''Varadhanayaka'' is a 2013 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 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 D ...
directed by Ayyappa P. Sharma and stars
Sudeepa
Sudeep Sanjeev (born 2 September 1971), also known as Kichcha Sudeepa, is an Indian actor, director, producer, screenwriter, singer and television presenter, who primarily works in Kannada cinema. He has also worked in Hindi, Telugu and Tami ...
,
Chiranjeevi Sarja
Chiranjeevi Sarja (17 October 1980 - 7 June 2020) was an Indian film actor who appeared in Kannada films. Hailing from a family of actors, Sarja acted in more than 20 films in a career spanning 11 years.
Early life and family
Sarja was born ...
,
Sameera Reddy
Sameera Reddy (born 14 December 1978) is a former Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi, Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu language films. She made her film debut with the 2002 film ''Maine Dil Tujhko Diya''. Reddy is bes ...
and
Nikesha Patel
Nikesha Patel is a British-Indian actress. She debuted in the 2010 Telugu film '' Puli'' and later went on to work in more than 30 films in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam cinema as a lead.
Early life
Nikesha Patel was born to a Gujarati ...
. The film marks the Kannada debut of
Sameera Reddy
Sameera Reddy (born 14 December 1978) is a former Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi, Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu language films. She made her film debut with the 2002 film ''Maine Dil Tujhko Diya''. Reddy is bes ...
. The movie is a remake of 2007 Telugu movie ''
Lakshyam''.
Arjun Janya
Arjun Janya (born Lokesh Kumar) is an Indian film score soundtrack composer, singer and director. Arjun made his film debut in the 2006 Kannada film ''Autograph Please''. Arjun Janya won Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director for ...
is the music director of the film. Shankare Gowda has produced the venture under Shankar Productions banner.
Plot
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 ...
,
ACP Varadhanayaka lives happily with his parents, wife Lakshmi and younger brother Hari, a college student. A girl named Sirisha comes across Varadhanayaka when she is on a field trip from her college with her friends. She gets friendly with his daughter Pinky. It turns out that Hari studies in Sirisha's college and soon after they accidentally come to know each other.
Varadhanayaka investigates the case of a dreaded criminal, ''Section'' Shankar, who is involved in land dealings which are completely illegal, and others, with which the
DIG is involved. When the chairman of the bank who has lent money for the deal demands for the money back as the deal hasn't worked, Shankar eliminates him. The people who are customers of the bank take to the streets and try to damage the bank.
Varadhanayaka arrives there and arrests the manager. Shankar discovers where the manager has been taken. He arrives with his men and the DIG and nearly kill ACP Varadhanayaka. Shankar asks his men to dump his body. On the way, Hari gets involved and ultimately rescues his brother from a burning bus and Varadhanayaka dies in Hari's arms.
The entire media and people assume that Varadhanayaka has swindled off all the money as they have been made to believe that by the DIG. Hari seeks vengeance on the people who killed Varadhanayaka; he kills Siddharth "Siddu" (his friend and Shankar's brother), and later kills the DIG. Shankar kidnaps Hari's entire family where Hari arrives and kills Shankar. He spills the beans that Varadhanayaka is dead and rescues his family under the supervision of the new DIG, who supports him wholeheartedly.
Cast
*
Sudeepa
Sudeep Sanjeev (born 2 September 1971), also known as Kichcha Sudeepa, is an Indian actor, director, producer, screenwriter, singer and television presenter, who primarily works in Kannada cinema. He has also worked in Hindi, Telugu and Tami ...
as Varadhanayaka
*
Chiranjeevi Sarja
Chiranjeevi Sarja (17 October 1980 - 7 June 2020) was an Indian film actor who appeared in Kannada films. Hailing from a family of actors, Sarja acted in more than 20 films in a career spanning 11 years.
Early life and family
Sarja was born ...
as Hari, Varadhanayaka's younger brother
*
Sameera Reddy
Sameera Reddy (born 14 December 1978) is a former Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi, Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu language films. She made her film debut with the 2002 film ''Maine Dil Tujhko Diya''. Reddy is bes ...
as Lakshmi, Varadhanayaka's wife
*
Nikeesha Patel
Nikesha Patel is a British-Indian actress. She debuted in the 2010 Telugu film '' Puli'' and later went on to work in more than 30 films in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam cinema as a lead.
