Temper is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language action drama film co-written and directed by Puri Jagannadh and story by Vakkantham Vamsi, starring N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Kajal Aggarwal, Prakash Raj, and Posani Krishna Murali. The film was produced by Bandla Ganesh under the Parameswara Art Productions banner. Anup Rubens composed the soundtrack, while Mani Sharma composed the score. Shyam K. Naidu and S. R. Sekhar handled the film's cinematography and editing, respectively.
The film follows a corrupt sub-inspector, Daya, who undergoes a moral transformation after a series of events involving a local don and a brutal rape case. Initially driven by greed, Daya's redemption begins when he encounters Lakshmi, a woman seeking justice for her murdered sister. Haunted by his past negligence, Daya resolves to bring the culprits to justice, even at the cost of his own life.
The film was made on a budget of 35 crore. Production began on 1 August 2014 at Hyderabad and principal photography commenced the next day. After being halted twice because of the Film Federation employees' strike, the film's shoot was completed by 31 January 2015, with the film being primarily shot in and around Hyderabad and Goa.
The film was released worldwide on 13 February 2015 to positive reviews from critics and audiences, who praised Puri Jagannadh's direction, the characterisation of Daya, and NTR's, Posani Krishna Murali's, and Prakash Raj's performances, with the former's considered as one of his best. The film was a successful and marked a major comeback for N. T. Rama Rao Jr. after two consecutive box office failures. It grossed ₹74.3 crore, with a lifetime share of ₹43.1 crore. The film was later remade in Hindi as Simmba (2018) and in Tamil as Ayogya (2019). The film holds the record for the highest TRP (Television Rating Point) for a Telugu film premiere, clocking a staggering 29.9 rating.
Plot
Daya, an orphan, developed a preconceived idea during his childhood that a cop's life would be buoyant and easy, having seen the police often taking bribes, and harbors an aspiration to become one. He grows to be a corrupt Sub-Inspector and gets transferred to Vishakapatnam, where he quickly is in cahoots with local don Waltair Vasu and begins to earn quick bucks. He earns hatred from Narayana Murthy, an honest constable under him, when Daya releases Vasu's four younger brothers Ravi, Mani, Vamsi, and Sundeep from prison, where they were apprehended for smuggling on Gandhi Jayanti. Elsewhere, he begins to woo Saanvi, a Blue Cross member who reciprocates his feelings.
Vasu's henchmen abduct Saanvi on her birthday, mistaking her for the girl they were actually supposed to kidnap and later kill. Daya fights them off to rescue her, and Vasu clears the confusion with his arrival and lets go of Daya and Saanvi after apologizing to them. As her birthday gift, Saanvi pleads with Daya to save the actual target. Daya obliges, saving the girl, Lakshmi, much to Vasu's chagrin. Daya later reconciles with Vasu, who agrees to relinquish his plans of murdering Lakshmi if Daya manages to retrieve a piece of evidence she holds against a crime of his brothers.
Daya talks with Lakshmi to learn that her younger sister Deepthi was brutally raped and killed after being subjected to torture for 40 days by Vasu's brothers (who kidnapped Deepthi on the same day Daya had released them unlawfully), who filmed everything and stored the footage in a CD, which Lakshmi managed to discover. Lakshmi entrusts Daya with the disc, requesting him to get the culprits to justice, while Daya (under the pretext of Lakshmi and her mother's safety) arranges for her and her mother to leave for USA, where Lakshmi had a job before Deepthi 's murder.
Daya learns that Lakshmi's mother was the one who approached him to file a missing person complaint of Deepthi days after the kidnapping, but he convinced her that she had eloped, in his ignorance and carelessness, rather than investigating, before being privy to the crime. Deepthi's mother hopes for her "eloped" daughter to return, and is still unaware of the atrocities that Deepthi was subjected to, as Lakshmi chose to hide it for the sake of her mother's stability. Daya drops Lakshmi and her mother at the airport, where the former's conversation with him brings a change in Daya, who holds himself responsible for Deepthi's murder as the crime had only occurred due to his corrupt actions.
Vasu's henchmen arrive at the station to retrieve the disc from Daya, who is told by Murthy of the humanity and compassion still in him. Daya fights off the henchmen and decides to get the brothers punished. Daya recognizes Saanvi as the reason for his reformation and reveals his previous actions to her, but she chooses to forgive him as he has become a changed person.
Meanwhile, Deepthi's corpse is discovered, discarded on a beach. The brutality of the crime stuns the nation, and even the doctors who performed the autopsy on her. In court, Daya's lawyer produces the disc as evidence against the brothers, but it had been tampered with, making the sole proof of the brothers' criminality in the murder invalid. Daya deduces that his lawyer was working with Vasu to obstruct the case and regrets not making copies of it. Lakshmi's mother, who is in the US, suffers from a heart stroke after learning of Deepthi's death.
Daya decides that he will bring the brothers to justice by any means possible. The next day in court, he states that he has also assaulted Deepthi along with the four brothers and was an accomplice to the crime, to make sure that the brothers do not escape the death sentence, even at the cost of his life. The statement shocks everyone, including Saanvi and Murthy, with both of them refusing to believe his declaration. The judge gives a death sentence to Daya and the brothers.
