''Raajakumara'' () is a 2017 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 ...

-language

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 ...

directed by Santhosh Ananddram and produced by Vijay Kiragandur under

Hombale Films Hombale Films is an Indian film production and film distribution company based in Bengaluru, India. Founded in the year 2012, the company producing films across multiple languages, with a special focus on Kannada cinema. It has earned signifi ...

. It stars

Puneeth Rajkumar Dr. Puneeth Rajkumar (17 March 1975 – 29 October 2021), affectionately known as Appu (by his fans, after his first lead role in the movie Appu (2002 film), ''Appu''), was an Indian actor, playback singer, film producer, television presenter a ...

, alongside

Priya Anand Priya Anand (born 17 September 1986) is an Indian actress and model who predominantly appears in Tamil language, Tamil films. She has also appeared in a few Telugu language, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam films. After pursuing higher s ...

. R. Sarathkumar, Ananth Nag,

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English language, Engl ...

Chikkanna Chikkanna (born 22 June 1984), is an Indian Comedy actor who works in Kannada cinema and appears primarily in comic roles. He made his debut in films with '' Kirataka'' (2011), following which he was recognized for his performances in '' Raja ...

Sadhu Kokila Sahaya Sheelan Shadrach, (born 24 March 1966) known by his Stage name Sadhu Kokila, is an Indian comedian, musician, actor, film director, producer, occasional screenwriter and lyricist who works in Kannada cinema. He began his career as a com ...

Achyuth Kumar Achyuth Kumar is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Kannada cinema, alongside a few Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. He is known for his performances in the ''KGF'', '' Kantara'', '' Sidlingu'', and '' Lucia''. He is the recipient ...

and

Avinash Avinash may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Avinash'' (film), a 1986 Indian Hindi-language film * Tiger (YRF Spy Universe) (Avinash Singh Rathore), fictional agent in the ''Tiger'' franchise of the YRF Spy Universe People * Avinash Sachde ...

. The music was composed by V. Harikrishna, while cinematography and editing were handled by A. Venkatesh and K. M. Prakash. ''Raajakumara'' was released on 24 March 2017 and received positive reviews from critics, where the film grossed worldwide and went on to become the highest-grossing Kannada film at the time of its release until '' K.G.F: Chapter 1'' surpassed it.Raajakumara movie review: Inheritance of loss – Bangalore Mirror
. Bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com (24 March 2017). Retrieved on 2017-06-27. The film became the first Kannada movie to complete 6000 shows in multiplex within six weeks of its release and also completed 7577 shows in multiplex within 87 days. The film had a theatrical run of more than 100 days in 45–50 centres across

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

and also ran for 150 days in few centers.Upadhyaya, Prakash
"Sudeep, Yash, Upendra, Jaggesh to join Puneeth's Raajakumara 100-day celebration"
.

Plot

Siddharth is a helpful youngster and adopted son of Ashok, a kind-hearted corporate

business magnate A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

. He leads a happy life in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

taking care of his father's business and fighting for his native country's pride. Siddharth meets and falls for Nandini, a salsa instructor and the daughter of Ashok's friend Jagadeesh. Siddharth's life takes a tragic turn as he loses his whole family in a flight crash and returns to

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 ...

to his orphanage headed by Krishna, who now runs an old-age home. Siddharth discovers that Ashok was framed for the deaths of infant children due to the polio scheme introduced by Ashok for the poor people and he decides to prove Ashok's innocence. Siddharth looks after the old people in an old age home and solves their problems, while also purchasing medicines for 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, the present

Health Minister A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

. Joshi wants to expose the illegal acts committed by Jagannath and was hiding in the old-age home for the right time to expose him. Siddharth supports Vishwa Joshi and makes Jagannath hand over the case to CBI for further investigation in a news interview. Jagannath tries to ruin their plans, where he gets the old age home and Joshi attacked by his henchmen. However, Jagannath has a change of heart, where he saves Joshi 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.

