Tuck Jagadish

Adisesha Naidu is the headman of Bhudevipuram village. He has two sons with his first wife Tulsamma (Bosu and Jagadish) and two daughters and a son with his second wife Arjunamma (Ganga, Kumari, and Bujji who is mute). Tulasamma brings fortune to the family, through which Adisesha becomes rich. Following Tulsamma's death, while giving birth to Jagadish, Arjunamma takes Bosu and Jagadish with her as her own children, and all the children are brought up together as a joint family. Jagdish loves his stepmother and treats her as his own and also ideal brother to all his sisters. Bosu, however, secretly dislikes the other family members as he believes he is the only rightful inheritor of his father's wealth as the first son. He also hates the thought that his father has a soft corner for his girl children. Bhudevipuram is notorious for its property disputes, which are usually solved by Adisesha Naidu. On one such occasion, Veerendra's father is killed in a feud, and he develops hatred toward Adisesha's family.

Upon Adisesha's death from cardiac arrest, Bosu threatens the advocate and ensures to prepare the will giving him access to all the family assets rather than to his other siblings, contrary to what his father wished. He secretly makes a deal with Veerendra and gets his niece Chandra married to Veerendra's brother in exchange for a share in a windmill project coming up in the place of farms leased out to local farmers by Adisesha. Bosu also insults Arjunamma and his half-siblings when they demand a share in the property, thereby outing them. Following his father's death, Jagadish is also sent away to the city for further studies and is not informed of his niece's wedding. Upon returning to the village, he is furious about being kept in the dark about property disputes, farm issues, etc. He is shut down by his brother Bosu when he tries to talk him into sharing his portion of wealth with other family members. Jagadish then is appointed as the Mandal Revenue Officer (MRO) for that village with the district collector's support and starts mending everything his brother has done.

Jagadish visits his niece Chandra and understands that she has been a victim of domestic abuse and wishes to take her away from there. When she resists, he hands over her a remote with a light on the terrace of her house, which signals that she is in trouble. Unable to get a No Objection Certificate for the windmill project from the MRO Jagadish, Veerendra takes ₹5 crore from the project owner Somaraju and cheats Bosu. This causes a rift between Veerendra and Bosu that ensues Bose to be attacked by Veerendra's brother.

While Bosu is in a hospital bed, his stepmother donates blood for his recovery. With the help of the advocate, Jagadish learns and reveals to Bosu that his stepmother was his biological mother and Jagadish is the only child of Adisesha's first wife Tulsamma, thereby inheriting the entire property. Bosu is torn and hurt by the way he treated his own family and mends his relationship with them. Jagadish, however, is wrongly assumed to be after the property by everyone in the family except Bosu and Chandra.

Bosu visits Veerendra to repair Chandra's wedding life and recollect 5 crores so that it is paid back to Somaraju. Veerendra and his brother refuse and try to kill Bose and Chandra. Chandra realizes the danger and turns on the signal light to apprise Jagadish of the situation. Jagadish arrives, and in the ensuing fight, he kills Veerendra and his brother, thereby taking Bosu and Chandra back to the family. The family members realize their mistakes and misunderstandings and live together.

Jagadish marries the Village Revenue Officer Gummadi Varalakshmi and is transferred to a new village rampant in corruption which he is ready to address.

Tuck Jagadish
Soundtrack album by Thaman S and Gopi Sundar
Released	1 September 2021
Recorded	2021
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	17:56
Language	Telugu
Label	Aditya Music
Producer	Thaman S Gopi Sundar
External audio Audio Jukebox on YouTube
Thaman S chronology
Vakeel Saab (2021) Tuck Jagadish (2021) Varudu Kaavalenu (2021)
Gopi Sundar chronology
One (2021) Tuck Jagadish (2021) Most Eligible Bachelor (2021)
Singles from Tuck Jagadish
"Inkosaari Inkosaari" Released: 13 February 2021 "Kolo Kolanna Kolo" Released: 13 March 2021 "Neeti Neeti Sukka" Released: 27 March 2021

The film was originally announced with Thaman S as the music director, in his first collaboration with Nani and his second with Shiva Nirvana after working on the film score for Majili (2019).[29] However, due to differences of opinion with Shiva Nirvana,[30] Thaman walked out of the project and subsequently, Gopi Sundar, who worked in Nirvana's previous films, did the background score.[30]

