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Agent (film)

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For the occupation, see Talent agent.

Agent
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySurender Reddy
Written byStory:
Vakkantham Vamsi
Screenplay:
Surender Reddy
Produced byAnil Sunkara
Rambrahmam Sunkara
StarringMammootty
Akhil Akkineni
Dino Morea
Vikramjeet Virk
CinematographyRasool Ellore
George C. Williams (1 Song)
Edited byNaveen Nooli
Music byHiphop Tamizha
Bheems Ceciroleo (1 Song)
Production
companies
Distributed byGoldmines Telefilms
B4U Films
Release date
  • 28 April 2023 (2023-04-28)[1]
Running time
160 minutes[2]
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu
Budget₹85 crores[3]
Box office₹8.5 crore[4]

Agent is a 2023 Indian Telugu-language spy action thriller film directed by Surender Reddy and produced by Anil Sunkara and Rambrahmam Sunkara under AK Entertainments. The film stars Mammootty and Akhil Akkineni in the lead roles along with Dino Morea, Sakshi Vaidya and Vikramjeet Virk in supporting roles. The film marks the debut of Sakshi Vaidya and Dino Morea in Telugu cinema.[5]

The film was announced in September 2020. Filming took place in Hyderabad, Budapest, Visakhapatnam and Manali. The release was deferred multiple times due to COVID-19 pandemic and production delays.

Agent was released on 28 April 2023 and received mixed to negative reviews from critics. The film became a commercial disappointment at the box office, which prompted producer Anil Sunkara and Akhil Akkineni to apologize, accepting that the production commenced without a bound script.[6]

Plot

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RAW chief Col. Mahadev alias "The Devil" gets interrogated about orchestrating an impossible mission to kill two terrorists. He reveals that the two terrorists were working under a private terror organization called "The Syndicate", which is headed by Central Minister Jai Kishan and "The God".

Meanwhile, Ramakrishna "Ricky" alias "Wild Saala", an aspiring youngster, wants to become a RAW agent despite many failed attempts. After seeing his capability, Mahadev assigns Ricky on a mission to disguise himself as a rookie to capture "The God". It is revealed that "The God" is actually Dharma, a former RAW agent, who went rogue after Mahadev forced him to kill his girlfriend. Dharma now plans to spread a deadly virus dubbed "Super Cells". During a shootout with Mahadev, the device containing the virus is damaged and leads to a technical problem.

Ricky kills Jai Kishan in a shootout at the harbour and heads to Kashmir to learn about Dharma's other handler of the Syndicate, but the police arrests him, and Mahadev denies him as a RAW agent. Shortly after doing so, Ricky escapes from custody with Dharma's help. It is later revealed that Ricky's arrest was a ruse planned by both Ricky and Mahadev to learn about Dharma's operations.

Meanwhile, the device containing the virus is fixed, and a meeting is arranged to sell the device to the highest bidder, which Mahadev learns about this from Ricky and assigns him to retrieve a copy of the device, which also consists the names and identities of all active RAW agents. Dharma finds out that Ricky is copying the device, upon which Dharma confronts Mahadev and forces him to shoot himself or Dharma would spread the virus through missiles.

In the post credits scene, Mahadev tells Ricky to shoot him, which he reluctantly does. Ricky tracks down Dharma and kills him, whilst also stopping the missiles from releasing the virus in the country. Afterwards, Ricky heads on a new mission dubbed "Rabbit Fire".

Cast

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Production

[edit]

Development

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The film was announced by Akhil Akkineni in September 2020, tentatively titled Akhil 5, with Surender Reddy as the director.[9] It was officially launched on Akkineni's birthday in April 2021, revealing the title and posters.[10][11] A pooja ceremony was held on the launch day.[12]

Casting

[edit]

Akkineni's role as a spy was reportedly inspired by the character of Jason Bourne from the American film series Bourne.[13] Akkineni bulked up his body for the role.[14] In December 2020, model Sakshi Vaidya was confirmed as the female lead.[15] In March 2021, Mohanlal was approached for the role of a military officer.[13] Subsequently, Upendra was also considered, but the role was ultimately signed by Mammootty, whose casting was confirmed in June 2021. It also marks the collaboration between Mammootty, Akkineni and Surender Reddy.[16][17] Dino Morea was cast as the main antagonist, who plays a rogue agent.[18]

Filming

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Filming began in July 2021 in Hyderabad, India.[19][20] Mammootty joined the production in October 2021 in Budapest and completed filming his portions.[21] In March 2022, sequences featuring Akkineni were shot in Hyderabad Metro.[22] The following month, the production moved to Visakhapatnam and shot a few actions episodes and a song at the Visakhapatnam Port.[23] In April 2022, the production moved to Manali, Himachal Pradesh to shoot action sequences featuring Akkineni and others, under the choreographer of Vijay Master.[24] As of May 2022, about 50–60% of the production has been completed due to delays in production, thus missing the August 2022 release.[25]

Music

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Agent
Soundtrack album by
Hiphop Tamizha
Released2023
Recorded2021–2023
StudioAnnapurna Studios
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length13:46
LanguageTelugu
LabelLahari Music
T-Series
ProducerHiphop Tamizha
Hiphop Tamizha chronology
Anbarivu
(2022) 		Agent
(2023) 		Veeran
(2023)

Earlier, Thaman S was chosen as the composer of the film's score and soundtrack.[26] Later, in September 2021, he had been replaced by Tamil musical duo Hiphop Tamizha,[27][28][29] marking their second collaboration with Surender Reddy after Dhruva (2016). The music rights of the film are owned by Lahari Music and T Series.

