Legend (2014 film)

2014 film by Boyapati Srinu

Legend

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Boyapati Srinu
Written by| Story & Screenplay:
Boyapati Srinu
Dialogues:
M. Rathnam
Produced by| Ram Achanta
Gopichand Achanta
Anil Sunkara
Sai Korrapati
Starring| Nandamuri Balakrishna
Jagapathi Babu
Sonal Chauhan
Radhika Apte
Cinematography| C. Ram Prasad
Edited by| Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Music by| Devi Sri Prasad

Production
companies

14 Reels Entertainment
Varahi Chalana Chitram

Release date

* 28 March 2014 (2014-03-28)

Running time

| 161 minutes
Country| India
Language| Telugu
Box office| ₹70 crore[1]

Legend is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language action drama film directed by Boyapati Srinu and produced by 14 Reels Entertainment and Varahi Chalana Chitram. The film stars Nandamuri Balakrishna in a dual role, alongside Jagapathi Babu, Sonal Chauhan and Radhika Apte. The music was composed by Devi Sri Prasad, while the cinematography and editing were handled by C. Ram Prasad and Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao[2]

Legend was released on 28 March 2014[3] worldwide to positive reviews from critics and became the second-highest-grossing film of 2014.[4][5] The film achieved an all-time record in the Telugu film industry by running for 400 days and became the first film to run for over 1000 days in South India.[6][7]

## Plot

[edit]

1987: Jeetendra, a cruel faction leader from Kurnool, visits to fix up his alliance with local MLA’s daughter. During their return, he causes an accident and fires his gun when the villagers question him. In that region, a family shares the hardships of the public despite the arbitrator's mother's disapproval for violence. The arbitrator deserts Jeetendra to apologize when he talks smack. Therein, he affronts, slaps Jeetendra, and apprehends him when the antagonism undertakes. So, to acquit Jeetendra, his father abducts the arbitrator's wife & son. Soon after release, shockingly, Jeetendra sees his father dead. He finds out the boy killed his father as the father had murdered his mother. The incident severely impacts the arbitrator's mother, who asks him to stop the violence. But he replies that it commenced, and the answer is his son, the Legend. Parallelly, Jeetendra's enmity becomes permanent, and he settles in Vizag to clutch the authority. He secretly kills the arbitrator, and his mother sends his son far away to another country for safety.

2014: The tale shifts to Dubai where Krishna is a valor who cannot tolerate injustice and fights for justice. He proceeds to India with his fiancée Sneha for his wedding. On the way, he witnessess Jeetendra's elder son, Chotu, assassinating a former MLA, Simhachalam, to wind up a pending case and mold his father as Chief Minister. Krishna thrashes him. Sneha's father, a DC, witnesses it. Later, while he is meeting Krishna, DC alerts him, revealing Jeetendra's brutality. A day after, Chotu mysteriously dies in the hospital, which infuriates Jeetendra to seek revenge and a severe hunt for homicide. Since the CCTV footage is missing at two sites, Jeetendra declares the person is analogous. Overhearing it, DC decides to cancel the wedding and bars Sneha thinking Krishna is responsible for Chotu's death. However Sneha doesn't believe it and refuses to cancel the wedding. She later gets caught by Jeetendra, via whom he finds the whereabouts of Krishna. Simultaneously, Krishna is advancing to the wedding venue with his family, and barbarians assault them. Krishna collapses by becoming a victim of Jeetendra's bullets when the miscreant orders to slaughter the whole family and quits. As a flabbergast lands, Jaidev the Legend, the elder brother of Krishna, who onslaughts on blackguards and shields his people. Following this, Jaidev uproars against Jeetendra, revealing himself as the one who butchered Chotu and warning him never to try to look back. Next, a sidekick MP divulges Jaidev's past to Jeetendra's youngest son and the story spins rearward.

1999: After a few years of attaining control over the city, Jeetendra ploys to step his sibling into politics and triumphs by rubbing out the opposition, who suffered publicly. Jaidev, the prevailing umpire of the terrain, impedes Jeetendra's enormities. Everyone esteems him as a deity except his grandmother, who has ostracised him as he has chosen the path of fierceness, and they share the same compound. Anyhow, Jaidev always shields his family. He saves his sister from getting aborted for continuously conceiving baby girls by glorifying the eminence of women. In the interim, Radhika, his cousin, is the only one who endears him from childhood, comforts him, and adore each other. As of today, Union minister Ameer Shah arrives from Delhi and challenges Jaidev to free Jeetendra and sculpt him as CM. However, Jaidev retaliates when Jeetendra's brother abducts Krishna. He saves Krishna by killing Jeetendra's brother. He bails out Jeetendra too, drops his attempt to kill him on plead of his wife, and gives him a warning to leave his city. Radhika affirms that she will knit Jaidev when expelled from home. On their wedding day, Jeetendra captures Radhika who dies in that combat. Accordingly, the old lady accuses Jaidev of the awful, making him regret and exit.

