The Family Star

The Family Star is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language romantic action drama film written and directed by Parasuram, and produced by Dil Raju and Sirish under Sri Venkateswara Creations. The film features Vijay Deverakonda and Mrunal Thakur in lead roles.

The film was officially announced in February 2023 under the tentative title VD11, as it is Vijay's 11th film as the lead actor, and the official title was announced in October 2023. Principal photography commenced in July 2023. It was shot sporadically in several legs, with filming locations including Hyderabad and New York. The film has music composed by Gopi Sundar.

Family Star was initially scheduled to release on Sankranthi but it was postponed to avoid clash with Sankranthi films. The Family Star received generally negative reviews from critics, who heavily criticised Parasuram's writing and direction, weak comedy, plot, predictability, soundtrack, and the lead cast's performances. The film was a box office bomb grossing ₹19.78–23.20 crore against budget of ₹50 crore.

Plot
Present: A woman named Indu (Mrunal Thakur) sadly sits in the middle of a ceremony. When she is questioned about her unusual behavior, she tells a story about her past.

 Past: Govardhan (Vijay Devarakonda) is a family man. As a selfless character, he works in a business to provide for his family. He also faces trouble with his brother (who is a drunkard). However, he meets Indu when she moves into his "space". That too, Indu and his family quickly become friends. Soon, they both fall in love. After a big incident, he reconciles with his brother after his mother reveals to Indu that his brother hated him because of Govardhan shaming him. However, when he finds her thesis on his family and him for a college project he slaps her and vows to teach her a lesson. He goes to a previous job offeror (Jagapathi Babu), requests to join the company, and asks for a big advance. He uses that advance to defy whatever Indu has written in her thesis. However, it is revealed that Indu is the daughter of the head. Though annoyed, he continues in the company but demands everything Indu gets. After learning that his flight tickets weren't paid for, he resorts to Indu, who provides money for his family. After falling in love again, she hears him talking to a lady negatively about Indu saying that she isn't the right person for him. Heartbroken, Indu isolates herself from him. After revealing that she heard him that day, she leaves him.

Present: Govardhan finds out Indu's true intentions of writing the thesis from her father and proceeds to stop her from a wedding, held for one person who got injured due to Govardhan and (according to the person's grandfather- a famous politician) would be the only thing to make him feel better. It is revealed that Indu is at that wedding. Govardhan defeats the politician's goons along with his grandmother, wins back Indu, and marries her at the end.

Development
On 6 February 2023, Vijay Deverakonda, who had a successful collaboration with director Parasuram after Geetha Govindam (2018), was announced to join hands with the latter for his directorial venture after Sarkaru Vaari Paata (2022). Sri Venkateswara Creations, headed jointly by Dil Raju and Sirish, would reportedly produce the venture. The company made a public announcement on 14 June, confirming the project. Tentatively titled VD13, a muhurat puja was held on that week with the presence of the film's cast and crew. The presence of Devarakonda and actress Mrunal Thakur revealed their inclusion. Shortly after the beginning of the principal photography, Divyansha Kaushik was announced to play as a second lead actress. The official title, The Family Star, was speculated in June 2023 and was announced in October 2023.

Filming
Principal photography began with the first schedule on 15 July 2023. The first schedule was held in Hyderabad, where they also celebrated Thakur's birthday on 2 August. In late December, the third schedule began in New York.

Music
The music and background score is composed by Gopi Sundar, in his third collaboration with Vijay after Geetha Govindam (2018) and World Famous Lover (2020); second with Parasuram after Geetha Govindam. The first single "Nandanandana" was released on 8 February 2024. This was followed by "Kalyani Vaccha Vacchaa," which was released on 12 March 2024. The third single "Madhuramu Kadha" was unveiled on 25 March 2024.

Theatrical
The Family Star was initially scheduled to release on Sankranti, but was postponed due to production delays. It was theatrically released on 5 April 2024 alongside its Tamil dubbed version.

Home media
The digital streaming rights of the film were acquired by Amazon Prime Video and premiered 26 April 2024 in Telugu and Tamil languages.

Critical reception
The Family Star received generally negative reviews from critics, who heavily criticised Parasuram's writing and direction, second half, weak comedy, plot, soundtrack, and the lead cast's performances.

A critic from News18 rated the film 3.5 stars out of 5 stars and wrote that "Vijay Deverakonda and Mrunal Thakur's solid on-screen chemistry receives much love and appreciation from the audience". Paul Nicodemus from The Times of India rated the film two-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote that "Family Star, despite its promising setup and strong performances, ultimately falters due to its unengaging screenplay and lack of emotional depth in key relationships". Avad Mohammad from OTTplay rated the film two-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote that "On the whole, Family Star is a routine romantic drama with a decent first half. The second half goes for a toss and leaves the audience disappointed. A few family-oriented scenes are good, and the film might cater to the target audience this holiday season". A critic from 123Telugu rated the film two-and-three-quarters out of five stars and wrote that "On the whole, The Family Star entertains to a certain extent. Vijay Deverakonda and Mrunal Thakur deliver fine performances".

Arjun Menon of Rediff.com rated 2/5 stars and observed, "There is only so much that Vijay Deverakonda is allowed to work on from a clueless script that bounces from one wrong choice to another."

Abhilasha Cherukuri from Cinema Express rated the film one-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote that "Despite its assembly line of shortcomings, Family Star could have still critic-proofed its way to success, had the makers taken the film a bit more seriously". Balakrishna Ganeshan from The News Minute gave the film the one-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote that "Overall, Vijay Deverakonda’s Family Star is headache-inducing if not triggering". A critic from Telugucinema.com wrote that "Family Star draws in us in the first half with its enthralling romance between the lead pair and a well-executed plot twist at the interval. But the slow-paced narrative and excessively lengthy runtime in the second half undo everything". A critic from Sakshi Post rated the film two out of five stars and wrote that "Watch it at your own risk. Outdated and annoying the film is".

Neeshita Nyayapati from the Hindustan Times wrote that "Family Star could’ve been a simple, earnest film about a man taking up the responsibility of a massive family and finding love". Raghu Bandi from The Indian Express rated the film two out of five and wrote that "Given the film is designed as a blockbuster with Dil Raju producing, the middle-class sensibilities often slip, revealing it to be the big extravaganza it was always meant to be". Sangeetha Devi Dundoo from The Hindu wrote that "Family Star does no justice to the family quotient or the star material. It is an interesting idea to raise a toast to the star of every middle-class family but that idea is lost in a film that gets progressively boring and tests your patience". Janani K from India Today rated the film two out of five stars and wrote that "The Family Star is enjoyable in parts, thanks to Vijay Deverakonda's camaraderie with his grandmother and a few funny sequences. However, its pacing and conflict could have lifted the film to another level".