| Senapathi | |
| Director: | Pavan Sadineni |
| Producer: | Vishnu Prasad Sushmitha Konidela |
| Cinematography: | Vivek Kalepu |
| Editing: | Goutham Nerusu |
| Music: | Shravan Bharadwaj |
| Studio: | Gold Box Entertainment |
| Distributor: | Aha |
| Runtime: | 143 minutes |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Telugu |
Senapathi is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language crime thriller film directed by Pavan Sadineni. It is a remake of the 2017 Tamil-language film 8 Thottakkal. The film features an ensemble cast including Rajendra Prasad, Naresh Agastya, and Gnaneswari Kandregula. Senapathi premiered on 31 December 2021 on the streaming service Aha.
The film begins with an orphaned boy, Krishna, who works as a servant in a house. The owner incriminates him for the homicide of his wife by bribing a bent cop, which penalizes him to juvenile. Krishna befriends the warden, who inspires him to turn into a sincere police officer to clean the system and avoid duplication of injustice happening to him. Years roll by, and Krishna becomes the Inspector and advances as per his warden's guidance. Out of the blue, he works under vicious Circle Inspector Purushotham and the remaining outcasts. Krishna is currently opening the way for IPS to acquire high power to control the delicts. Once, a typist, Sarma, complaints that one has invective him, but Purushotham closes the case with kickback. So, Sarma approaches the media with a journalist, Satya, when Purushotham enrages, batters him, and destroys his type machine. Krishna feels remorseful, so he purchases a new one for Sarma to resolve the issue calmly. At that moment, Satya appreciates his virtue and the two crushes.
Purushotham begrudges when he assigns him to be behind a gangster with a revolver of 8 bullets, which slips in the chase. Purushotham allows one day to find it. Then, he realizes this arms smuggling is a giant circle that fails to break through. Anyhow, Krishna traces his roots in the ring of a Don Babloo Yadav—additionally, he captures the boy Siva, who pickpocketed his gun with the aid of Satya. Still, Siva hands it over to a gun dealer, and Krishna grabs him, too, but jinxed, a guy purchased it. Krishna Murthy, who gains the revolver, triumphs in a bank robbery, mingling two men, Raju, a call taxi driver & Husain, Babloo's acolyte. Tragically, a little girl, Shreya, dies through an entity of a blunder. The postmortem identifies that the bullet is from the Police gun. Simultaneously, Satya's reputation is at stake, compels her to leak Krishna's case, and it bedlams the media. Hence, Krishna has to pay a suspension penalty, and the department appoints the case to a jester, Paramjyothi. He discerns Krishna's honesty and unofficially joins him. They interrogate Siva, but he is futile when Krishna offers to civilize him, which Siva denies on account of his envisaging becoming a gangster like Babloo.
Indeed, Krishna Murthy is a constable who spent his service with integrity. Once, he clutches a deadly terrorist, but foxy Purushotham absconded him by impeaching him. Accordingly, Krishna Murthy did not benefit from the provident fund & bank loan, and it led to his wife's death—likewise, Krishna Murthy is dependent on his progeny, Prakash & Gayatri, and neglected & mortified by them. Raju aspires to settle in Dubai, so he engages in crime. As a glimpse, Husain holds an affair with Babloo's wife, Mahalakshmi / Maha. Both intend to elope and live a blissful life, which fuses him too in the theft.
On the eve of Maha's birthday, Husain accessed fresh note bundles to bestow a necklace, despite Krishna Murthy's objection. In the jewelry shop, the serial numbers expose Husain when he flees, but Krishna confirms him as Babloo's gang. Ergo, Paramjyoti advances to Babloo, and Krishna hunts Husain. Subsequently, Paramjyoti minds the link between Husain & Maha and mocks Babloo. Being furious, he attacks and dies in the encounter. The incident impacts Siva to reform facing reality. Husain attempts to elude with totality by backstabbing Krishna Murthy when he slays him. Spotting it, terrified Raju runs off and converts into an approver, surrendering to the police. Now, Paramjyoti & Krishna sketch to capture the actual killer by baiting Raju, but he also becomes a victim of the next bullet.
Once, an atypical incident made Krishna Murthy & Krishna acquainted unbeknownst to each other at the departmental inquiry. Whereat, Krishna Murthy faints, creating a conversation with Krishna and sharing all his grief with him. At that point, Krishna Murthy observes the dealer is tailing him for a share, and he slaughters him with the same gun. Following this, he equally divides a little of the stolen sum among his kids when Krishna Murthy laughs at their feigned love. Today, Krishna Murthy seeks vengeance and assassinates the Provident Fund officer who annoyed him. In quest of clues, Krishna perceives Krishna Murthy's application as sanctioned and approaches to endorse it. However, Prakash states that they have already received it when Krishna feels fishy and unwraps that Krishna Murthy is the master of the crimes.
Meanwhile, Krishna Murthy follows Purushotham to a bank, attempts another robbery, and kills him, after which he throws the money on the street. Suddenly, the police surround him after returning home when Paramjyoti keeps Krishna Murthy's grandson Rakesh at gunpoint. Cross-firing occurs in the room, and Krishna exits with his gun. Later, the investigating chamber announces Krishna not guilty, who has shot Krishna Murthy in secure Paramjyoti and retrieves his job. Yet, in fact, in the room, Paramjyoti trips a bullet on Rakesh, which falls under. Krishna Murthy injures Paramjyoti, and Krishna nabs him. Being regretful, Krishna Murthy pleads with Krishna to shoot him, proclaiming that he is unable to tolerate his family's pettiness, even being unaware that he has cancer. Thus, he schemed this robbery to lead a royal life in his last. Krishna Murthy is also penitent in the bloodshed of an infant, which he did not mean, and the excess money he has submitted to her family. Still, Krishna Murthy is so smug about eliminating delinquents like Purushotham and the provident Fund officer. Eventually, Krishna Murthy grabs a gun in Krishna's hands and commits self-sacrifice. At last, it is shown Maha continues as a roadside canteen by losing her husband & boyfriend, Siva advances to school by Krishna's motivation, and Paramjyoti admires Krishna, who questions the name of the one his 8th bullet is for. Finally, the movie ends with Krishna riding with Satya, and at the stoplight, he sees the employer who framed him on the side of the street.
Director Pavan Sadineni, who is known for his 2013 romcom Prema Ishq Kaadhal, was signed to helm the remake of the crime thriller 8 Thottakkal. Sadineni, however, prefers it to be called a "semi-remake" because they added new characters and changed several aspects while retaining the crux of the original.[1] The film marks the digital debut of veteran actor Rajendra Prasad.[2] Filming began in September 2021 and took place in the neighbourhoods of Hyderabad including Kavadiguda, Sainikpuri, Moosapet, Quthbullapur and the Old City. Senapathi released digitally on 31 December 2021 on the streaming service Aha.
Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu appreciated the performances of Prasad and Agasthya and wrote: "Senapathi begins with the promise of an edge-of-the-seat crime drama but gradually becomes an emotional tale. The emotional portions feel lengthy and stretched; had it been shorter, it would have added to the slow-burn atmosphere of the crime drama."[3] A reviewer from Eenadu appreciated the screenplay and stated that Sadineni had succeeded in adapting the Tamil film 8 Thottakkal to Telugu nativity.[4] In another positive review, Rajitha Chanti of TV9 Telugu also echoed the same, praising the performances and direction.[5] On technical aspects, Asianet News' Surya Prakash called Kalepu's cinematography a "highlight" while opining that Nerusu's editing could have been better. Production designed and score were also appreciated by Prakash.[6]