| Leader | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Sekhar Kammula |
| Written by | Rutwik Pavan |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Vijay C. Kumar |
| Edited by | Marthand K Venkatesh |
| Music by | Mickey J. Meyer |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Geetha Arts |
Release date |
|
Running time | 171 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Box office | ₹10 croredistributors' share[1] |
Leader is a 2010 IndianTelugu-languagepolitical drama film written and directed bySekhar Kammula, and produced byAVM Productions. It stars debutantRana Daggubati alongsideRicha Gangopadhyay,Priya Anand,Suhasini Maniratnam,Suman, andSubbaraju. The plot follows Arjun Prasad (Daggubati) who becomes thechief minister of Andhra Pradesh succeeding his deceased father and his struggle to fight the corruption plaguing the political system.
The film features music byMickey J. Meyer with cinematography byVijay C. Kumar and editing byMarthand K. Venkatesh. It was released on 19 February 2010 to rave reviews.Leader is listed among the "25 Greatest Telugu Films Of The Decade" byFilm Companion.[2]Leader was a commercial success collecting a share of ₹10 crore at the box office[3]. Over the years it gained cult following and was later remade in Hindi asYoungistaan.
The fictional Andhra PradeshChief Minister Sanjeevayya is mortally wounded in a bomb attack, and expresses his wish for his son Arjun to succeed as the next CM in his dying breath. As Arjun contemplates his next steps, he learns from Sanjeevayya's diary that his People's Party is plagued with corrupt politicians supported by the elitist party president Mahadevayya, Sanjeevayya's brother. When he realizes that his father initially sought reform but inevitably succumbed to corruption himself, Arjun decides to fulfill his father's dream and pursue the People's Party's nomination.
Arjun recruits political insider Ali and journalist Ratna Prabha to collect information about the People's Party and Dhanunjay, Arjun's criminal cousin and another contender. He takes advantage of the existing discontent towards Dhanunjay to covertly ally with his opponents, and wins the party nomination with Mahadevayya's blessing. Although Mahadevayya convinces Arjun to make Dhanunjay theHome Minister as pacification, a jealous and furious Dhanunjay orchestrates an assassination attempt on Arjun and is forced to resign when it fails.
Upon swearing in, Arjun immediately sets forth his anti-corruption agenda but faces resistance when his own party'sMLAs are impacted by his policies. Dhanunjay seizes the opportunity and conspires with the resentful politicians to plan acoup. Anticipating the mutiny, Arjun schemes to ally with the opposing Alliance Party, and woos its leader Munuswami's daughter, Archana. While his plan works, Munuswami offers his support on condition that Arjun saves an influential Alliance Party MLA's son accused of raping and murdering a tribal girl. When a terrorist attack spreads a wave of criticism, Arjun relents to Munuswami and manages to save his government.
Following his decision, however, Arjun's mother Rajeswari criticizes him for betraying justice and passes away in her sleep. When Archana too leaves him after Dhanunjay informs her of his ploy, Arjun realizes that he has compromised his values to protect his position, and that he can never serve honorably while he is obligated to corrupt politicians. He unofficially orders his security chief to kill the MLA's son and his anti-corruption officers to raid and expose every corrupt elite including Mahadevayya, Dhanunjay, and Munuswami. He then resigns as the CM to seek reelection as an independent, and with Ali, Ratna Prabha, and Archana's support, wins thebye-election after a vigorous campaign and resolves to bring change.
The soundtrack has music composed byMickey J. Meyer. The music was released on 22 November 2009.
| Leader | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 22 November 2009 (2009-11-22) | |||
| Recorded | 2009 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 31:26 | |||
| Label | Aditya Music | |||
| Producer | Mickey J. Meyer | |||
| Mickey J. Meyer chronology | ||||
| ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Maa Telugu Thalliki" | Sankarambadi Sundarachari | Tanguturi Suryakumari | 4:56 |
| 2. | "Aunana Kaadana" | Veturi | Naresh Iyer,Shweta Pandit | 5:13 |
| 3. | "Vandemataram" | Veturi | Nakash Aziz | 3:50 |
| 4. | "Rajasekhara" | Veturi | Shweta Pandit | 5:29 |
| 5. | "Hey CM" | Veturi | Sunitha Sarathy | 5:16 |
| 6. | "Sreelu Pongina" | Rayaprolu Subba Rao | Krishna Chaithanya, Siddharth, Kranthi, Sashi Kiran & Aditya | 3:18 |
| 7. | "Leader Theme" (Instrumental) | 3:24 | ||
| Total length: | 31:26 | |||
Leader opened to rave reviews from critics. AThe Times of India critic gave three stars of five, noting "Another lineage star Rana Daggubati takes his first bow at the Box Office with an inspiring political saga, he puts in a surprisingly mature performance (for a debutant) and shines in his role of a savvy young CEO of a US-based company who turns a conniving politician with effortless ease."[4]
Radhika Rajamani fromRediff.com also gave a three star rating and said "The film is a relevant take on contemporary politics in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Performance-wise, Sekhar scores. His choice Suhasini as Arjun's mother is good. She brings grace and dignity to her role. An impressive debut, indeed. Richa Gangopadhyay looks pretty and charming. Harsha Vardhan (who plays Ali) and Priya Anand (Ratna Prabha) are competent in their roles. Mickey J. Meyer's music is good too."[5]
A reviewer fromSify explains "The technical aspects of the film are highly impressive with superb cinematography, excellent music and terrific background score. The first half is gripping, giving some promising moments to the audience. But, the second half slips into monotony thanks to the slipshod treatment to the political subject." However it praised the lead performances, saying "Rana has certainly lived up to the expectations of the audiences with his looks and thoroughly trained histrionics."[6]