Zebra (film)

Zebra is 2024 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film directed by Eashvar Karthic, who co-wrote with Yuva.^[3][4] The film has an ensemble cast of Satyadev, Dhananjaya, Sunil, Satya, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Jeniffer Piccinato and Sathyaraj.^[5] The music is composed by Ravi Basrur.

Zebra
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Eashvar Karthic
Screenplay by	Eashvar Karthic Yuva
Dialogues by	Meeraqh
Story by	Eashvar Karthic
Produced by	Bala Sundaram Dinesh Sundaram S. N. Reddy
Starring	Satyadev Dhananjaya Sunil Satya Priya Bhavani Shankar Jeniffer Piccinato Sathyaraj
Cinematography	Sathya Ponmar
Edited by	Anil Krish
Music by	Ravi Basrur
Production companies	Old Town Pictures Padmaja Films Private Limited
Release date	22 November 2024 (2024-11-22)
Running time	164 minutes[1][2]
Country	India
Language	Telugu

Zebra was released on 22 November 2024 to positive reviews from critics.^[6]

Premise

Surya Kancharana, a bank employee, learns that his girlfriend, Swathi Navvaluri, a bank employee in a different bank, has made a major mistake in her work. He helps her rectify the mistake by using loopholes in the Indian banking system, but soon earns the wrath of Aditya "Aadhi" Devaraj, an egoistic multi-millionaire. Aadhi threatens Surya into paying him ₹5 crores in 4 days, leading Surya to get stuck in a life-or-death situation.

Cast

• Satyadev as Surya Kancharana "Pandu", Senior Relationship Manager of Bank of Trust, Gachibowli, Hyderabad
• Dhanajaya as Aditya "Aadhi" Devaraj^[7]
• Sunil as Madhan Gupta
• Satya as Bob "Buddy"
• Priya Bhavani Shankar as Swathi Navvaluri
• Jeniffer Piccinato as Sheela Chawla "Snake", Branch Manager of Bank of Trust, Gachibowli, Hyderabad
• Sathyaraj as Baba
• Suresh Chandra Menon as Military, Compliance Officer of Bank of Trust
• Temper Vamsi as Benny D'Souza
• Ravin Makhija as Pankaj
• Ramaraju as Tagore
• Surya as Abbu
• Sameer as Janaki Raman
• Prudhvi Raj as Shrungara Samaram, Branch Manager of KDFC Bank, Gachibowli, Hyderabad
• Usha Sree as Jennifer D'Souza, Benny D'Souza's wife
• Deepthi as Flora
• Raviteja as Paani
• Aziz Naser as RP
• Kancharapalem Raju
• Dheer Charan Srivastav
• Hima Varma as Lavanya
• Yogi Khatri
• Sarkar Khatri as Chotu
• Kalyani Natarajan as Surya's mother
• Amrutha Iyengar in a special appearance as Aaradya
• Ramachandra Raju in a special appearance as the Chief Minister

Music

The music of the film is composed and scored by Ravi Basrur.

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Teri Meri"	Purna Chary	Vijayalaxmi Mettinahole, Santhosh Venky	4:06
2.	"Tere Bina"	Krishna Kanth	Airaa Udupi, Santhosh Venky	3:12
3.	"Gaaya Laina"	Purna Chary	Santhosh Venky	3:40
4.	"Money Money"	Roll Rida	Roll Rida	3:18

Release

The film was theatrically released on 22 November 2024.^[8][9][10] Post-theatrical digital streaming rights were acquired by Aha and premiered on 20 December 2024.^[11][12]

Reception

Paul Nicodemus of The Times of India rated three stars out of five and stated that "Zebra is an entertaining action thriller that thrives on the electric performances of Satyadev and Dhananjaya."^[13] Sanjay Ponnappa of India Today wrote that "The climax sequence deserves a special shout-out, where the lead up delivers a thrilling culmination point." and rated three out of five stars.^[14] BH Harsh of Cinema Express stated that "Zebra just feels excruciatingly long and worn out" and rated two out of five stars.^[15]

Avinash Ramachandran of The Indian Express rated the film three out of five stars and wrote that "The film is essentially about how dubious the field of banking is, and the ease with which our hard-earned money does more work for the bank than for us. In many ways, Zebra is like an interesting PSA that asks us to read the fine print before operating a bank account."^[16] Kirubhakar Purushothaman of News18 gave it three out of five stars and wrote that "There's a lot to call out in Zebra--including the questionable depiction of a female character--but Eashvar Karthic and Yuva's speeding screenplay keeps you entertained and distracted."^[17]

Suhas Sistu of The Hans India gave it two and three-fourths out of five stars and wrote, "While the screenplay occasionally gets bogged down by subplots, the film’s core strength lies in its engaging concept and strong performances. With a sharper focus and crisper runtime, Zebra could have reached greater heights."^[18] Srivathsan Nadadhur of The Hindu wrote, "After a disappointing directorial debut with Penguin, Eashvar Karthic redeems himself with this clever financial thriller, ably supported by a committed bunch — on and off screen."^[1] Y Maheswara Reddy of Bangalore Mirror gave the film three out of five stars and opined that "Director Eashvar Karthic has succeeded in making a thrilling action-crime flick, giving equal screen space to Satyadev Kancharana and Dhananjay."^[2]