The first single titled "Malli Malli" was released on 22 February 2023, and it samples the bassline instrumental of the 2015 song "Save Dat Money" by American rappers Lil Dicky, Fetty Wap, and Rich Homie Quan. The second single titled "Endhe Endhe" was released on 24 March 2023. The third single titled "Rama Krishna" was released on 13 April 2023. The fourth single titled "Wild Saala" was released on 25 April 2023.

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Malli Malli"Aditya IyengarHiphop TamizhaHiphop Tamizha3:27
2."Endhe Endhe"ChandraboseHiphop TamizhaPadmalatha, Sanjith Hegde, Hiphop Tamizha3:36
3."Rama Krishna"ChandraboseHiphop TamizhaRam Miriyala3:15
4."Wild Saala"RaghuramBheems CeciroleoSravana Bhargavi, Bheems Ceciroleo, Swathi Reddy, Amala Chebolu3:28
Total length:13:46

Release

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Theatrical

[edit]

Agent was released on 28 April 2023.[1] Initially, the film was initially scheduled for a release on 24 December 2021,[30][31] but the film's production was heavily delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[32]

Later, the film was scheduled to release on 12 August 2022 but was delayed again due to production delays and Akkineni's injuries.[25][33][34] The film was then planned for a January 2023 release, coinciding with Makara Sankranti before being postponed to the current date.[35] The film is set to release in Telugu along with the dubbed versions in Malayalam. It was previously set to be release in five languages, but later it was set only to release the film in Telugu and Malayalam languages.[36]

Home media

[edit]

Sonyliv acquired the digital rights of the film.

Reception

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Agent received negative reviews from critics with praise for acting and action sequences, but criticized its script, soundtrack and VFX. The film did not recover half of the publicity costs, let alone the production cost.

Critical reception

[edit]

Srivathsan Nadadhur of OTTplay gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Agent is a largely engaging spy thriller with a sharp screenplay and fabulous action choreography filmed on a wide canvas. Despite its follies, Surender Reddy ensures a paisa vasool experience."[37] 123Telugu gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Agent is a mediocre spy thriller. Akhil’s performance and a few action sequences are a boon to the film. The poor screenplay in the second half, some over-the-top scenes and a silly climax portion make one feel boredom."[38]

Neeshita Nyayapati of The Times of India rated the film 2/5 stars and wrote "Agent is a spy thriller that commits the blasphemy of being boring. Akhil’s ‘wild’ act might save the country but it's not enough to save the film."[39] Latha Srinivasan of India Today gave 2/5 stars and wrote "There is hardly a semblance of a plausible story in Agent and what is truly wild is that the writer and director thought this would make a good film."[40]

Raghu Bandi of The Indian Express gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Vakkantham Vamshi’s story follows a typical action film pattern and sticks to that. Somewhere between a huge Surender Reddy film and Akhil Akkineni film, Agent falters in truly belonging to either zone and ends up as an average action film."[41] Abhilasha Cherukuri of Cinema Express gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "There is a throwaway line comparing logic with magic somewhere in Agent, and the film falls short on both counts, leaving its viewer with a tedious and thoroughly unmemorable experience."[42]

