Raajakumara
Raajakumara (transl. The Prince) is a 2017 Indian Kannada-language action drama film written and directed by Santhosh Ananddram and produced by Vijay Kiragandur under Hombale Films. It stars Puneeth Rajkumar and Priya Anand. Ananth Nag, Sarath Kumar, Prakash Raj, Chikkanna, Sadhu Kokila, Achyuth Kumar and Avinash play supporting roles.[3] The film's music album was composed by V. Harikrishna.
| Raajakumara | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Santhosh Ananddram |
| Written by | Santhosh Ananddram |
| Produced by | Vijay Kiragandur |
| Starring | Puneeth Rajkumar Priya Anand |
| Cinematography | Venkatesh Anguraj |
| Edited by | K. M. Prakash |
| Music by | V. Harikrishna |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Jayanna Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 148 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Kannada |
| Box office | ₹ 75 crore[1][2] |
Raajakumara was released on 24 March 2017 and received positive reviews from critics where the film went to become sixth highest-grossing Kannada film at the time of its release until K.G.F: Chapter 1[4] surpassed it. The film became the first Kannada movie to complete 6000 shows in multiplex within six weeks of its release [5] and also completed 7577 shows in multiplex within 87 days.[6][7] The film had a theatrical run of more than 100 days in 45–50 centres across Karnataka and also grossed ₹75 crore (US$9.4 million) worldwide.[8][9][1]
Plot
Siddharth is an helpful youngster and adopted son of Ashok, a kind-hearted corporate business magnate. He leads a happy life in Melbourne, Australia taking care of his father's business and fighting for his native country's pride. Siddharth meets and falls for Nandini, who is a salsa instructor and Ashok's friend Jagadeesh's daughter. Siddharth's life takes a tragic turn as he loses his whole family in a flight crash and returns to India to his orphanage headed by Krishna, who now runs an old-age home.
Through Jagadeesh, Siddharth discovers that Ashok was framed for the deaths of infant children due to the polio scheme introduced by Ashok for the poor people, where he decide to prove Ashok's innocence. He also looks after the old people in an old age home, like their son and solves all their problems, while also taking care of the children, purchasing medicines to the children affected by the polio scheme. One day, Siddharth comes across Vishwa Joshi in the hospital, who also stays at the old-age home.
Joshi reveals that the polio scheme was actually ruined due to the machinations created by his son Jagannath, who is the present-health minister of Karnataka. Joshi wants to expose the illegal acts done by Jagannath and was hiding in the old-age home for the right time to expose him. Siddharth also supports Vishwa Joshi and makes Jagannath to hand over the case to CBI for further investigation in an interview.
Jagannath tries to ruin their plans where he also gets the old age home and his father attacked by his henchmen. However, Jagannath has a change of heart where he saves his father and surrenders himself to the police and all the old people reunite with their children, after realizing their mistakes from Siddharth, who gave a speech at a news broadcast.
Cast
- Puneeth Rajkumar as Siddharth aka Appu, Ashok and Sujatha's adopted son
- Priya Anand as Nandini, a salsa instructor and Siddharth's fiancée
- Ananth Nag as Vishwa Joshi, Jagannath's father
- Sarath Kumar as Ashok, Siddharth's adoptive father
- Prakash Raj as Jagannath, a corrupt health minister of Karnataka[10]
- Chikkanna as Chikka, Ashram's cook
- Sadhu Kokila as Anthony Gonsalves, a guide at Goa
- Achyuth Kumar as Krishna, Ashram's head
- Honnavalli Krishna as Muniyappa
- Bhargavi Narayan as Puttamma
- Chitra Shenoy as Gayathri
- Anil as Suri, Jagannath's assistant
- Vijayalakshmi Singh as Sujatha, Siddharth's adopted mother
- Rangayana Raghu as Venky, Siddharth's fun-loving uncle
- Dattanna as Mohammad Rafi
- Avinash as Jagadeesh, Nandini's father
- Ashok as Murthy
- Dany Kuttappa as Financier
- M P Venkata Rao
- Aruna Balraj
- Rockline Sudhakar
- Ravi Hegde
- Sundar Ram
- Goutham Karanth
- Bank Suresh
- Malathi Sudhakar
- Ashok Dev
- Veena Sundar
- Vijay Koundinya as corrupt Inspector
- M. K. Mata as Thangam
- Mandeep Roy
- Vijayanand as a press photographer
- K. S. Shridhar
- Jani Master in a cameo appearance "Appu Dance"
Production
Development
In March 2016, it was reported that Director Santhosh Ananddram and Puneeth Rajkumar would work together for the first time together. V. Harikrishna was selected to compose the music for this film. The film was highly expected due to its marketing. "Rajakumara is a different subject which portrays two different stories & the two stories are bridged between Appu's character", said Santhosh. Pre-production work, location hunt and casting finalisation required almost a year.
