Miss India is a 2020 Indian Telugu-language business drama film written and directed by Narendra Nath. It stars Keerthy Suresh and Jagapathi Babu, while Rajendra Prasad, Naresh, Nadhiya, and Naveen Chandra play supporting roles. The plot follows Manasa Samayuktha (Keerthy Suresh), a girl from a middle-class South Indian family, who dreams of having her tea business in the US. The film received negative reviews.
The film was produced by Mahesh S. Koneru under East Coast Productions. Dani Sanchez-Lopez and Sujith Vaassudev handled the cinematography, while S. Thaman composed the music. The film was planned to be released on 17 April 2020 was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was released on Netflix on 4 November 2020 in Telugu along with dubbed versions in Tamil and Malayalam.
Contents
Plot
Manasa Samyuktha, a woman with big goals from a middle-class family, moves to the US after her brother Arjun gets a job there. She dreams of setting up her own tea business in the US as promised to her late grandfather Dr. Vishwanath and to continue his legacy, but her family does not agree due to the risks involved in running a business. Manasa leaves home after a fight with her mother and brother after turning down Vijay Anand's marriage proposal.
Manasa meets Vikram, a venture capitalist, and pitches her business idea. Vikram is impressed and invests in Manasa’s business. Manasa opens her first tea café named “Miss India” in the US along with her friends and attains popularity quickly. Over time, she expands the outlets to other parts of the US. This angers Kailash Sivakumar (KSK), who owns a chain of coffee shops in the US. KSK does not like women growing in business, and he views Manasa’s tea business as a serious threat to his coffee shops. He waits for an opportunity to destroy Manasa’s business.
Padma, one of Manasa’s friends, brings a new business deal for Miss India, where they need to supply a large quantity of tea ingredients for a retailer in the US, but only on a credit basis. Manasa decides to take the risk by accepting the offer much against Vikram’s advice. However, after a few weeks, Manasa realizes that the retailer has deferred the payment and she has been cheated, leading to a cash crunch at Miss India. Manasa finds that Padma is the traitor and goes to meet her. Padma reveals that she did this on KSK’s orders in return for a large sum of money. However, Manasa has a hidden camera, which she uses to record Padma’s confession and release it to the media.
Manasa requests the public to financially help her and promises that each person helping her would be a shareholder in Miss India. She receives a good amount of money from the public and revives her business. In the end, KSK ends up bankrupt.
Cast
Keerthy Suresh as Manasa Samyuktha
Jagapathi Babu as Kailash Sivakumar a.k.a. KSK
Rajendra Prasad as Dr. Vishwanath, Manasa, Sahana, and Arjun's grandfather
Naresh as Sivarama Krishna, Manasa, Sahana, and Arjun's father
Nadhiya as Kamala, Manasa, Sahana, and Arjun's mother
Naveen Chandra as Vijay Anand, Manasa's former love interest
Kamal Kamaraju as Arjun Chaitanya, Manasa's elder brother
Bhanu Sri Mehra as Sahana, Manasa's elder sister
Sumanth Shailendra as Vikram, Manasa's business partner
Pujita Ponnada as Padma Nayana, Manasa's classmate and deceiver
Divya Sripada as Preethi, Manasa's friend
Praveen as Bijju, an employee in Miss India
Soundtrack
The music is composed by S. Thaman and released by Aditya Music. The first single, "Kotthaga Kotthaga" written by Kalyan Chakravarthi and sung by Shreya Ghoshal and S. Thaman, was released on 7 February 2020. The next single "Lacha Gummadi" was sung by Srivardhini and released on 28 October 2020. The third single "Theme of Miss India" was sung by Harika Narayan and Sruthi Ranjani and was released on 29 October 2020. The album was released on 2 November 2020.
Release
The film was released on Netflix on 4 November 2020 in Telugu along with dubbed versions in Tamil and Malayalam Languages.
Reception
The film received mixed-to-negative reviews, with criticism for various contrivances and plot inconsistencies, poor dialogue and characterization, and a lack of understanding of misogyny. Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute wrote, "With its constant reminders about the goodness of tea, Miss India feels like a two hour advertisement for chai. But one is not sure about the messaging because by the time it draws to a clumsy end, you feel the need for a much stronger beverage." Sudhir Srinivasan of Cinema Express gave the film 1.5/5 stars.