Bhuvanesh Chandar of The Hindu wrote "Surender Reddy’s ‘Agent,’ starring Akhil Akkineni and Mammootty, has a generic story that follows an annoying lead character who comes across as a man-child trying to live out his childhood spy fantasies."[43] Ram Venkat Srikar of Film Companion wrote "Agent is a film in which the efforts of the team and resources pooled to realise the filmmaker's vision are evident. A couple of brief action sequences are the only respite in this colossal, hackneyed mess of a film that falls short of creativity and wildness."[44]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Akhil Akkineni's 'Agent' gets new release date. Check details here". The Economic Times. 4 February 2023. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Agent (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 25 April 2023. Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  3. ^ "'Agent' box office collection Day 7: Mammootty and Akhil Akkineni's film crosses Rs 3 crore mark". The Times of India. 5 May 2023. Archived from the original on 12 July 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Agent Box Office Collection: Mammootty and Akhil Akkineni's Film Ends Week 1 On Disastrous Note, Fails To Shine Against PS2". Jagran English. 5 May 2023. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Akhil Akkineni and Mammootty's spy action thriller Agent teaser out". Cinema Express. 15 July 2022. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Akhil Akkineni's Agent bomb at box office: Producer cites starting film without a bound script as reason for failure". The Indian Express. 1 May 2023. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Agent: Sakshi Vaidya's first look from Akkineni Akhil starrer unveiled". The Times of India. 20 June 2022. Archived from the original on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  8. ^ "Waltair Veerayya beauty to join the sets of Agent today". 123Telugu. 12 April 2023. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  9. ^ "Akhil Akkineni to star in Surender Reddy's next". The Indian Express. 9 September 2020. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  10. ^ "On Akhil Akkineni's birthday, the first look of Agent unveiled". The Indian Express. 8 April 2021. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Akhil Akkineni flaunts his flashboard abs in 'Agent' second poster: Netizens go gaga". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Agent movie pooja ceremony: Nagarjuna and Amala present at launch event of Akhil Akkineni's new film". www.timesnownews.com. 8 April 2021. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Mohanlal to star in Akhil Akkineni's next?". The New Indian Express. 16 March 2021. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  14. ^ Kumar, Gabbeta Ranjith (13 July 2021). "Akhil Akkineni debuts his shredded body as Agent shoot begins, see photo". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Akhil to romance a Mumbai based model?". The Hans India. 30 December 2020. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Dino Morea to play Akhil's villain in Agent". The New Indian Express. 29 June 2021. Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Buzz: Mammootty roped in as a military officer in Akhil Akkineni's 'Agent'". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  18. ^ Kulkarni, Onkar (16 January 2023). "Dino Morea: There's certain madness you can bring to a negative character". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  19. ^ "Akhil Akkineni begins shooting for Surender Reddy's 'Agent'". The News Minute. 12 July 2021. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  20. ^ "Akhil Akkineni debuts his shredded body as Agent shoot begins, see photo". The Indian Express. 12 July 2021. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  21. ^ "Mammootty returns from Budapest wrapping up his portions for Akhil Akkineni's 'Agent'". The Times of India. 2 November 2021. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021.
  22. ^ "హైదరాబాద్‌ మెట్రోలో అఖిల్‌ అక్కినేని.. ఫోటో వైరల్‌". Sakshi (in Telugu). 26 March 2022. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  23. ^ Sharma, Bhavana (11 April 2022). "Agent begins in Vizag; Akhil Akkineni, Surender Reddy shoot for a song". Newsmeter.in. Archived from the original on 11 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  24. ^ "Akhil Akkineni shoots for Agent in Manali". Cinema Express. 25 April 2022. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022.
  25. ^ a b "Akhil Akkineni's Agent postponed". Cinema Express. 9 May 2022. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  26. ^ "Composer S Thaman walks out of Akhil Akkineni's 'Agent'?". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  27. ^ "Hiphop Tamizha replaces Thaman in Agent?". Cinema Express. September 2021. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  28. ^ Nyayapati, Neeshita. "Thaman replaced by Hiphop Tamizha in Akhil Akkineni's next". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  29. ^ "Agent Movie: అక్కినేని అఖిల్‌కి షాకిచ్చిన తమన్.. కారణం ఆ స్టార్ హీరోలే! ఇష్యూ హాట్ టాపిక్". Samayam Telugu (in Telugu). Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  30. ^ "First look of Akhil Akkineni in Agent, directed by Surender Reddy, unveiled on actor's birthday". Firstpost. 8 April 2021. Archived from the original on 2 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  31. ^ "First look & release date of Akhil Akkineni's Agent out". Cinema Express. 8 April 2021. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  32. ^ "Akkineni Fans Get Reassurance". Mirchi9. 24 December 2021. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  33. ^ "Akhil Akkineni's 'Agent' Release Postponed Again". Outlook India. 6 July 2022. Archived from the original on 15 July 2022.
  34. ^ "Agent: Akhil Akkineni looks intense in new poster; actor reveals release date". The Times of India. 11 March 2022. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  35. ^ "Akhil Akkineni's Agent joins Sankranti 2023 release race". The Indian Express. 24 October 2022. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022.
  36. ^ "'Agent': Teaser of Akhil Akkineni, Surender Reddy's film to release on July 15". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  37. ^ "Agent review: Akhil Akkineni, Mammootty's spy thriller is clumsy but entertaining". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023.
  38. ^ "Agent – Mediocre spy thriller". 123Telugu. 28 April 2023. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  39. ^ "Agent Movie Review : Akhil Akkineni has fun; the audience - not so much". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  40. ^ "Agent Movie Review: Akhil Akkineni's hard work is wasted in this disastrous film". India Today. 28 April 2023. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  41. ^ "Agent movie review: Akhil Akkineni actioner is hardly entertaining". The New Indian Express. 28 April 2023. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  42. ^ "Agent Movie Review: A spy film that puts the fire in misfire". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  43. ^ "'Agent' movie review: An excruciating snooze-fest that only leaves you annoyed". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023.
  44. ^ "Agent Movie Review: This Akhil Akkineni-Surender Reddy Film Is An Unbearable Collation of Spy Cliches". Film Companion. 28 April 2023. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023.
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