1: Nenokkadine

About the film

1: Nenokkadine (transl. 1: I am alone) is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language psychological action thriller film directed by Sukumar. Produced by 14 Reels Entertainment and distributed by Eros International, the film stars Mahesh Babu in the lead role alongside Kriti Sanon (in her film debut), Nassar, Pradeep Rawat and Kelly Dorji. The story follows Gautham, a rock musician suffering from schizophrenia and missing 25 percent of his brain's grey matter, as he embarks on a quest to find his parents with the help of his girlfriend, Sameera, a journalist.

Sukumar began working on the film's script after completing 100% Love (2011), using a bus driver's tale about a boy claiming his parents were murdered on his bus as the foundation. 1: Nenokkadine features cinematography by R. Rathnavelu and editing by Karthika Srinivas. The music was composed by Devi Sri Prasad. Principal photography commenced in April 2012 and concluded in October 2013. Filming took place in various locations including London, Belfast, Bangkok, and Indian cities such as Hyderabad, Mumbai, Goa, Chennai, and Bangalore. Produced on a budget of ₹60–70 crore, it was the most expensive Telugu film at the time of its release.

Plot

Gautham is a schizophrenic rock musician who is missing 25% of his grey matter. He hallucinates a mysterious person he believes is one of the three murderers of his parents. As a child, Gautham was convinced that he was an orphan and assumed that his parents were dead; he does not remember their names or what they looked like. At one of his concerts, Gautham sees one of the three men and chases him. Sameera, a journalist at the concert, films Gautham fighting his imaginary opponent. Gautham surrenders to the police after "killing" the man, confessing that he killed three men: one in Belfast, one in Pune, and one just now in Hyderabad. He is released from custody after Sameera broadcasts the video on television.

According to the psychiatrist, if Gautham can hallucinate a person other than the three men, he can be treated. Gautham goes to Goa on vacation. Sameera stalks him, convincing him that two people are stalking him: a journalist who wants to interview him (imaginary), and a person claiming to be his fan (real). Gautham begins to fall in love with Sameera. He saves her from a group of people trying to murder her; on an isolated island together, Gautham learns the truth behind the fourth imaginary person and writes Sameera off as a disturbed journalist. By the time he learns about Sameera's intentions, she has left for Hyderabad; Gautham pursues her. In Hyderabad, Gautham accidentally spoils Sameera's birthday plans, infuriating her.

Although he is convinced that he has made an enemy to cope with being an orphan, a mysterious person tries to kill Sameera, but Gautham saves her. Sameera learns that the mysterious person is Antonio Rosarius (one of the people behind Gautham's parents' death), a Goa-based crime boss who wants to kill her because she tried to expose the presence of hydrogen cyanide in seeds sold by Rosarius' company, AG1. Gautham meets Rosarius in the lobby of Sameera's office building. Assuming that he is an illusion, he shoots Rosarius dead. By the time Gautham realizes Rosarius is really dead, and learns that his parents were really murdered. He catches an aged taxi driver who was stalking him (another of the three men he imagined), and discovers that Rosarius, along with an NRI in London, killed his parents; his father gave a bag to the taxi driver to deliver to Gautham.

Production

After completing 100% Love (2011), Sukumar began working on a psychological thriller with Mahesh Babu in mind as the protagonist because he felt that Babu had universal appeal. An incident in which a bus driver talked about a young boy who said that his parents were murdered on his bus became the story's base. Babu met Sukumar on the set of Businessman (2012) in Goa, and listened to the script for 25 minutes. Although Sukumar could not describe the story well in the noisy restaurant, Babu agreed to appear in the film within half an hour. Sukumar worked on 1: Nenokkadine's script for two months, and considered it his dream project.

Ram Achanta, Gopichand Achanta and Anil Sunkara of 14 Reels Entertainment, who produced Babu's Dookudu (2011) and Aagadu (2014), agreed to produce 1: Nenokkadine after hearing the script. Asked about his frequent collaboration with them, Babu said that Sukumar clearly indicated the risk of budget escalation and longer production and said that he and Sukumar could be viewed as criminals if it was produced by someone else. Sunil Lulla and Andrew Hefferman were credited as co-producers, and Koti Paruchuri was its executive producer. The film, introduced on 12 February 2012 in Hyderabad, received its title in May 2013.

Babu agreed to be fit and healthy, since the film emphasised action scenes. He followed a 12-week Dynamic Transformation Plan (DTP) supervised by Kris Gethin, developing his abdominal muscles and losing weight. Babu then followed a Yoda Three Training regime (Y3T), supervised by Neil Hill, further developing his muscles. His stylist, Ashwin Malwe, said that his appearance and style would be "sophisticated and classy" in the film. Sukumar had Babu wear eyeglasses, since the director felt that audiences tended to consider a bespectacled character to be perfectionistic and positive, and the actor's hairstyle was changed.

Key details