Double Engine (2024 film)

Double Engine is a 2023 Indian Telugu crime thriller film written by Rohit–Sasi and directed by Rohit Penumatsa. Vivek Sagar has composed the music for the film. Siddharth Rapalli is the producer of the film, under Waltair Productions banner. The film's primary cast has newcomers. The film was theatrically released on 5 January 2024.

In an interview with The Hindu, Rohit and Sasi said "We followed a guerrilla method and wrapped up our film in 12 days".

Plot
This is the story of Danny and his friends and their hunt for the double headed snake aka Double Engine. Danny drives a share auto in Hyderabad. He goes back home to his village for his 21st birthday but the weekend turns out to be a lot more than he expected.

Cast

 * Muni Myatari as Danny
 * Ajith Kumar as Gopi
 * Rohit Narasimha as Narsing
 * Raju Shivaratri as Mouli (Snake Charmer)
 * Gayathri Gupta as Danny's sister
 * Sai Kiran Yadav as Kishore
 * Vishwender Reddy as Gopi's Grandfather
 * Thanmai Bolt (in Auto Deck Song)
 * Camp Sasi as farmhouse owner

Production
The film is set in a rural village, Narayankhed, and a few portions of it were shot in Hyderabad city. The film was shot with a guerilla cast & crew and was wrapped up in 12 days. Rohit & Sasi's longterm collaborator Vivek Sagar returned to compose the music of the film, which was released as 5 singles in 2023. Ajith Abraham George was roped in for Sound Mixing and Mastering.

Music
Vivek Sagar composed the music for Double Engine whose rights were acquired by Sony Music India. The songs were released one after the other, starting on 10 January 2023.

This film has five songs, with lyrics written by Camp Sasi, Niklesh Sunkoji, Jagadeesh Prathap Bandari and Rap by Nikhil Bharadwaj.

Reception
Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu wrote that "How Rohit and Sasi narrate this story makes all the difference. Shashank Raghavula’s visuals, with a touch of grunge and realism, give us snapshots of a day in Danny’s life" but added that "In the 105-minute film that comes to speed when the friends begin their hunt for the double-headed snake, there are stretches where nothing seems to happen". Times Now's Raisa Nasreen gave three stars out of five and writes in her review "Tale Of Friendship, Challenges, And Mythical Quests". Sai Tulasi on Substack wrote "we see the city of Hyderabad, but it’s not through conventional shots of the metro train snaking its way against a clear blue sky. We instead see its underbelly - the unsightly concrete pillars, dangling electric wires - the daily view for most commuters" and Bhavana Murali writes "When Telugu Cinema Went Old West and Iranian" in her review on Medium.