ramesh, Vennela Kishore, Ali, and Brahmanandam play supporting role.
The film revolves around three characters; the first follows his heart, the second uses his brain and the third uses his brawn. The first is Viraj Anand, the son of a businessman named Satyamurthy, who gives away his assets to creditors after his father's death. A creditor still owed money is Paida Sambasiva Rao (the second of the three), whose daughter Sameera falls in love with Anand. Sambasiva Rao informs Anand that he has to produce documentation of land sold by Satyamurthy to a landlord, Devaraj Naidu (the third of the three) to marry Sameera. The rest of the film focuses on the consequences faced by Anand and Sambasiva Rao's change in viewpoint toward Satyamurthy.
In addition to directing the film, Srinivas wrote its screenplay. Initially planned as a multilingual film shot in Telugu, Malayalam, and Tamil the producers filmed in Telugu and dubbed it into Malayalam with the same title. Devi Sri Prasad composed the score and Chota K Naidu was its cinematographer. Production began on 10 April 2014 at Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad. Principal photography began on 22 September 2014 in Hyderabad, lasting until mid-March 2015. Except for three songs filmed in Europe, the rest of the film was shot in and around Hyderabad.
The Telugu version was released worldwide on 1375 screens on 9 April 2015, and the Malayalam version was released on 24 April 2015. On a budget, S/O Satyamurthy earned a distributor share of and grossed . The film was an above-average grosser based on the return on the distributors' investment of . With this film, Allu Arjun became the first Telugu actor with two consecutive films earning more than 50 crore share worldwide.
Plot Viraj Anand is the son of Sathyamurthy, a deeply principled businessman who dies in a sudden road accident. Anand inherits assets worth ₹300 crores, but also learns that his father left behind an equivalent amount of debts. Paida Sambasiva Rao, one of Sathyamurthy's friends, advises Anand to file for corporate bankruptcy to safeguard his personal wealth. Guided by a commitment to preserve his father's reputation, Anand refuses and surrenders all family assets to clear the liabilities. The sudden reversal of fortune causes Anand's elder brother to mentally breakdown, while his fiancee, Pallavi, breaks off their engagement. Becoming the sole breadwinner, Anand takes a job as a wedding planner at an event management company run by his friend Bhadram, accompanied by his loyal assistant Param.
Anand is assigned to coordinate a destination wedding in Ooty, which turns out to be Pallavi's. There, he meets her friend Sameera, and the two eventually fall in love. During the celebrations, Anand foils a plot by Pallavi's uncle to ruin the wedding and helps her family reconcile. In gratitude, Pallavi’s father pays Anand double his fee, temporarily easing his financial strain.
Sameera is revealed to be the daughter of Sambasiva Rao, who adamantly opposes her relationship with Anand. Sambasiva Rao accuses Satyamurthy of defrauding him by selling an 8,000-square-foot property that was illegally seized by a feared land mafia lord, Devaraj Naidu. Furious at the allegation, Anand challenges Sambasiva Rao, promising to deliver the original land deeds within four weeks; in return, Sambasiva Rao must publicly apologize and consent to his wedding with Sameera.
Bhadram devises a scheme to swap the original land deeds with counterfeits using the help of Devaraj's relative. However, Anand and Param mistakenly enter Devaraj's mansion, where they reveal their intentions directly to Devaraj. Before Devaraj can execute them, his wife Lakshmi, who is unaware of his violent nature, intervenes. Forced to spare their lives, he instead commands his henchmen to kidnap Sambasiva Rao's family and bring them to his mansion.
The following day, Anand rescues Devaraj from an assassination attempt by the brother of his rival, Veeraswamy Naidu. Grateful, Devaraj agrees to return the land deeds on the condition that Anand marry his sister, Valli, much to Sambasiva Rao's delight. However, Valli secretly loves Lakshmi's brother, Vinay, and threatens Anand to cancel their impending marriage. To derail the wedding, Anand manipulates Devaraj's brother-in-law Koda Rambabu, who mistakes Param for the groom, into making a deal with Veeraswamy to let assassins enter their mansion. Anand intends for the disruption to allow Vinay and Valli to escape. However, Veeraswamy's men mistake Vinay for the groom and attack him, prompting Devaraj and Anand to defend him. When one of the attackers exposes Koda Rambabu's betrayal, Devaraj moves to kill him, but Anand steps in and confesses to masterminding the ploy to stop the forced marriage.
Enraged, Devaraj attacks Anand but halts after Anand's mother arrives at the venue, revealing that Sathyamurthy died while rescuing Valli from a fatal crash orchestrated by Veeraswamy. Even on his deathbed, Sathyamurthy had attempted to resolve Sambasiva Rao's land paperwork, dying before he could complete it. Overcome with remorse, Sambasiva Rao realizes the depth of Sathyamurthy's integrity. Devaraj willingly surrenders the land documents to Anand, who hands them over to Sambasiva Rao seconds before his four-week deadline expires. Sambasiva Rao apologizes for his prejudice, and Sameera reunites with Anand. Meanwhile, Veerasamy dies in a road accident caused by a warning sign Anand had erected earlier, and Koda Rambabu is forgiven.
As Anand and Sambasiva Rao travel home with their families, Pallavi's father intercepts them with news that the market value of Anand's previously liquidated stock has surged, recovering a substantial portion of his father's lost fortune. An emotional Anand expresses his gratitude to his late father at the site where he died. Reclaiming their ancestral home, Anand and his family rebuild their lives as Sambasiva Rao begins preparations for Anand and Sameera's wedding.
