Vimanam (2023 film)

Vimanam is a 2023 Indian Telugu-language drama film written and directed Siva Prasad Yanala. It features Samuthirakani and Master Dhruvan in lead roles It was produced by Kiran Korrapati and Zee Studios.

The film was released on 9 June 2023 and was partially filmed in Tamil.

Plot
Veerayya runs the Sulabh Complex in a Hyderabad slum, near Begumpet. His life revolves around his son Raju. Veerayya has no wife or relatives, except for three neighbors: Daniel, a kindhearted auto driver; Koti, a witty cobbler; and Sumathi, a compassionate sex worker.

One day, Veerayya learns that Raju has leukemia and only a few days to live. Raju loves planes and wants to fly in airplane. Determined to fulfil his son’s wish, Veerayya works day and night to save enough money to buy two plane tickets to Tirupati. He works as a carpenter and asks Rs. 10000 from the boss, but the latter denies. On that day, a sum of Rs. 50000 is lost from the boss's account. The boss complains to the police, and Veerayya goes to jail. For this, the boss pays Rs. 10000 as a bribe. In lock up, the police beats Veerayya. Later, the boss finds out that the money was taken by his son, so he withdraws his complaint and gives Rs. 5000 as a bribe for this.

Afterward, Daniel's son and Raju are caught by airport security as they were trying to cross a fence, and they were brought to the police station. The police who beat Veerayya go to beat Raju, but Veerayya stops him and threatens the police that he will go to higher officials and file a complaint. He acts as a comedian in an exhibition and makes the children laugh. He gets paid a lump sum of money. Veerayya and his friends go to buy tickets at night. However, some rich guys drove the wrong way, hit Daniel's auto, fought with him and Veerayya, and stole the money Veerayya has. Koti saves the money and goes to Sumathi after paying Rs. 1000. Suddenly, he has a change of mind and grabs the money from Sumathi, gives it to Veerayya, and says that Sumathi gave it. Koti explains to Sumathi about the situation. Sumathi is moved and hugs Koti.

Finally, Veerayya has enough money and books two tickets to Tirupati. With the help of Shweta, an air hostess, Veerayya and Raju board the flight, where Veerayya explains the situation to Shweta. Raju is excited on boarding the flight. Unfortunately, Raju dies during the flight. Veerayya has an emotional outburst and requests Shweta not to reveal the death news. When the flight lands in Tirupati, Shweta finds out that Veerayya also died.

Cast

 * Samuthirakani as Veerayya
 * Master Dhruvan as Raju
 * Meera Jasmine as Shweta
 * Anasuya Bharadwaj as Sumathi
 * Rahul Ramakrishna as Koti
 * Dhanraj as Daniel
 * Rajendran as Balaraju
 * Cheran Raj as Police Officer
 * Thotapalli Madhu as Constable
 * Sandhya Janak as Doctor
 * Satish Saripalli as Teacher

Production
The film was produced by Kiran Korrapati and Zee Studios. This is a comeback film for Meera Jasmine in the Telugu film industry. The film was entirely made in Telugu and a key scene from the film featuring Samuthirakani was additional filmed in Tamil. The first look poster and the title teaser of the film were released on 14 April 2023. The teaser for the film was released on 13 May 2023. The trailer was released on 1 June 2023.

Music
The music for the film was composed by Charan Arjun and the music distribution rights was acquired by Aditya Music.

Release
The film was released on 9 June 2023. The film streamed on ZEE5 on June 30, 2023.

Reception
Paul Nicodemus of The Times of India gave it 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Vimanam is a film that showcases a father's (and parents') love for his son (and children) and possesses universal appeal. Watch it for its solid performances and decent production values." Satya Pulagam of ABP Live Telugu gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "The film has heart-wrenching emotional scenes, but it lacks a better narrative to connect the audience with the film."

123telugu gave the film a 2.75 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Vimanam is a watchable emotional drama with a good concept and a slow-paced screenplay, which might not appeal to all viewers." Raghu Bandi of The Indian Express gave it 2 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Vimanam is such a 80’s movie that it should have stayed there. Viewers who like sentimental movies, tearjerkers might like this film. They can try it when it comes on OTT.".

Latha Srinivasan of India Today rated 2 out of 5 and stated that "he filled the story with so much melodrama that it's far too bleak to enjoy."

Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu reviewed the film as "Samuthirakani shoulders a melodramatic tale" and wrote "Samuthirakani and child actor Dhruvan put their best foot forward in the Telugu-Tamil bilingual ‘Vimanam’ that has its moments but gets progressively melodramatic and contrived"