Eventually, Thaman finished composing five songs for the film's soundtrack, before his exit.[31] The song "Inkosaari Inkosaari" was released as the first single on 13 February 2021 ahead of Valentine's Day. The single had lyrics written by Chaitanya Prasad and was sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Kaala Bhairava.[32] On 13 March 2021, another single "Kolo Kolanna Kolo" was released which had lyrics written by Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry and sung by Armaan Malik, Sri Krishna and Harini Ivvaturi.[33] The third single "Neeti Neeti Sukka" sung by Mohana Bhogaraju and written by Kalyan Chakravarthy was released on 27 March 2021, coinciding with Parichaya Vedika, a special promotional event for the film which was held on the same day.[34]

Despite working on the film score, Sundar also composed one song titled as "Tuck Song" was released along with the soundtrack album on 1 September 2021.[35] The track was sung and written by the director Shiva Nirvana, making his debut in both the fields.[36][37] A reviewer from Indiaglitz said that "With the set of songs in the soundtrack, one can say that Tuck Jagadish is a mass-commercial entertainer, and the songs will have a massy appeal to all kinds of audience".[38] Deccan Herald opined that the film score works in a few scenes but falls flat in others.[39] Another critic from 123Telugu wrote that Thaman's work in the soundtrack was decent but criticised Gopi Sundar's score stating that it was below par.[40]

The film was initially scheduled for a theatrical release on 16 April 2021,[41] but was later pushed back by a week to 23 April 2021.[42] The release was put on hold, following the second wave of COVID-19 in India. Following, the reopening of theatres in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,[43] the producers of Tuck Jagadish reinstated the plans for theatrical release during late-July and early-August.[44] However, they had decided to release the film through over-the-top streaming services (OTT), following the regulations of ticket prices levied by the Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy faced disapproval from the exhibitors.[45] In this process, medium and high-budget films may garner higher ticket rates as per the new regulations, which was condemned by many members from the film fraternity.[46] The digital rights were sold to Amazon Prime Video.

The film was planned for a release on 10 September 2021, during the festival Ganesh Chaturthi.[47][48] However, Sunil Narang, the vice president of Telangana Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC), requested the producers not to release on the date, as it may eventually affect the prospects of Love Story (2021), another film which scheduled for release theatrically on the same date,[49] and was postponed later.[50] However, the producers claimed that the decision was taken by the streaming platform's executives, and the producers do not have to interfere about the change of release.[51] In an interview to The Indian Express, Nani spoke about the film's release that "An OTT is a great platform to watch different types of content. It also has a massive reach and has inspired a change in the preferences of the audience. However, I firmly believe that nothing can replace the big-screen entertainment."[52]

Tuck Jagadish received mixed reviews from the critics.[58][59] Writing for The Hindu, Sangeetha Devi Dundoo called Tuck Jagadish a familiar family drama with a predictable storyline. She appreciated the emotional scenes between the characters and stated: "The later part of the story, though predictable and long-drawn, work partly because of the earnestness with which Nani, Aishwarya Rajesh and Jagapati Babu shoulder it. Ritu Varma is charming and effective."[60] Manoj Kumar R of The Indian Express said that the film was "old wine in a new bottle," criticizing the poor writing by Nirvana. "He seems to have borrowed, rehashed and refurbished ideas and the philosophy of all hit melodramatic films that he has ever watched without any value addition," he added.[61] Hindustan Times critic Haricharan Pudipeddi also felt the same, and wrote: "The emotional family drama moments are tiring to sit through, and the film is stuck in the 1980s, story-wise, but luckily the action choreography and performances make up for the boring plot."[62]

Murali Krishna CH of Cinema Express stated: "Tuck Jagadish is a mixed bag of emotions that depicts family conflict, sibling rivalry and heartbreak." Contrary to other critics, Krishna opined that the pacing was aptly suited to the film, given its "delicate, emotional tale that evokes the complexity of its premise."[63] India Today editor Janani K concluded her review by stating: "Tuck Jagadish is an emotional family drama that stresses the importance of human relationships. Had the screenplay had some refreshing sequences, the film would have had more impact."[64]

The Quint gave a rating of 3 out of 5 and opined that the film just stops short of being fully 'mass'. They further cited it as "pleasant yet familiar good vs evil story".[65] Balakrishna Ganeshan of The News Minute opined that the title had little relevance to the plot and suggested Naidu gari Kutumbam (transl. Naidu's family) instead. Ganesan also explored the politics of the film and wrote: "Tollywood films have always looked at village life from the perspective of Gandhi, or to be more precise, from an upper caste perspective that romanticises it. Villages are a cesspool of casteism. Defying caste codes will result in violence of various degrees."[66] Nirmal Narayanan of the International Business Times wrote: "Tuck Jagadish is cliched but engaging. If you are the one who loves to see that age-old village drama again, watch it."[67]

• Tuck Jagadish at IMDb
• Tuck Jagadish at Rotten Tomatoes