Martin (2024 film)

Martin
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	A. P. Arjun
Screenplay by	Arjun Sarja Swamiji A. P. Arjun Uday K. Mehta
Story by	Arjun Sarja
Dialogues by	Gopinath Krishna Murthy A. P. Arjun
Produced by	Uday K. Mehta Suraj Uday Mehta
Starring	Dhruva Sarja Vaibhavi Shandilya Anveshi Jain Sukrutha Wagle Achyuth Kumar Nikitin Dheer
Cinematography	Satya Hegde
Edited by	K. M. Prakash
Music by	Mani Sharma (songs) Ravi Basrur (score)
Production companies	Vasavi Enterprises Uday K Mehta Productions
Distributed by	Mythri Movie Makers (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) KVN Productions Invenio Origin M S Films (Tamilnadu)
Release date	11 October 2024 (2024-10-11)
Running time	144 minutes
Country	India
Language	Kannada
Budget	₹150 crore
Box office	est. ₹18 crore (3 days)

Martin is a 2024 Indian Kannada-language action thriller film directed by A. P. Arjun, from a story by Arjun Sarja, and produced by Uday K. Mehta and Suraj Uday Mehta. It stars Dhruva Sarja, alongside Vaibhavi Shandilya, Anveshi Jain, Sukrutha Wagle, Achyuth Kumar and Nikitin Dheer. The songs and background score were composed by Mani Sharma and Ravi Basrur, while cinematography and editing were handled by Satya Hegde and K. M. Prakash.

Martin was theatrically released on 11 October 2024 and received negative reviews from critics.

Plot

In Pakistan, a mysterious person is injected with drugs, where he loses his memory and becomes aggressive. The person's aggressiveness leads him to get captured and imprisoned, but he escapes from the prison and manages to regain some memories with the help of Pakistani locals, whom he had met including a lolipop seller kid, a weapons dealer and an ally Regina. The person learns that he is actually Arjun Saxena, an IRS officer. However, Regina gets assassinated by Martin, an international gangster, who is known for his trademark of killing his opponents in the left eye.

Arjun contacts his friend Parashuram, an IPS officer, and learns that his friend Vivek, an MMA fighter, is in danger from Martin. Arjun arrives in Mumbai through a cargo boat and arrives at Andheri Railway Junction to meet Parashuram, but he gets attacked and Parashuram is killed by Martin's henchmen. Arjun tries to inform Vivek, who is in a MMA match, but Vivek is also killed. Arjun reunites with his friend Sathya and his fiancèe Preeti, where he plans to lure and capture Martin in Mangalore using Preeti as a bait. Arjun and Sathya protect Preeti and fends off masked attackers, where he regains his memory back. During this time, Arjun injures Sathya and reveals himself as Martin. It is revealed that Arjun and Martin are doppelgängers It is revealed that Arjun is in Pakistan was in coma for 15 days under treatment and care of Regina's friend Shabnam, a Pakistani ally and an undercover officer. Shabnam reveals to Arjun that Martin has escaped to India.

Past: Arjun siezes an illegal shipment, containing defective and hazardous medicines from Mushtaq, who runs a "Pharma mafia". Arjun captures and imprisones Mushtaq's men, where Mushtaq seeks Martin's help. Martin calls Arjun and tries to manipulate Arjun for releasing Mushtaq's container. Martin frames Arjun for killing Mushtaq's henchmen and gets him suspended, where he threatens Arjun to kill Preeti if Arjun tries to go after him. Arjun interrogates Martin's henchman Munna, with Parshuram's help, and learns that Martin has left for Pakistan. Martin spots Arjun from a news footage and kills Regina. Martin attacks Arjun in a under-construction site meeting, where Martin overpowers Arjun. However, Arjun leaves a bullet mark in his body to prove that he and Martin are different.

