Okkadu

Okkadu
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGunasekhar
Written byStory & Screenplay:
Gunasekhar
Dialogues:
Paruchuri Brothers
Produced byM. S. Raju
StarringMahesh Babu
Bhumika Chawla
Prakash Raj
CinematographySekhar V. Joseph
Edited byA. Sreekar Prasad
Music byMani Sharma
Production
company
Release date
  • 15 January 2003 (2003-01-15)
Running time
171 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu

Okkadu (transl. one person) is a 2003 Indian Telugu-language romantic sports action drama film co-written and directed by Gunasekhar and produced by M. S. Raju. The film stars Mahesh Babu, Bhumika Chawla and Prakash Raj.The music was composed by Mani Sharma, while the cinematography and editing were handled by Sekhar V. Joseph and A. Sreekar Prasad.

In the film, Ajay, a fiery Kabaddi player from Hyderabad, visits Kurnool for a tournament and rescues Swapna from a faction leader, Obul Reddy, who wants to marry her by force. As Ajay hides her and helps plan her escape abroad, a violent feud erupts, leading to love, loss, and a final showdown.

Okkadu was released on 15 January 2003 to critical acclaim. The film received praise for its acting, action sequences, and direction and went on to become a major commercial success grossing over ₹50 crore at the box office with a distributors' share of ₹25-30 crore. It became Mahesh Babu's first big blockbuster in his career after the successes of Rajakumarudu and Murari and led him to achieve stardom. It has garnered eight Nandi Awards and four Filmfare Awards South, including Best Film– Telugu.

Over the years, the film was remade in eight other languages: as Ghilli (2004) in Tamil, as Ajay (2006) in Kannada, twice in Bangladesh as Dapot (2006) and Bolona Kobul (2009), as Mate Aanidela Lakhe Phaguna (2008) in Odia, as Jor (2008) in Bengali, as Tevar (2015) in Hindi, and as Kabaddi (2021) in Sinhala.