Kumari 21F is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film written by Sukumar and directed by Palnati Surya Pratap.
Devi Sri Prasad composed the film's background score and music and R. Rathnavelu was the director of photography.
It received mostly positive critical response; praise was directed towards the film's climax, performances (especially Hebah Patel), screenplay, cinematography and music.
It was declared a commercial success based on the return on distributor's investment of ₹10 crore and became the twelfth highest grossing Telugu film of the year.
Siddhu's friends discover Kumari is actually Meena, a Mumbai-based model who was caught in a police raid at a brothel.
After an ATM robbery, the trio escapes and Srinu loses his cellphone; Kumari finds it and hands it to the police.
Kumari rejects Siddhu's advances that night; the following day, he discovers his father never had an extra-marital relationship and his mother misunderstood.
The trio reach Kumari's house before Siddhu, sedate her with narcotics mixed with juice, and sexually assault her.
Three years later, Siddhu is running a kitchen in Hyderabad and the inspector plans to close the case because he could not find the trio.
In October 2014, Sukumar announced he would co-produce a film along with Vijay Bandreddi and Thomas Reddy under the banner P.A.
Palnati Surya Pratap, who made his directorial debut with Current (2009), was chosen to direct this film.
He said it is not a female-centric film and both the lead roles, for which Raj Tarun and Sheena Bajaj were chosen, would be equally important.
[11] He defined Kumari as an "honest and genuine human being who isn't afraid of expressing herself" and the "sort of girl most people would know", despite going overboard at times with her characterisation during the scripting stage.
[12] Sukumar's technicians Devi Sri Prasad and R. Rathnavelu were signed as the film's music composer and director of photography respectively.
Rathnavelu felt they would create a noisy, crowded environment if shot there and chose to shoot in an isolated colony and in confined spaces.
[3] Abhishek Pictures acquired the theatrical distribution rights for the Guntur, Krishna, East, West and Nellore areas.
[32] Karthik Keramalu of CNN-IBN gave Kumari 21F 3.5 stars out of 5 and called it a "surprisingly good" film, adding, "The emotions of the leads are true and it rightly says that at the end of the day trust is all that matters and nothing else comes into the picture".
Rao also said, "The best part is the way that the film's climax is presented; the director Palnati Surya Pratap has definitely done a very mature job".
[35] The Hans India also gave the film 3 stars out of 5 and stated, "Sukumar popularly known as a creative director in the industry, has once again come out with an unusual story.
"[38] Y. Sunita Chowdary of The Hindu called the film "regressive and cliched", and stated, "It's not enough if a canvas boasts of the biggest names in the industry, the content should be simple and progressive".
[39] A. Harini Prasad of The New Indian Express called Kumari 21F a "Lacklustre Love Story" and stated, "Though the basic theme is enticing, the story-telling fails to impress.
According to trade analyst Taran Adarsh, it grossed US$149,752 (₹99 lakh) in its first weekend at the North American box office.
[47] With this, Kumari 21F secured the tenth position in the list of the ten highest-grossing Telugu films of the year at the US box office.
It was declared a commercial success based on the return on distributor's investment of ₹10 crore and became the 12th highest grossing Telugu film of the year.
[4] Kumari 21F was remade in Kannada with the same title by debutant director Sriram Vemula, with Pranaam Devaraj and Nidhi Kushalappa.