Banner: Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra
Cast: Prabhas, Sriya Saran, Bhanu Priya, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Pradeep Rawat, Venu Madhav, Narendra Jha, Shafi, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Jeeva, Sekhar, Ajay, Arti Agarwal, Surya, Mumaith Khan.
Music: MM Keeravani
Story: Vijayendra Prasad
Screenplay - direction: SS Rajamouli
Producer: B V S N Prasad
Theatrical release date: 29th September 2005
Cast: Prabhas, Sriya Saran, Bhanu Priya, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Pradeep Rawat, Venu Madhav, Narendra Jha, Shafi, Jaya Prakash Reddy, Jeeva, Sekhar, Ajay, Arti Agarwal, Surya, Mumaith Khan.
Music: MM Keeravani
Story: Vijayendra Prasad
Screenplay - direction: SS Rajamouli
Producer: B V S N Prasad
Theatrical release date: 29th September 2005
Genre: Action/Sentiment
Story
Sivaji (Prabhas), his brother Ashok (Shafi) and mother (Bhanu Priya) are Telugus settled in Srilanka. Due to political problems, they get evicted and return to India 12 years back. During the eviction process Sivaji is separated from his brother and mother. Sivaji reaches Vizag. There is a leader called Baji Rao (Narendra Jha) who exploits these refugees by making them bonded-labor for life. Sivaji turns out to be the leader among the refugees and puts an end to Baji Rao. There by he makes sure that there is no exploitation of refugees. Sivaji is also in constant search of his mother and his obnoxiously-jealous brother. The rest of the story is all about how he wins them back.
Sivaji (Prabhas), his brother Ashok (Shafi) and mother (Bhanu Priya) are Telugus settled in Srilanka. Due to political problems, they get evicted and return to India 12 years back. During the eviction process Sivaji is separated from his brother and mother. Sivaji reaches Vizag. There is a leader called Baji Rao (Narendra Jha) who exploits these refugees by making them bonded-labor for life. Sivaji turns out to be the leader among the refugees and puts an end to Baji Rao. There by he makes sure that there is no exploitation of refugees. Sivaji is also in constant search of his mother and his obnoxiously-jealous brother. The rest of the story is all about how he wins them back.
Artists Performance
Prabhas: Prabhas arrives with Chatrapati as a force to reckon with in Telugu film industry. He is extraordinary in action sequences. There is a unique style and macho charm in his screen presence. He is extremely good in emotional scenes (involving his mother). His dancing abilities have improved tremendously compared to his earlier films. Prabhas did 100% justice to the title role of the film.
Sriya Saran: Shriya's name appeared as Shriya Saran for the first time on Telugu screen in title cards with this film. She does not have much role to play in this film except for appearing around 5 minutes before the song. She is looking cute and matched Prabhas on screen.
Others: Bhanu Priya is brilliant as mother. Shafi is OK as over-jealous brother. Narendra Jha is impressive as Bhano Ji. Kota has got another well-etched role after Athadu. Pradeep Rawat is good, but is pretty tame in this film compared to Sye. Venu Madhav is simply superb in Aparichitudu rip-off episode. Jayaprakash Reddy did another cameo in a hilarious scene. Sekhar - who acted as buddy of Prabhas - is exceptionally good. He has good future. Mumaith Khan and Arti Agarwal sizzled in two item songs.
Music: Music by Keeravani is good. The best songs in terms of picturization are ABCD and Summamma Surya. The background music (title song of Chatrapati) of Chatrapati is terrific. Lawrence's steps for ABCD song are great. Mannela Thintivi song has got its own class. The sentiment song Nallanivanni is played a couple of times by representing the bond between mother and son. Background music is also great.
Other departments: Another asset of the film is marvelous cinematography by Senthil. He has got everything right. Dialogues by M Ratnam are good. He has written mass dialogues like 'veedi body ne box office' and 'neeku moodoste lungi voodipovala'. Fights by Peter Hynes are great. Peter Hynes seem to be the fight master in form. He is composing very good fights these days. Editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao is neat. Artwork by Ravindra is also good. Production values by Prasad are extraordinary.
Analysis: First half is excellent with great mass orientation. Second half has more sentimental feel. First half of the film is about how Sivaji raises to the level of Chatrapati. The second half is about Sivaji winning back his mother and brother. Since the first half is dealt with such mass orientation by treating the interval episode just like climax, the crowds expect same kind of mass tempo in second half. But family orientation in second half would dampen the spirits of mass movie lovers. This entire film has Rajamouli's signature written all over it. He narrated the story with uttermost conviction. He is the director in form and everything seems to be going right for him. This film is definitely a good film. The hit range would depend on how much the second half is going to be liked by the movie lovers