Cast
Allu Arjun as Viraj Anand Upendra as Devaraj Naidu (voice dubbed by P. Ravi Shankar) Samantha as Sameera/Subbalakshmi, Viraj’s love interest & Paida Sambasiva Rao’s daughter Nithya Menen as Valli, Devaraj's sister Sneha as Lakshmi, Devaraj's wife Adah Sharma as Kolasani Pallavi, Anand's former fiancée Prakash Raj as Satyamoorthy, Anand’s father (extended cameo appearance) Rajendra Prasad as Paida Sambhashiva Rao, Sameera's father Pavithra Lokesh as Sharada, Anand's mother Rao Ramesh as Pallavi's father Kota Srinivasa Rao as Devaraj's father Sindhu Tolani as Anand's sister-in-law Vennela Kishore as Anand's brother Ali as Paramdhamaiah a.k.a. Param Brahmanandam as Koda Rambabu, Devaraj's brother-in-law M. S. Narayana as Pallavi's uncle Sampath Raj as Veeraswamy Naidu, Devaraj's arch-rival Baby Vernika as Sweety, Anand's niece Mamilla Shailaja Priya as Sameera's mother Vamsi Krishna as Yogeshwar, Pallavi's husband Chaitanya Krishna as Vinay, Valli's love interest Ravi Prakash as Kumaraswamy Naidu, Veeraswamy's brother Sree Vishnu as Bhadram, Anand's friend Rajitha as Devaraj's elder sister and Koda Rammohan's wife Prabhu as Devaraj's brother-in-law Giridhar as Sameera's friend Surekha Vani as Sweety's school principal Jeeva as Lawyer Madhunandan as Company Manager Ananth Babu as Yogeshwar's uncle Gautam Raju as Police officer Satya as Thief Prabhas Sreenu as Goon Amit Tiwari as Pallavi's brother Jani Master (cameo)
Production Development Trivikram Srinivas planned to direct Allu Arjun in a film produced by S. Radha Krishna under Haarika & Haasine Creations (who produced their 2012 collaboration Julai), since Srinivas had committed to another film with them. Allu Aravind was later rumoured to co-produce of the film as Geetha Arts. The film's pooja ceremony was held at Radha Krishna's office in early December 2013, and filming was expected to begin in February 2014. Rumors that the film was shelved were denied by a film-unit source, who said that Srinivas' screenplay was nearly complete. Devi Sri Prasad was chosen to compose the score and Prawin Pudi was signed as the film editor, marking Pudi's fifth collaboration with Srinivas.
The film was officially launched at Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad on 10 April 2014. In June, the film's title was rumoured to be Kavacham. After considerable discussion, the producers reportedly tentatively planned to name the film Trisulam (also the title of a 1982 Telugu film starring Krishnam Raju and Sridevi). Agreements between the principals of both films were reportedly signed in early November 2014. Radhakrishna denied the reports, saying that the film's title would be announced in early December 2014 with its preview. Trivikram reportedly considered the title Hushaaru in mid-January 2015. Another title under consideration was Jaadugar, earlier used for a 1989 Hindi film starring Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Prada.
The producers reportedly dropped the first two titles after poor feedback, and Jaadugar was expected to be chosen; S/O Krishnamurthy was also considered. S/O Satyamurthy (read as Son of Satyamurthy) was confirmed as the film's title on 6 March 2015 in a press release from the producers. The film was initially planned for simultaneous release in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. A dubbed Kannada version, along with Tamil and Malayalam, later was planned because of Upendra and Allu Arjun's popularity in Karnataka.
Although the dubbed Malayalam version was also entitled S/O Satyamurthy, the dubbed Tamil and Kannada versions were scrapped for fiscal reasons and it was released in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka with English subtitles. Arjun began dubbing his role in early January, and post-production was scheduled to resume in late February. The actor resumed dubbing on 7 March, after returning from Spain.
Casting
Allu Arjun was part of the project since its initial stages in early November 2013. Samantha Ruth Prabhu was cast as one of the film's heroines, her first collaboration with Arjun. S/O Satyamurthy has three female leads; although Arjun initially denied this, Srinivas confirmed that the film has three heroines. Kriti Sanon was rumoured to be one of the three female leads, although she later denied it. Adah Sharma and Pranitha Subhash were cast as the other two female leads, after Regina Cassandra, Nayantara and Rashi Khanna were considered for Subhash's role. Subhash was later replaced by Nithya Menen because of conceptual differences with Srinivas, although she later said that she never signed for the film and reports that she had walked out were rumours.
Rao Ramesh was cast in a crucial role. Although Arjun Sarja was reported to be the film's antagonist in mid-August 2014, Sarja later confirmed that he was not part of the project due to other commitments. Sneha confirmed in mid-September 2014 that she had an important role in the film. Upendra and Rajendra Prasad were said to play important roles in the film, and Upendra later confirmed his inclusion. Vennela Kishore and Surekha Vani were selected to play supporting roles. Kota Srinivasa Rao was cast at the end of November 2014, and Mamilla Shailaja Priya was cast in a supporting role.
Supporting character actor M. S. Narayana died after most of his portions in the film was completed. Although Srinivas decided not to delete any of his scenes, he faced a dilemma: whether to use a double or make do with what he had filmed. After evaluating many mimics, Srinivas and Arjun reportedly decided to use Siva Reddy to dub for Narayana's role. Sampath Raj was cast in early February 2015.
Characters