Casting
Priya Anand was roped to play lead actress role which marked her debut in Kannada cinema, collaboration with Puneeth Rajkumar. The film has an ensemble cast starring Ananth Nag, Prakash Raj, Sarath Kumar, Achyuth Rao, Chikkanna, Datthanna, Sadhu Kokila, Rangayana Raghu and others.
Filming
The film went on the floors on 22 April 2016. The first schedule took place in Australia in various parts like Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne after which the crew did the rest of the shoot in Bengaluru, Chennai, Mysuru, Goa, Varanasi and later in Malaysia. The makers of his upcoming film, Raajakumara released the first look of the film on 17 March — to coincide with the actor's 41st birthday.
Soundtrack
| Raajakumara | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |||||
| Released | 6 March 2017 | ||||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||||
| Length | 21:15 | ||||
| Language | Kannada | ||||
| Label | D Beats | ||||
| V. Harikrishna chronology | |||||
| |||||
| |||||
V. Harikrishna composed the soundtrack album and background score for the film. The full album was released on 6 March 2017.[11] The song "Bombe Helutaithe" samples the beat of the song "Aadisi Nodi Beelisi Nodu" from the film Kasturi Nivasa.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Yarivanu Kannadadavanu" | Santhosh Ananddram | Shashank Sheshagiri | 4:03 |
| 2. | "Yaakingagidhe" | Yogaraj Bhat | Puneeth Rajkumar | 3:55 |
| 3. | "Bombe Helutaithe" | Santhosh Ananddram | Vijay Prakash | 4:47 |
| 4. | "Appu Dance" | Santhosh Ananddram | Santhosh Venky, Priya Himesh | 4:12 |
| 5. | "Saagaradha" | Pavan Ranadheera | Sonu Nigam | 4:34 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mr. Perfect" | M. V. Gopal Ram | Harry Mallya | 4:03 |
| 2. | "Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai" | M. V. Gopal Ram | Rajkumar | 3:55 |
| 3. | "Gudiya Dolti Hai" | M. V. Gopal Ram | Harry Mallya | 4:47 |
| 4. | "Appu Dance" | M. V. Gopal Ram | Harry Mallya, Rini Chandra | 4:12 |
| 5. | "Saagar Ki Lehre" | M. V. Gopal Ram | Pankaj Saini | 4:34 |
Reception
Raajakumara received positive reviews from critics.[12]
Critical response
Sunayana Suresh from The Times Of India gave 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "The entire ensemble cast, right from comedians Rangayana Raghu and Achyuth Kumar to antagonist Prakash Raj and veterans like Ananth Nag, HG Dattatreya and Bhargavi Narayan have interesting characters sketched out that entertain you."[13]
Indiaglitz gave 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "This is a good family watch; the youths think on their mistakes, the oldies get relief, fans of Puneeth Rajakumar thoroughly enjoy."[14] Shashiprasad SM of Deccan Chronicle gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "If family sentiment is your preferred mode of entertainment, then ‘Raajakumara’ will not disappoint you."[15]
Archana Nathan of The Hindu described the film as generic and wrote "There is very little that gives Raajakumara its identity or a clear storyline ... Achyuth Kumar and Ananth Nag perform well but their roles too are too simplistically written."[16] Shyam Prasad of Bangalore Mirror gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "The constant reference to Puneeth’s career and films goes overboard at times. The film becomes a tribute to the actor and a personality building exercise mostly. But he manages to pull off the role with the subtlety that proves his acting prowess again."[4]
Box office
The film released in over 350[17] screens across Karnataka, collected ₹75 crore [18][8][1] and went on to become highest grossing Kannada film of all time[19] until the release of K.G.F: Chapter 1.[20]
Awards
| Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 Karnataka State Film Awards | Best Family Entertainer | Vijay Kiragandur Santhosh Ananddram |
Won | [21][22] |
| Best Music Direction | V. Harikrishna | Won | ||
| 65th Filmfare Awards South | Best Director | Santhosh Ananddram | Nominated | [23][24] |
| Best Actor | Puneeth Rajkumar | Won | ||
| Best Music Director | V. Harikrishna | Nominated | ||