Early life
Nikesha Patel was born to a Gujarati ...
as Sirisha "Siri"
*
P. Ravi Shankar
Pudipeddi Ravi Shankar (born 28 November 1966), also known as Sai Ravi, is an Indian actor, dubbing artist, director and a writer. As an actor, he predominantly appears in Kannada films, in addition to Telugu and Tamil films. As a dubbing a ...
as 'Section' Shankar, a mafia kingpin
*
Dr Ambareesh as himself (Guest Appearance before the song "Baite Baite")
*
Sumalatha Ambareesh
Sumalatha Ambareesh (born 27 August 1963) is an Indian actress and politician. She has acted in over 220 films across multiple languages, primarily in Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada, with a few appearances in Tamil and Hindi cinema. She received ...
as herself (Guest Appearance before the song "Baite Baite")
*
Rockline Venkatesh
Thirupathi Narasimhalunaidu Venkatesh (born 24 March 1963), better known by his stage name Rockline Venkatesh, is an Indian actor and film producer known for his works in Kannada cinema, Kannada, Tamil and Bollywood, Hindi cinemas. He is the fo ...
as the new
DIG (Guest Appearance)
*
Mukhyamantri Chandru
Honnasandra Narasimhaiah Chandrashekar (born 28 August 1953), known popularly as Mukhyamantri Chandru, is an Indian actor and politician. As an actor, he is known for his work in Kannada theatre and cinema. The sobriquet ''Mukhyamantri'' (Chie ...
as Varadhanayaka and Hari's father
*
Jai Jagadish
Jai Jagadish (born 29 June 1954) is an Indian actor, producer and director from the Kannada film industry. Starting his career as hero in '' Phalitamsha'' (1976), he went on to feature in over 300 films as an actor. Some of his most notable film ...
as Siri's father
*
Shobaraj
Shobaraj is an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry. Some of his notable films include '' Yajamana'' (2000), '' Shabdavedhi'' (2000), '' Police Story'' (1996), and '' Sangliyana Part-3'' (1997).
Career
Shobaraj has been part of more than ...
as Shankar's sidekick
*
Sharath Lohitashwa
Sharatchandra Lohithaswa (born 5 May 1972), known popularly as Sharath Lohithaswa, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Kannada cinema alongside some Tamil and Telugu films. He has had a successful career in theatre, where he continue ...
as DIG
*
J. Karthik as Siddharth "Siddhu", Hari's friend and Shankar's brother
*
Sharan as Hari's friend
*
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 Siri's mother
*
Padmaja Rao
Padmaja Rao is an Indian actress, television soap director and producer in Karnataka, India. She is a versatile actor known for playing a wide variety of character roles in various film genres. Some of the notable films of Padmaja Rao as an a ...
as Varadhanayaka and Hari's mother
*
Bullet Prakash
Bullet Prakash (2 April 1976 – 6 April 2020) was an Indian actor who worked in Kannada cinema. Known for portraying comic roles, Prakash appeared in over 325 films. He earned the nickname "Bullet" because he used to ride the motorbike, Roy ...
as Canteen owner
* Dharma as Siri's cousin
*
Sathyajith
* Rajiv
Production
Casting
Shankare Gowda, the producer had initially cast
Chiranjeevi Sarja
Chiranjeevi Sarja (17 October 1980 - 7 June 2020) was an Indian film actor who appeared in Kannada films. Hailing from a family of actors, Sarja acted in more than 20 films in a career spanning 11 years.
Early life and family
Sarja was born ...
to play the main protagonist played by
Gopichand in the Telugu version. Later, to reprise the cop role played by
Jagapathi Babu
Veeramachaneni Jagapathi Chowdary (born 12 February 1962), professionally known as Jagapathi Babu (), is an Indian actor known for his works in Telugu cinema. He has also appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Kannada cinema, Kannada, Malayalam cine ...
in the original version, Gowda approached
Sudeepa
Sudeep Sanjeev (born 2 September 1971), also known as Kichcha Sudeepa, is an Indian actor, director, producer, screenwriter, singer and television presenter, who primarily works in Kannada cinema. He has also worked in Hindi, Telugu and Tami ...
, his main star in the previous venture ''
Kempegowda
Kempe Gowda I (27 June 1510 – 1569) locally venerated as Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda, or commonly known as Kempe Gowda, was a governor under the Vijayanagara Empire in early-modern India. He is famous for the development of Bengaluru Pete in th ...
''. Owing to the success of their previous venture, Gowda decided to give extra screen time for Sudeepa in the new film. Gowda was in search of two leading female stars from the Kannada industry. However, due to date issues, none could be roped in. Actress
Priyamani
Priya Mani Raj (née Iyer; born 4 June 1984 ), known professionally as Priyamani, is an Indian actress who works in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi films. She is the recipient of a National Film Award, three Filmfare Awards Sout ...
was approached to play the lead but she refused the offer. Finally in July 2011,
Nikesha Patel
Nikesha Patel is a British-Indian actress. She debuted in the 2010 Telugu film '' Puli'' and later went on to work in more than 30 films in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam cinema as a lead.
Early life
Nikesha Patel was born to a Gujarati ...
who had just begun her career in Telugu films was cast opposite Sarja in the lead role. Later
Kamalinee Mukherjee
Kamalinee Mukherjee is an Indian actress. She has predominantly appeared in Telugu films as well as a few Malayalam and Tamil films.