Lakshmi, learning of Daya's stance, contacts Murthy to reveal that she had an extra copy of the murder footage with her all along for caution, and shares it with the media, proving Daya's innocence. As a result, Daya's death penalty is cancelled, while the brothers initiate a brawl with the police minutes before their hanging. In the fight, Daya kills three of them, while the fourth commits suicide at the spot where he was supposed to be hanged to death, fearing Daya's wrath. Daya is released from prison and reinstated into the police service, and reconciles with Saanvi and Murthy.
Cast
N. T. Rama Rao Jr. as SI Daya Kajal Aggarwal as Saanvi Prakash Raj as Waltair Vasu Posani Krishna Murali as Head Constable Narayana Murthy Nyra Banerjee as Lakshmi Apoorva Srinivasan as Deepthi Subbaraju as Ravi Amit Tiwari as Mani Kota Srinivasa Rao as Judge Ali as a Chain snatcher Rao Ramesh as Mavayya, Daya's uncle Sapthagiri as a Chain snatcher #2 Tanikella Bharani as Venkat Rao Sonia Agarwal as Doctor Pavitra Lokesh as Lakshmi's mother Kovai Sarala as Shanvi's mother Rama Prabha as Shanvi's grandmother Jaya Prakash Reddy as Home Minister Vennela Kishore as Vennela Kishore Narsing Yadav as Police Officer Mukhtar Khan as Police Officer Raghu Babu as Jaani Bhai Junaid Sheikh as Shiva Raghu Karumanchi as Madhav Vamsi as Vamsi Nora Fatehi in a special appearance in the song "Ittage Rechchipodam"
Production Development B. V. S. N. Prasad was expected to produce this film under the Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra banner. He went to Bangkok at the end of March 2014 to write the story of this project.
Jagannadh chose to direct the script written by Vamsi in mid-May 2014 which marked the former's first film whose story was not written by him. The script work was in progress by late May 2014 and the film was declared a cop drama.
In late June 2014, Devi Sri Prasad was selected as the music director of the film while the cast and crew were being finalised. Shyam K. Naidu was named as cinematographer, S. R. Sekhar was named as editor, Brahma Kadali was named as art director while FEFSI Vijayan was recruited to compose the fights.
The titles Temper, and Nenorakam with the tagline "Totally Corrupted" were initially considered by the makers. The film was rumoured to be facing financial troubles in December 2014.
Casting
Kajal Aggarwal was selected as the heroine of this film in early June 2013, pairing with Rama Rao after two successful films Brindavanam (2010) and Baadshah (2013), whose inclusion was confirmed by Jagannadh in a statement to the media after few days. Ajaz Khan was signed as the antagonist of the film in July 2014. On the day of launch, it was confirmed that Prakash Raj, Madhuurima, Ali, Kota Srinivasa Rao, and Posani Krishna Murali would play important roles along with Tanikella Bharani, Subbaraju, Vennela Kishore, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Sapthagiri, Ramaprabha, Pavitra Lokesh, and Kovai Sarala.
Aggarwal had shortage of bulk dates to accommodate, and it was rumored that Tamannaah or a new actress would replace her. Ganesh denied the rumors and confirmed Aggarwal's inclusion. Though initially planned to shoot simultaneously for a film by Sudhir Mishra, Aggarwal opted to continue with this film due to certain problems with Mishra's script. S. Sreesanth and Zarine Khan were speculated to be a part of the film's cast when they visited Jagannath's Cave, but there was no official confirmation then. Naveena was reported to be considered for a small role. Jagannadh immediately selected Nora Fatehi for an item number after her intense training to prepare for her role as a commando in the film Roar: Tigers of the Sundarbans (2014).
R. Narayana Murthy was approached for a special character in the film opposite Rama Rao. Murthy liked the role but declined it as he did not want to move to mainstream cinema and was content making left-oriented films. Sonia Agarwal was signed on to play a significant role in the film. Apoorva Srinivasan was cast for a small yet crucial supporting role marking her debut in Telugu cinema. Junaid Sheikh was selected to play a negative role.
Characters and looks Rama Rao was reported to be seen as a tough and eccentric police officer in this film. Regarding her character in the film, Madhuurima said that she plays a crucial role which is the turning point in the film. She later added that her role is a small one that changes the course of the protagonist's character graph. Aggarwal was confirmed to play the role of an animal lover in this film. For his role, Rama Rao hired a new trainer who specializes in improving muscle tone and a shed few kilograms, relying on a high-protein diet and workout routine to build a hefty body. He also sported a crew cut.
However, the makers tried to find out who leaked it online as they wanted the pictures to be released to create a buzz before the film's launch.
Rama Rao underwent a drastic physical transformation from head to toe in hairdo, costumes, body and attitude for this role. His stylist Ashwin Mawle shopped for the costumes and accessories from designer stores in Hong Kong and London. Regarding the styling, Ashwin further revealed, "For the hair, we tried getting a few variations of spikes — straight, cross and messy. He (Rama Rao) keeps a tab on the latest trends. He took a lot of references from latest runway looks and zeroed in on an earthy color palette: brown, burgundy and grey. Thick jackets make him look bulkier, so he has gone for slim fit shirts and jackets made of linen" in an interview with Sasidhar AS of The Times of India. He added that Rama Rao trimmed his mustache for sporting a rugged look.
Madhuurima said in an interview to Suresh Kavirayani of Deccan Chronicle that she participated in few action sequences with Rama Rao in the film and added that she has no songs with him. For a particular scene where he had to walk with bare chest, Rama Rao skipped drinking a glass of water for 18 hours continuously.
Filming