Present: Arjun arrives in Mangalore, where Martin is with Sathya and Preeti in a hospital. Arjun reaches the hospital, but Martin kidnaps Preeti and takes her to his hideout at a cruise ship. Arjun plans to destroy the containers, while Martin reveals himself to Preeti. Martin threatens Arjun for killing Preeti if the containers are not returned, while Arjun threatens to destroy the containers. Martin and Mushtaq plans to intercept Arjun and the cargo trucks. Arjun fends of the bikers, but he gets attacked by artillery jeeps. To Arjun's surprise, Martin destroys the jeeps and reveals that Vivek, Parashuram and Regina were actually working with Mushtaq, who not just sells hazardous medicines but also supplies illegal arms for spreading terrorism in the country. He also reveals that Mushtaq had tried to overtake him to take the containers. Martin makes a deal with Arjun in which he returns Preeti to Arjun and they both kill Mushtaq and destroy the containers, in exchange of money and erasing the identity of Martin.

Arjun receives appreciation and a medal for completing the mission done, where he receives a call from another doppelgänger called Rhino or Martin, who maybe living under the identity of Rhino.

Cast

• Dhruva Sarja in a dual role as:
  • Arjun Saxena
  • Martin
• Vaibhavi Shandilya as Preeti
• Achyuth Kumar as Ashok Kumar, a navy officer
• Anveshi Jain as Martin's girlfriend
• Sukrutha Wagle
• Chikkanna as Sathya
• Prathap Narayanan as Vivek
• Malavika Avinash as a Pakistani doctor
• Nikitin Dheer as Mushtaq
• Vajrang Shetty as Munna
• Nawab Shah as a Pakistani jailer
• Rohit Pathak as a Pakistani jailer
• Daniel Caltagirone
• Nathan Jones
• Rubiel Mosquera

Production

The film's shooting lasted 252 days. The climax was shot in 52 days. The film features 5000 segments with visual effects. According to Dhruva Sarja, the film was originally made on a budget of ₹80 crore and incurred a landing cost of ₹120 crore.

Soundtrack

Mani Sharma composed the soundtrack, while Ravi Basrur composed the musical score. The soundtrack album was secured by Saregama.

Release

Theatrical

Martin was theatrically released on 11 October 2024 in Kannada, along with the dubbed versions. Invenio Origin released the film across the country.

Home media

The satellite and digital streaming rights were sold to Zee Network and ZEE5.

Reception

S. Sridevi of The Times of India gave 2.5/5 stars and termed it as "all sound and spectacle and no substance." Jagadish Angadi of Deccan Herald gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Martin is strictly for die-hard action fans."

Sanjay Ponnappa of India Today gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Martin could have been a normal action thriller with a template story, had it not been pumped with so much budget and unnecessary chutzpah. From direction to all other technical departments like VFX, CGI, editing and more, every aspect of Martin was disappointing in massive proportions." Prathibha Joy of OTTPlay gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Martin feels like a lost opportunity; Dhruva vs Dhruva had potential, but what we get is a wafer-thin plot as old as time that will, perhaps, appeal to die-hard fans of DS Boss. For the rest, well, you’ve been warned."

Calling the film as a "Big-Budget Disappointment", Shashiprasad SM of Times Now gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Instead of focusing on a compelling story, screenplay, and thoughtful filmmaking, the emphasis seems to be on grandiosity, both visually and sonically." Goutham S of Pinkvilla gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "Martin offers nothing new in terms of story. The movie once again delves into creating some awe out of a larger-than-life character, even leaving an opportunity to expand it into a franchise."

In a negative review, Vivek M.V. of The Hindu wrote "In a bid to elevate actor Dhruva Sarja’s stardom, the makers of ‘Martin’ fall short in delivering a coherent action drama. Apart from one intense chase involving cars and bikes and the high-octane climax sequence shot in a vast, desert-like landscape, the much-hyped action sequences lack style." Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "For Dhruva, this movie was meant to be a major milestone in his career but Martin has turned out to be all hype with no substance."

External links

• Martin at IMDb