Cast

as Siddharth aka Appu, Ashok's and Sujatha's adopted son *

as Nandini, a salsa instructor and Siddharth's fiancée * R. Sarathkumar as Ashok, Siddharth's adoptive father * Ananth Nag as Vishwa Joshi, Jagannath's father *

as Jagannath, a corrupt health minister of

as Chikka, Ashram's cook *

as Anthony Gonsalves, a guide at

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

as Krishna, Ashram's head *

Honnavalli Krishna Honnavalli Krishna is an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry. His films include '' Ratha Sapthami'' (1986), '' Aasegobba Meesegobba'' (1990), '' Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu'' (1974), '' Janumada Jodi'' (1996). Career As of October 2017, Honna ...

as Muniyappa * Bhargavi Narayan as Puttamma *

Chitra Shenoy Chitra Shenoy is an Indian actress and producer in South Indian movies and television series. She has acted in more than 600 films predominately in Kannada and Malayalam. She is known as the 'young mother' in the Kannada film industry having po ...

as Gayathri * Anil as Suri, Jagannath's assistant * Vijayalakshmi Singh as Sujatha, Siddharth's adopted mother *

Rangayana Raghu Koththuru Chikkarangappa Raghunath (born 17 April 1965), known by his screen name Rangayana Raghu, is an Indian film and stage actor, known for his work in Kannada cinema. He is a recipient of multiple Filmfare Awards South, SIIMA Awards, an ...

as Venky, Siddharth's fun-loving uncle * Dattanna as Mohammad Rafi *

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 Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...

* M. K. Mata as Thangam *

Mandeep Roy Mandeep Roy (; 4 April 1949 – 29 January 2023) was an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry. Some of his films as an actor included '' Aakasmika'' (1993),'' ...Re'' (2016), '' Aaptha Rakshaka'' (2010), '' Amrithadhare'' (2005), '' Kuriga ...

* 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

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

was roped to play lead actress role which marked her debut in

Kannada cinema Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar ...

, collaboration with

. The film has an ensemble cast starring Ananth Nag,

, Sarath Kumar, Achyuth Rao, Chikkanna, Datthanna,

and others.

Filming

The film went on the floors on 22 April 2016. The first schedule took place in

in various parts like

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Gold Coast,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and

after which the crew did the rest of the shoot in

Bengaluru 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 ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Mysuru Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

and later in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. 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

V. Harikrishna composed the soundtrack album and background score for the film. The full album was released on 6 March 2017. The song "Bombe Helutaithe" samples the beat of the song "Aadisi Nodi Beelisi Nodu" from the film '' Kasturi Nivasa''.

Reception

''Raajakumara'' received positive reviews from critics.

Critical response

Sunayana Suresh from ''

The Times Of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' 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." ''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." Shashiprasad SM of ''

Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Hyderabad, India. Founded in 1938, it was initially launched as a Weekly newspaper, weekly and later converted into a daily. The newspaper's name reflects its origins in the ...

'' gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "If family sentiment is your preferred mode of entertainment, then ‘Raajakumara’ will not disappoint you." Archana Nathan of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' 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." Shyam Prasad of ''

Bangalore Mirror ''Bangalore Mirror'' is an English-language daily published by The Times Group in Bangalore, India, as a compact newspaper. It is a deputed newspaper and is the second-largest circulating English daily in the city. In 2020, as part of its COVID ...

'' 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."

Box office

The film released in over 350 screens across

. The makers claimed the movie grossed ₹46 crores even before completion of seven weeks. Though later there were reports of the movie having collected a little less than ₹100 crores, the tracked figures was ₹75 crore. It went on to become highest grossing Kannada film of all time until the release of '' K.G.F: Chapter 1''.: Raajakumara to be first film to cross Rs 50 crore mark
M.timesofindia.com (9 May 2017). Retrieved on 2017-09-29.

Awards

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt6359554 2017 films 2010s Kannada-language films 2017 romantic comedy-drama films 2010s action comedy-drama films Films scored by V. Harikrishna Films shot in Mysore Films shot in Bengaluru Films shot in Uttar Pradesh Films shot at Ramoji Film City 2010s masala films Indian action comedy-drama films Indian romantic comedy-drama films Films set in Karnataka Films shot in Sydney Films set in Sydney Films shot in Goa Films set in Goa Films shot in Brisbane Films shot in Melbourne Indian political action films Films about corruption in India Films directed by Santhosh Ananddram Films shot on the Gold Coast, Queensland Films shot in Chennai Films shot in Varanasi Films shot in Malaysia Works about polio Indian-Australian films Fictional portrayals of the Karnataka Police