Rangasthalam () is a 2018 Indian Telugu-language period action drama film written and directed by Sukumar. Produced by Y. Naveen, Y. Ravi Shankar and C. V. Mohan for the company Mythri Movie Makers, the film stars Ram Charan and Samantha with, Jagapathi Babu, Naresh, Prakash Raj, Aadhi Pinisetty, and Anasuya Bharadwaj in key supporting roles. Rangasthalam is set in the eponymous fictional village in the 1980s. It narrates the story of two brothers, Chittibabu (Charan) and Kumar Babu (Pinisetty) who oppose the village's local government and the corrupt co-operative society led by its president Phanindra Bhupathi (Babu).
Sukumar started working on the film's script after completing Nannaku Prematho (2016), and collaborated with R. Rathnavelu, who served as the director of photography. Devi Sri Prasad composed the film's soundtrack and score; Naveen Nooli edited the film. One of the first few Indian films to be entirely shot using Red Helium 8K cameras, Rangasthalam principal photography began in April 2017 with the working title RC11 and lasted until March 2018. Majorly filmed in a village set worth crore erected in Hyderabad, ten percent of the film's footage was shot in and around Rajamahendravaram.
The film was made on a budget of crore, and was released globally on 30 March 2018. Rangasthalam received positive reviews from the critics who were particularly appreciative of Sukumar's writing and the performances of the ensemble cast, especially of Ram Charan and Jagapathi Babu although they criticized the length. The film was commercially successful, grossing a total of crore, and became Ram Charan's highest grossing film until RRR(2022). It is among the highest-grossing Telugu films. It also won the National Film Award for Best Audiography. A Kannada-dubbed version of the film titled Rangasthala was released on 12 July 2019. The film is considered one of the "25 Greatest Telugu Films Of The Decade" by Film Companion. It also won the state Gaddar Award for Second Best Feature Film.
Plot Set in the 1980s in the village of Rangasthalam, the story follows Chittibabu, a partially deaf, resilient, and somewhat cantankerous villager who earns a living irrigating fields with a diesel motor. The village is dominated by the powerful Panchayat President, Phanindra Bhupathi, whose cooperative "Society" exploits the local populace through predatory interest rates and property seizures. The systemic oppression drives a villager, Erra Srinu, to suicide, setting a grim tone for the village's political climate.
Chittibabu’s life is disrupted when his elder brother, Kumar Babu, returns from working in the Persian Gulf. Witnessing the rampant corruption and the exploitation of illiterate farmers by Bhupathi, Kumar Babu resolves to challenge the status quo. During this time, Chittibabu navigates his own romantic life, pursuing a relationship with a local woman named Ramalakshmi. Despite initial misunderstandings caused by his hearing impairment, the two eventually reconcile and develop a deep bond.
Kumar Babu decides to contest the Panchayat elections, aiming to dismantle Bhupathi’s thirty-year unopposed grip on the village. He gains the support of the villagers by exposing the Society's fraudulent practices and encouraging them to seek political representation. As the campaign intensifies, Chittibabu learns from a villager named Rangamma that Bhupathi is responsible for the systematic murders of those who dared to oppose him, including Rangamma's own husband. Though briefly tempted by Bhupathi's bribes to sabotage his brother, Chittibabu ultimately remains loyal to Kumar Babu.
Bhupathi’s grip on power weakens as his crimes come to light, and he begins to lose control, eventually killing his own associate, Seshu Naidu, in a fit of rage. In a tragic turn, Kumar Babu is ambushed and fatally wounded while returning from a meeting with his love interest, Padma. Chittibabu arrives to defend him, but Kumar Babu is killed by a veiled assailant before he can identify his attacker. In his final moments, he attempts to speak, but Chittibabu fails to interpret his dying message.
Following his brother’s death, Chittibabu becomes consumed by a desire for vengeance and initiates a relentless hunt for Bhupathi. Meanwhile, Rangamma is elected President of the Panchayat. Believing that the key to his brother’s killer lies with the local MLA, Dakshina Murthy, Chittibabu discovers Murthy has been involved in a severe hit-and-run accident. He spends the next two years selflessly caring for the comatose politician, waiting for him to regain consciousness.
Upon Murthy’s recovery, Chittibabu meets him at his residence, revealing to have killed Bhupathi but confronts him for orchestrating Kumar Babu's murder. Motivated by rigid caste-based prejudice, Murthy had ordered his henchman, Srimannarayana, to assassinate Kumar Babu to terminate his relationship with Padma, Murthy’s daughter. Chittibabu, having kept Murthy alive specifically to exact his revenge when the politician had the most to lose, quietly executes him. The narrative concludes with Chittibabu reuniting with Ramalakshmi, having finally avenged his brother and closed the chapter on the village's corruption.