Present: Krishna recoups at the hospital, where his grandmother apologizes to Jaidev and reunites with him thereby accepting her mistake. Besides, Jeetendra conspires to snatch the CM seat by horse-trading MLAs whom Jaidev shifts to a secret place and converts as rectitude. At that point, Jeetendra raids over and tries to assassinate them. Enraged, Jaidev kills Jeetendra and all his henchmen. Finally, the movie ends with the Legend continuing his legacy.

## Cast

[edit]

* Nandamuri Balakrishna as Jaidev alias Legend ; Krishna's elder brother and Radhika’s love interest
* Jackie Shroff as Krishna; Jaidev’s younger brother and Radhika's cousin; Sneha's love interest (Cameo)
* Jagapathi Babu as Jeetendra
* Sonal Chauhan as Sneha; Krishna 's love interest
* Radhika Apte as Radhika ; jaidev’s love interest
* Mahadevan as Jeetendra's father
* Kalyani as Jeetendra's wife
* Suman as Jaidev and Krishna's father
* Sujata Kumar as Jaidev; Krishna and Radhika's grandmother
* Suhasini Maniratnam as Jaidev and Krishna's mother
* Brahmanandam as Guru Manikyam
* Jaya Prakash Reddy as MP
* Ajay as Jeetendra's younger brother
* Sravan as Chotu, Jeetendra's elder son
* Kamal Kamaraju as Jeetendra's younger son
* Brahmaji as Yadhav
* Ahuti Prasad as Sneha's father
* Rao Ramesh as Jaidev, Krishna's Uncle and Radhika's father
* Narendra Jha as Union Minister
* G. V. Sudhakar Naidu as Jeetendra's brother-in-law
* Chalapathi Rao as Raghavaiah
* Easwari Rao as Jaidev, Krishna's aunt and Radhika's mother
* Sithara as Jaidev's younger sister
* Sudeepa Pinky as Jaidev, Krishna and Radhika's niece
* Salim Baig as Salaar
* Madhusudhan Rao as SP Veeraiah
* Shatru as Police Officer
* Jeeva as Party Candidate
* Prudhviraj as Party Candidate
* Rajitha as Party Candidate
* Shekar as Simhachalam, Ex - M.L.A.
* Sameer Hasan as Jaidev, Krishna and Radhika's brother-in-law
* Dil Ramesh as Jeetendra's henchmen
* L.B. Sriram as Pydithalli
* Hamsa Nandini as Menaka in item number

## Soundtrack

[edit]

Legend

Soundtrack album by

Devi Sri Prasad

Released| 6 March 2014 (2014-03-06)
Recorded| 2014
Genre| Soundtrack
Length| 23:36
Label| Lahari Music
Producer| Devi Sri Prasad
Devi Sri Prasad chronology
| Bramman
(2014)  | Legend
(2014)  | Alludu Seenu
(2014)

|
|

Music was composed by Devi Sri Prasad. Lyrics were written by Ramajogayya Sastry. Music was released on Lahari Music company. The music director Devi Sri Prasad, teaming up with Boyapati Srinu for the third time after Bhadra and Tulasi,[citation needed] and scoring for the first time for a Balakrishna film[citation needed] There are six tracks in the album.[citation needed] The music was launched on 6 March 2014 at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad with the film's theatrical trailer.

All lyrics are written by Ramajogayya Sastry.

Track listingNo.| Title| Singer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "Legend"| M. L. R. Karthikeyan| 3:00
2.| "Nee Kanti Choopullo"| Vijay Yesudas, K.S. Chithra| 4:04
3.| "Tanjavuru"| Sooraj Santhosh, Harini| 4:21
4.| "Time Bomb"| Narendra, Rita| 4:13
5.| "Om Sarvani"| M. M. Manasi| 3:45
6.| "Lasku Tapa"| Sagar, Malathi| 4:13
7.| "Needanichhey Godugai Nilichey
(Unreleased/Theatrical version)"| M. L. R Karthikeyan (Uncredited)| 1:00
Total length:| 23:36

## Production

[edit]

### Casting

[edit]

Bollywood actress Sonal Chauhan was roped as one of the leading actress.[citation needed] Jagapathi Babu was cast as the antagonist in the film.[citation needed] Kalyani paired up with Jagapathi Babu as his wife. Anil Sunkara confirmed that Radhika Apte was the heroine.[citation needed] Hamsa Nandini appeared in a special song with Balakrishna.[citation needed]

### Filming

[edit]

The muhurtham ceremony of the film was held on 3 June 2013[citation needed] in Hyderabad.[citation needed] The film was supposed to start its shoot in Dubai, but the production team decided to start off because Some permissions did not come through in time.[citation needed] The regular shooting of the film started in Ramoji Film City on 13 July 2013 at Hyderabad. The introduction scene of the hero was shot under the action choreography of Ram Laxman.[8] A special car chase sequence of the film was shot in the deserts of Dubai[citation needed] and a song was canned on Balakrishna and Sonal Chauhan in this schedule.[citation needed]

