The Telugu film Acharya, starring the father and son duo of Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan in the lead roles, will begin streaming on Amazon Prime Video from May 20. Written and directed by Koratala Siva, the film was released in cinemas on April 29.
This is the third movie in recent times that features real-life father and son together on screen. the other two movies are the Tamil flick Mahaan and the Bollywood movie Thar. Mahaan had Vikram and son Dhruv having a go at each other, while Thar had Anil Kapoor and son Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor sparring.
Acharya also promised the same amount of excitement, but alas the film did not seem to satisfy the fans as it was classified a 'flop' in theatres.
But sometimes, the fortunes of a film in cinemas and OTT can be different. Case in point being Tamil actor Vijay's Beast. It was also written off as a flop during its theatrical run. But when it started streaming on Netflix last week, many of the viewers turned out on social media platforms, and said that they liked the film and were not sure how it was put down as a failure.
So, Acharya may still fare better on Amazon Prime Video.
First collaboration between Chiru and Rama Charan
Acharya marks first-ever on-screen collaboration of Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan. Directed by Kortala Siva and produced by Ram Charan and Niranjan Reddy, the film also stars Pooja Hegde, Sonu Sood, Jisshu Sengupta, Kishore Kumar, Regina Cassendra, Sangeetha, Ajay, and Tanikella Barani in pivotal roles.
Acharya is a socio-political actioner, revolving around a middle-aged Naxalite-turned-social reformer who launches a fight against the Endowments Department over misappropriation of temple funds and donations. Acharya shows Ram Charan as the protector of the sacred land of Dharmasthali, which serves as a link between the holy land and a divine river.
In real-life too, Ram Charan is trying to be a protector, as he is reportedly making up for the losses of the film by compensating the producer and the distributors. Following the lukewarm reception to the film, a distributor recently wrote to Chiranjeevi an open letter requesting compensation for the losses. Following which, Ram Charan is said to be compensating for a portion of the film's losses.
Ram Charan, however, has had a smashing success with RRR, which is a pan-Indian blockbuster. He has a few more interesting projects on hand.
Chiranjeevi, for his part, will be seen in Godfather, Bholaa Shankar, and a couple of other movies.
For Amazon Prime Video, Acharya may be another south Indian blockbuster. The platform recently unveiled its biggest slate to date for South India, at its maiden Prime Video Presents India showcase event.
