''Belli'' (translation: ''Silver'') is a 2014 Indian

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

action drama film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as ...

written and directed by Mussanje Mahesh. It stars an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

featuring

Shiva Rajkumar Dr.Shiva Rajkumar (born Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy; 12 July 1962) is an Indian actor, film producer and television presenter who predominantly works in Kannada cinema. In a career spanning over three decades, he has worked in over 125 films in Ka ...

Kriti Kharbanda Kriti Kharbanda (born 29 October 1990) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Bollywood, Hindi, Kannada cinema, Kannada and Telugu cinema, Telugu language films. Kharbanda is a recipient of several accolades including a South Indian In ...

Vinod Prabhakar Vinod Prabhakar, also known as Vinod, is an Indian film actor, who has worked predominantly in Kannada movie industry. Vinod made his debut with the Kannada film ''Dil''. Filmography Films External links * References {{DEFAULTSORT:Prabh ...

, Orata Prashanth, Shishya Deepak, Venkatesh Prasad,

Sudha Rani Jayashree, known by her screen name Sudha Rani, is an Indian actress, voice artist and former model. She has primarily worked in Kannada films in addition to some Tamil, Telugu, Tulu and Malayalam films. As on Feb 2024, she has acted in about ...

, Aravinda Rao and Padma Vasanthi. Produced by H. R. Rajesh, filming commenced in March 2014. The cinematography was done by K. S. Chandrashekar and was edited by Deepu S. Kumar. The soundtrack was composed by V. Sridhar. ''Belli'' was released on 31 October 2014, where it received mixed reviews from critics and became an average venture at the box office.

Premise

Basavaraj alias Belli (

) migrates from his village to the city in search of a job, where he falls into the trap of the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

under the leadership of a politician ( Chi. Guru Dutt) and also meets his new friends Babu (

), Ashwathnarayana Bhat (Shishya Deepak), Rafi (Venkatesh Prasad) and Srinivas (Orata Prashanth). In a clash between rival gangs, Belli's boss is killed and Belli is wounded due to an attack in his head, thus leaving him insane. Belli's friends feel guilty about his condition and leaves to start a new life. Despite his condition, Belli's memories recover in seconds/minutes where he sets out to avenge his boss' death.

Cast

Production

Mussanje Mahesh returned to direction with ''Belli'' after a three-year hiatus. He wanted to cast

in his film titled ''Maha Shivaratri'' which "unfortunately, ... got shelved". He later narrated the story of ''Belli'' which Shiva liked and signed to play the eponymous lead. Mahesh said that Shiva's character would be seen "in three shades". Vinod Prabhakar, Prashanth, Deepak and Venkatesh Prasad were cast to play parallel leads alongside Shiva. It was reported in March 2014 that

would play the female lead opposite Shiva. Filming began on 19 March 2014 in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. A few days prior to the release Mahesh revealed that Shiva portrays a "mentally unstable character" in the film.

Reception

The film opened with average to negative reviews from critics who noted the plot's similarities to Shiva Rajkumar's films from the previous decade, including the cult classic '' Om'' (1995), and ''

Jogi Jogi may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Jogi'' (2005 film), a Kannada film * "Jogi" (Panjabi MC song), 2003 * "Jogi" (The Sketches song), a song by Pakistani Sufi-rock band The Sketches *"Jogi", a song performed by Arko * ''Jogi'' (2022 fi ...

'' (2005).

Soundtrack

The film's score and soundtrack were composed by V. Sridhar and the audio was created by

Anand Audio Anand Audio is an Indian music record label company in Karnataka. It is primarily known for publishing and marketing Sandalwood cinema sound tracks. History Anand Audio was founded on 25 March 1999 by late Mohan Chabria. List of artists *Anurad ...

. The audio was released on 28 September 2014 in the presence of the film's entire cast and crew. The event was held at a stadium in Bangalore. Minister D. K Shivakumar., also attended the event. The lyrics are written by Dr. Nagendra Prasad and

Kaviraj Kaviraj (or Rajkavi, Kaviraja) is a title of honor, which was given to poets and litterateurs attached to royal courts in medieval India. Eminent Charans who were inducted into the royal courts due to their literary merit as royal poets and his ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belli (film) 2014 films 2010s Kannada-language films Indian gangster films Indian action drama films Indian nonlinear narrative films Indian films about revenge 2014 action drama films 2010s vigilante films Indian vigilante films