Cast
Production Development Writer and filmmaker Sukumar discussed the possibility of directing a rural drama with his regular collaborator, cinematographer R. Rathnavelu before the production of the former's directorial 1: Nenokkadine (2014). After completing Nannaku Prematho (2016), Sukumar narrated two story lines to Rathnavelu: a contemporary film with an Indian green revolution backdrop, and a rural drama. Rathnavelu chose the latter and suggested to make it a period drama as it would give them an opportunity to showcase the local culture more effectively. He felt more like a member of the direction team than being a cinematographer during the film's production: "You’ve to think like him [Sukumar] while working with him, and getting into the psychology of the characters helps a lot."
Sukumar approached Mythri Movie Makers in October 2016, and the latter agreed to bankroll the film. The production team wanted to shoot the film in Araku Valley, but Rathnavelu was opposed to the idea. He opined that Rangasthalam is a film which "drew a lot from the locations that it was going to be shot in". The film's crew scouted to locations near Rajamahendravaram and the Godavari region, and found areas near Kolleru Lake apt for the film's periodic setting. Rathanavelu found acres of grasslands by the riverside. They made it the entrance of the village, a "killing field" where people are murdered, to create an "eerie" mood in the film. Rathnavelu opted for a "muted and earthy" colour palette with no bright shades of yellow, red and blue.
Naveen Nooli, who earlier collaborated with Sukumar for Nannaku Prematho, was signed as the editor. Impressed with their work in Jyo Achyutananda (2016), Sukumar chose Ramakrishna and Mounika to handle both art direction and production design. The film's production formally commenced on 26 February 2017 with the working title RC11. Sukumar fine tuned the script until April 2017. Though the film was initially named Rangasthalam 1985, it was later rechristened to Rangasthalam. The film was produced on a budget of .
Casting Sukumar met Ram Charan through a common friend Ranga during the filming of Nannaku Prematho and got his approval for the script. Charan played Chittibabu, a "partially hearing impaired innocent guy" whose disorder was used to convey all the emotions the character goes through. He sported a bearded look in the film and underplayed the character to make it feel real. Charan also had to master the accent spoken in the Godavari regions, and struggled to match the villagers' speed. Charan was styled by his sister Sushmita Konidela, who had to source fabrics with typical prints that were used in the 1980s. She also had to refer the looks sported by their father, actor Chiranjeevi in his earlier films.
A screen test was conducted on Anupama in January 2017 before selecting her as the female lead, though Samantha was finalised later for the same. She played Ramalakshmi, a "typical village belle", and her lines were dubbed by Jyothi Varma. Most of Samantha's portions were filmed during the early mornings and late hours, as she did not like to work in the noon. In an interview with Firstpost, she said that everything about her role in the film was on a different tangent, and that she initially struggled to adjust with the rural environment, as she grew up in the urban areas of Chennai. To prepare for her role, she observed and spent some time with the women in the villages near Rajamahendravaram, and took inputs from Sukumar who wanted her portrayal of Ramalakshmi seem unrestrained.
Jagapathi Babu was cast as the antagonist; his inclusion was confirmed by the film's crew in January 2017. He played the role of the village head who speaks less and conveys more through his eyes, gestures and body language. Aadhi Pinisetty was cast as the protagonist's brother Kumar Babu, whom Sukumar described as the "personification of the innocence of the [1980s]". Sukumar approached Pinisetty during the shoot of Ninnu Kori (2017) to cast him for the character, which the latter termed as one of his easiest portrayals. Pujita Ponnada, who made her debut with Sukumar's production Darsakudu (2017), was cast as Pinisetty's love interest in the film.
Television presenter Anasuya Bharadwaj was cast as Rangammatha, a 28-year-old woman with a mindset of the 1990s. Sukumar cast her after she successfully auditioned for the role, adding that she had a "divine face". For the role, she sported no makeup and instead opted for a turmeric-smeared look. Prakash Raj and Brahmaji were cast in supporting roles; the latter played the role of a Tehsildar. Some of Brahmaji's portions in the film were edited out due to excessive length. In October 2017, Pooja Hegde was signed to perform an item number song "Jigelu Rani" in the film.
Filming Rangasthalam was majorly filmed in a village set worth erected in Hyderabad, with only ten percent of the footage shot in real locations. 400 people worked on the village set for two months. The props were procured from a few antique shops in Rajamahendravaram and from the old buildings in the nearby villages. Sukumar and Rathnavelu wanted to shoot the film in harsh sunlight, planning to complete by July 2017: "In April and May, the river appears dry and sand looks burnt. People haven't seen Godavari in this angle, in an angry mood. The same river looks different, romantic if the treatment is different." Rangasthalam is one of the first few Indian films to be entirely shot using Red Helium 8K cameras; it was chosen for its "great dynamic range" and for filming sequences under extremely low light conditions. A gimbal was used to support 90% of the film's shoot as the script was conversation-based and involved multiple actors. Rathnavelu also opted to shoot longer takes to capture sequences in real time without being "intrusive".