| Best Lyricist | Santhosh Ananddram ("Bombe Heluthaithe") | Nominated | ||
| Best Male Playback Singer | Vijay Prakash – "Bombe Heluthaithe" | Nominated | ||
| Zee Kannada Hemmeya Kannadiga Award 2018 | Hemmeya Chitra (Proud Film) | Raajakumara | Won | [25] |
| Hemmeya Nata (Proud Hero) | Puneeth Rajkumar | Won | ||
| Hemmeya Nirdeshaka (Proud director) | Santhosh Ananddram | Won | ||
| Love Lavike Readers Choice Award | Best Actor | Puneeth Rajkumar | Won | |
| 7th South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Film | Vijay Kiragandur | Won | [26][27] |
| Best Director | Santhosh Ananddram | Won | ||
| Best Actor | Puneeth Rajkumar | Won | ||
| Best Actor in a Negative Role | Prakash Raj | Nominated | ||
| Best Comedian | Chikkanna | Won | ||
| Best Music Director | V Harikrishna | Won | ||
| Best Lyricist | Santhosh Ananddram ("Bombe Heluthaithe") | Won | ||
| Best Male Playback Singer | Vijay Prakash – "Bombe Heluthaithe | Nominated | ||
References
- "This man is the highly paid actor in Kannada film industry". Asianet Newsable. 23 May 2017. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
- "Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Top Celebrity Entertainment TV News & Gossip". www.timesnownews.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- "Exclusive: Puneeth's look in Raajakumara — Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
- Raajakumara movie review: Inheritance of loss – Bangalore Mirror. Bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com (24 March 2017). Retrieved on 2017-06-27.
- Kumar, Santhosh. (5 May 2017) Raajakumara Continues The Golden Run At Box Office. Filmibeat. Retrieved on 2017-06-27.
- Details. Vijaykarnatakaepaper.com. Retrieved on 27 June 2017.
- New benchmark for Kannada films – Bangalore Mirror. Bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com (9 May 2017). Retrieved on 2017-06-27.
- Upadhyaya, Prakash. "Sudeep, Yash, Upendra, Jaggesh to join Puneeth's Raajakumara 100-day celebration".
- "Rajakumara 100, all time industry hit-Kannada Movie News". IndiaGlitz.
- "Prakash Raj enjoys hopping across cities on work — Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
- Raajakumara |Track List | Puneeth Rajkumar | V Harikrishna | Santosh Ananddram | Hombale Films. YouTube (5 March 2017). Retrieved on 2017-06-27.
- Raajakumara (Rajakumara) movie review:A tailor-made entertainer for Puneeth Rajkumar fans. Ibtimes.co.in (24 March 2017). Retrieved on 2017-06-27.
- Sunayana Suresh (24 March 2017). "Raajakumara Movie Review". Times Of India. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- Rajakumara review. Rajakumara Kannada movie review, story, rating – IndiaGlitz.com. M.indiaglitz.com. Retrieved on 27 June 2017.
- Raajakumara movie review: Power star is the saving grace. Deccanchronicle.com. Retrieved on 27 June 2017.
- Raajakumara: Too generic even for a star vehicle. The Hindu. Retrieved on 27 June 2017.
- The film is not about Appaji – Bangalore. The Hindu (14 March 2017). Retrieved on 2017-09-29.
- "Can Shiva Rajkumar-Sudeep starrer 'The Villain' make it to the Rs 100 crore club? - Kannada Sandalwood News".
- "Puneeth Rajkumar: A Youth Icon Gone Too Soon".
- : Raajakumara to be first film to cross Rs 50 crore mark | Kannada Movie News – Times of India. M.timesofindia.com (9 May 2017). Retrieved on 2017-09-29.
- Karnataka State Film Awards 2017 Announced
- "State Film Award 2017: Suddi bags Best Film award". Deccan Herald. 25 October 2018.
- "Nominations for the 65th Jio Filmfare Awards South 2018". filmfare. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
- "Winners of the 65th Jio Filmfare Awards (South) 2018". Filmfare. 16 June 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- "Here's the list of Hemmeya Kannadigas who have made Karnataka proud". Times Of India. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
- "SIIMA Awards 2018 - Telugu, Kannada nomination list out". International Business Times. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- "SIIMA Awards 2018 Telugu Kannada winners list". International Business Times. 16 September 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
External links
- Raajakumara at IMDb