## Release

[edit]

Legend was released worldwide on 28 March 2014[citation needed] and was shown in 700 theaters across the state and over 1200 theaters worldwide.[citation needed]

### Critical reception

[edit]

Jeevi of Idlebrain.com rated the film three and one-fourth out of five, stating, "Plus points of the film are Bala Krishna’s ferocious performance (as Jai Dev) and powerful dialogues written by M Ratnam. On the flip side, there is a lot of bloodshed. On a whole, Legend is a feast for fans and will be liked by masses."[9] A critic from The Times of India gave the film three out of five stars and wrote, "The music turns out to be a disappointment. It’s just not what do they say…thumping enough. There’s a surfeit of blood, action sequences and deafening punch dialogues. Simply put its Simha remade with bad music. How much you will enjoy it will be directly proportional to your love for Balayya."[10]

### Box office

[edit]

Legend ran for 100 days in 31 centres and 175 days in 2 centres. The film completed 200 days run in two centres (Yemmiganur -Direct (Kurnool district), Proddutur(Kadapa District) -Single Shift). The film also completed 275 days run in 2 centers: Yemmiganur -Direct (Kurnool district), Proddutur (Kadapa District – Single Shift). After Muddula Mavayya, Samarasimha Reddy, Narasimha Naidu and Simha 5th film to complete double century.[citation needed]

The film completed 365 days run in two theatres in Kurnool district with direct four shows and it also completed 1000 days in Proddutur (56 days in Arveti theatre and 944 days (single shift 4 shows) at Archana theatre).[citation needed]

### Accolades

[edit]

Year  | Ceremony  | Category  | Nominee  | Result

|
|
|
|

2015  | GAMA Awards 2014 | Best Background score  | Devi Sri Prasad | Won
Best Title Song  | Devi Sri Prasad | Won
62nd Filmfare Awards South | Best Supporting Actor | Jagapathi Babu | Won
TSR – TV9 National Film Awards[citation needed] | Best Director  | Boyapati Srinu | Won
Best Actor  | Nandamuri Bala Krishna  | Won[11]
Best Villain  | Jagapathi Babu  | Won
4th South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Film (Telugu) |  | Nominated[citation needed]
Best Director (Telugu) | Boyapati Srinu | Nominated[citation needed]
Best Actor (Telugu) | Nandamuri Bala Krishna  | Won[citation needed]
Best Supporting Actor (Telugu) | Sujatha Kumar  | Nominated[citation needed]
Best Actor in a Negative Role (Telugu) | Jagapathi Babu | Won[citation needed]
Best Fight Choreographer  | Ram-Laxman and Kanal Kannan | Nominated[citation needed]
Best Lyricist (Telugu) | Ramajogayya Sastry – Nee Kanti Choopullo  | Nominated[citation needed]
2016  | Nandi Awards of 2014 | Best Feature Film | Korrapati Ranganatha Sai  | Won
Best Actor  | Balakrishna | Won
2015  | 13th Santosham Film Awards  | Best Cinematographer | Ram Prasad | Won
Best Action  | Ram Laxman  | Won

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Legend Re-release Trailer Release Time: Nandamuri Balakrishna-Boyapati Srinu's EPIC Film To Hit Screens Again". FilmiBeat. 25 March 2025. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
2. ^ "Balakrishna's Legend to be shot in Vizag". The Times of India. 15 January 2017. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
3. ^ B, Satya (25 March 2024). "NBK's Legend Re-release, On SPL Occasion". Gulte. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
4. ^ "Lion 'roars' on social media". The Hindu. 28 March 2014. Archived from the original on 1 April 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
5. ^ "Balakrishna's Legend opens to positive reviews". The Times of India. 28 March 2014. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
6. ^ "Legend touches 400-day mark". The Hindu. 1 May 2015. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
7. ^ "Lava Kusa to Legend: Telugu Films That Had Longest Run in Theatres". News18. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
8. ^ "Bala Krishna's film shoots in RFC". idlebrain.com. 13 July 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
9. ^ "Legend jeevi review - Telugu cinema review - Bala Krishna Nandamuri, Jagapathi Babu, Sonal Chauhan, Radhika Apte, Brahmanandam etc". www.idlebrain.com.
10. ^ "Legend Movie Review" - via The Economic Times - The Times of India.
11. ^ "TSR-TV9 award winners announced". Deccan Chronicle. 16 July 2015. Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2015.

## External links

[edit]

* Legend at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Boyapati Srinu

* Bhadra (2005)
* Tulasi (2007)
* Simha (2010)
* Dammu (2012)
* Legend (2014)
* Sarrainodu (2016)
* Jaya Janaki Nayaka (2017)
* Vinaya Vidheya Rama (2019)
* Akhanda (2021)
* Skanda (2023)

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