15 Years of 'Pokiri': Was Mahesh Babu starrer a Box Office super hit? Find out

Pokiri is a Telugu-language action thriller film written and directed by Puri Jagannadh and stars Mahesh Babu and Ileana D'Cruz in the lead roles while Prakash Raj, Nassar, Ashish Vidyarthi, and Sayaji Shinde played prominent characters. The film was released 15 years ago on this day and received a positive response from critics. Was Mahesh Babu's Pokiri movie a Box Office super hit? Read ahead to know more.

Was Pokiri movie a Box Office super hit?

Pokiri was released on April 28, 2006, and ran for more than 500 days at a theatre in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. According to IMDb, it was the first Telugu movie to run successfully for 100 days in Chennai. It was one of the highest-grossing films in India and collected a distributor's share of Rs 42 crore. The film grossed Rs 66 crore worldwide and remained the highest-grossing Telugu film for three years. The movie was also screened at the International Indian Film Academy Awards Film festival. It won four Nandi Awards and turned out to be a breakout film for Ileana and Puri Jagannadh. The IMDb rating of the film is 7.9 out of 10.

More about Ileana D'cruz's Pokiri

The story of the film revolves around a local goon whose killer instincts earn him not only his girlfriend's disapproval and a corrupt cop's enmity but also the attention of a wanted don. It is produced under the banner of Vaishno Academy and Indira Productions and was mostly shot at Hyderabad and Chennai. The film was also remade in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali. Take a look at Pokiri trailer below. 

Lesser known facts about the film

• Mahesh Babu's other film Sainikudu was stalled to complete the shooting Pokiri even though he had signed that one first.
• Most of the scenes from the film are a "single take."
• The last stunt sequence in the climax was shot for more than 10 days.
• Ayesha Takia was supposed to play the role of Ileana, but she declined the role. In 2009, Ayesha played the female lead in its Hindi remake Wanted.
• Mahesh Babu's sister, Manjula co-produced Pokiri.

(Promo Image source: Namrata Shirodkar's Instagram)