Once Upon a Warrior (2011)
"Anaganaga O Dheerudu" (original title)

In a teardrop-shaped land called Sangarashtra, a 9-year-old girl with special healing powers tries to save her homeland from the tyranny of an evil queen with the help of a blind swordsman.

Director:

Prakash Rao

Writers:

Rahul Koda (additional writing), Rajasimha (dialogue),

Stars:

Siddharth, Shruti K. Haasan, Lakshmi Manchu

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Siddharth	...	Yodha
Shruti K. Haasan	...	Priya (as Shruti Haasan)
Lakshmi Manchu	...	Irendri
Harshitha	...	Moksha
Ravi Babu	...	Sudigundam
Vallabhaneni Ramji	...	Druki
Brahmanandam	...	Jaffa
Ali	...	Jilebi
Tanikella Bharani	...	Kakshira
Sudarshan	...	Gunda
Charan	...	Child
Madhavi	...	Devika
Hari Teja	...	Chitra
Subbaraju	...	Danaiah (as Subba Raju)
Subbaraya Sarma	...	Lama

Storyline

The evil witch queen Irendri's reign of terror spreads across the teardrop-shaped land Sangarashtra. The strong are forced to join her army, the weak are sacrificed to her snake demon. Moksha, a young girl raised in a monastery untouched by the tyranny, has been gifted with healing powers. Irendri knows that the child's blood will grant her immortality, and sends her army to find her. Moksha's sworn protector is Yodha --a blind swordsman who dreams of his lost love, the beautiful gypsy girl Priya. Can they find a way to conquer Irendri and her dark forces?

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Plot Keywords:

evil queen | girl | blind swordsman | nine year old | fantasy land | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence and scary images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official Twitter

Country:

India

Language:

Telugu

Release Date:

21 January 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Once Upon a Warrior

Filming Locations:

Annapoorna Studios, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

Box Office

Budget:

INR 270,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Abode, Bellyful of Dreams Entertainment, A

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min 133 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Walt Disney Pictures' first Indian live-action feature film. Their first Indian animated film was Roadside Romeo, a co-production with Yash Raj Films.

User Reviews

A very magical matinée!

Connoisseurs of Bollywood extravaganzas may sneer at the Disney backed musical/fantasy/adventure/romance epic...but it is an absolute delight for a more casual view on a wintry afternoon. Initial surprise at the studio that Walt built branching out into such exotic territory...but when the narrative begins spinning charming echoes of "Snow White" into the mix (the wicked sorceress here has a much flashier wardrobe...but she could be the snake haired sister of Snow's nasty nemesis).

Add in a few dashes of "the Wizard Of Oz", some lavish, and to me vastly entertaining, production numbers...and a very surprising nod to "Zatoichi" the blind Japanese swordsman and you get a very diverting two hours.

This film is also of interest for it's interesting blending of CGI / Green screen spectacle and lavish shot on location scenic splendor...

The costumes are lavish, the lead actors are ravishing, the good vs evil plot works very sweetly...and the surprisingly squishy violence will guarantee that nobody falls asleep...

All in all a lovely way to kill a cold winter afternoon!