Rebel (2012 film)

On 2 December 2010, the opening ceremony of the film took place in Hyderabad. At the event, it was announced that J. Bhagawan and J. Pullarao would produce the film, it would be directed by Raghava Lawrence and would star Prabhas and Anushka in lead roles. The main cast was also announced during the event, which included Brahmanandam, Mukesh Rishi, Kelly Dorjee, Sayaji Shinde, Ali, MS Narayana, Chalapathi Rao, Jayaprakash Reddy, Supreet and Jeeva.[4] In February 2011, it was announced that Deeksha Seth would play the second lead in the film.[5] The filming was delayed due to various reasons causing Anushka to opt out of the project.[6] In August 2011, it was announced that Tamannaah had replaced Anushka.[7][8] In January 2011, it was reported that Krishnam Raju would play a vital role in the film.[9] It was later confirmed that he would be portraying a father character while popular Telugu actress Prabha would play the role of a mother.[10]

After much delays, regular filming began on 21 May 2011.[11] In the fifty days of working schedule, one action episode and a song were filmed. In October 2011, it was reported that the filming would take place in Bangkok, where action sequences would be shot.[12] In December 2011, it was reported that the unit would go back to Bangkok to shoot some vital scenes and action sequences with Tamannah and Prabhas.[13] After completing the Bangkok schedule, filming resumed at Shamshabad Temple near Hyderabad.[14] It was reported that a special set worth ₹20 million was built at Shamshabad and filming took place in it with 100 fighters and over 1000 extras participating in the schedule.[15] In March 2012, it was reported that another set had been built at Ramoji Film City, where the climax scenes with 30 Russian fighters were shot.[16]

In June 2012, the unit went back to Bangkok for the third time to shoot two songs of the movie.[17] After completing the schedule, the filming resumed at Pollachi where scenes on Prabhas and other lead cast were canned.[18] The filming shifted to Pondicherry where action episodes involving Prabhas were shot.[19] The last schedule of filming took at an aluminium factory in Hyderabad.[20]

The film was postponed several times due to delays in post-production works. After much delay, the film was released worldwide on 28 September 2012 in over 950 screens worldwide.

It was announced that 7 Seas, a premier entertainment company, purchased the overseas theatrical distribution rights of the film.[21] The theatrical distribution rights for the Nizam region were bought by Dil Raju for ₹90 million.[22] The rights for Vizag region were sold to Bellamkonda Suresh for ₹30.6 million.[23] Distribution rights for ceded region were bought by NV Prasad and Bellary Sai for ₹57.5 million.[24] Tamil Nadu theatrical distribution rights were sold for ₹3.3 million.[25] The film made excellent business all over and is up amongst the best films in terms of pre-release revenues.[26]

Purnima Ranawat of NDTV wrote "Rebel serves up fare for the mass audience. The film will be definitely liked by Prabhas' fans. Watch it for the dancing talent of Tamannaah Bhatia and action skills of Prabhas."[27] Radhika Rajamani of Rediff.com gave 1.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Working with hardly any storyline, director Raghava Lawrence had made a film that is arduous to watch... Rebel is a movie for the masses and certainly not for the discerning audience."[28]

Jeevi from Idlebrain.com gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Rebel is an revenge-based action film. Prabhas is known as one of the best mass stars of Telugu cinema. Lawrence's movies are known to appeal to the raw senses of mass movie lovers. Rebel is no exception. Interval block is really good. Rebel has decent commercial elements and targeted at masses. Masses will like it.[29] A reviewer from OneIndia.com gave 3 out of 5 stars and called the film "A treat for Prabhas fans".[30]

The film was dubbed into Malayalam with the same title. It was dubbed into Hindi as The Return of Rebel and in Tamil as Veerabali.[31][32]