After graduating with a degree in English literature, she completed a workshop on theatre in Mumbai. She made he ...
was approached to play the role opposite Sudeepa. However, she was dropped and later Bollywood actress
Sameera Reddy
Sameera Reddy (born 14 December 1978) is a former Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi, Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu language films. She made her film debut with the 2002 film ''Maine Dil Tujhko Diya''. Reddy is bes ...
was finally roped in for the role. Director Ayyappa Sharma's brothers
Sai Kumar Sai Kumar or Saikumar is the name of:
* Sai Kumar (Malayalam actor)
Sai Kumar, also credited as Saikumar, is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. He is the son of Malayalam actor late Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair. He appears in bo ...
and
P. Ravi Shankar
Pudipeddi Ravi Shankar (born 28 November 1966), also known as Sai Ravi, is an Indian actor, dubbing artist, director and a writer. As an actor, he predominantly appears in Kannada films, in addition to Telugu and Tamil films. As a dubbing a ...
were also roped in to play the supporting characters. It was also announced that
Arjun Sarja
Srinivasa Sarja (born 15 August 1962), better known by his stage name Action King Arjun, is an Indian actor, producer, and director who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has mainly acted in Tamil cinema, Tamil films in addition to Telugu ...
would be doing a cameo appearance in the film.
Filming
As per the initial plans, the film was supposed to go on sets from February 2011. However several delays caused the
shooting
Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...
to regularly commence from 27 June 2011.The filming began without even casting the leading ladies for the film.
Release
Initially, the film was plan to release on 23, November 2012. The film released in India on 25 January 2013 to mixed reviews. and also Kannada Sangha in Canada released this film in Canada on 28 April 2013
Soundtrack
Arjun Janya
Arjun Janya (born Lokesh Kumar) is an Indian film score soundtrack composer, singer and director. Arjun made his film debut in the 2006 Kannada film ''Autograph Please''. Arjun Janya won Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director for ...
had composed the soundtrack collaborating with
Sudeepa
Sudeep Sanjeev (born 2 September 1971), also known as Kichcha Sudeepa, is an Indian actor, director, producer, screenwriter, singer and television presenter, who primarily works in Kannada cinema. He has also worked in Hindi, Telugu and Tami ...
for the second time after the success of their previous movie
Kempe Gowda
Kempe Gowda I (27 June 1510 – 1569) locally venerated as Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda, or commonly known as Kempe Gowda, was a governor under the Vijayanagara Empire in early-modern India. He is famous for the development of Bengaluru Pete in th ...
(2011). Lyrics were written by
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 ...
and
A. P. Arjun.
Reception
Critical response
GS Kumar of
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 ...
scored the film at 3.5 out of 5 stars and says "Chiranjeevi Sarja has done an excellent work in sentimental and action sequences. Sudeepa is at his best as a police officer. It is Ravishankar as rowdy who beats all with brilliant dialogue delivery and body language. Nikesha Patel impresses you as the girl next door. Sameera Reddy, Dharma, Sharath Lohithashwa, Mukhyamanthri Chandru, Sharan and Shobhraj have done justice to their roles. Music by Arjun Janya is a highlight of the movie. Cinematographer Rajesh Kata has done a marvellous job". Srikant Sriniwasa of
Rediff.com
Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...
scored the film at 3 out of 5 stars and says "Arjun Janya’s music is in tune with what the youngsters want to hear. Cinematography by Rajesh Kata is brilliant and Ravi Varma’s stunt sequences are superb. Varadanayaka is a mass entertainer that should be watched for Sudeepa". A critic from
News18 India
News18 India is an Indian Hindi-language television channel owned by the Network18 Group. It was launched in 2005 as Channel 7 by Jagran Prakashan and acquired in 2006 by Network18 Group and rebranded IBN7. In 2016 it took its current name. ...
wrote "'Varadanayaka' is a must watch for Kiccha Sudeep's fans, but it will also prove enjoyable for those who like commercial revenge dramas with huge budgets". Shruti I. L. from
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
wrote "As for music, Baite baite... is the only song that will stay with you even after you leave the movie hall. So what’s our verdict? If you are a fan of commercial potboilers then Varadanayaka will make for an ideal weekend watch".
Awards and nominations
3rd South Indian International Movie Awards
The nominations for the 3rd South Indian International Movie Awards were announced at a press conference held at a five star hotel in Hyderabad on July 17, 2014. Actors Rana Daggubati and Shriya Saran, who are the brand ambassadors of SIIMA, we ...
:-
* Best Actor in a Negative Role - Nominated -
P. Ravi Shankar
Pudipeddi Ravi Shankar (born 28 November 1966), also known as Sai Ravi, is an Indian actor, dubbing artist, director and a writer. As an actor, he predominantly appears in Kannada films, in addition to Telugu and Tamil films. As a dubbing a ...
* Best Music Director - Nominated -
Arjun Janya
Arjun Janya (born Lokesh Kumar) is an Indian film score soundtrack composer, singer and director. Arjun made his film debut in the 2006 Kannada film ''Autograph Please''. Arjun Janya won Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director for ...
* Best Playback Singer (Male) - Won -
Arjun Janya
Arjun Janya (born Lokesh Kumar) is an Indian film score soundtrack composer, singer and director. Arjun made his film debut in the 2006 Kannada film ''Autograph Please''. Arjun Janya won Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director for ...
for the song "Baite Baite"
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varadhanayaka
2013 films
Kannada remakes of Telugu films
2010s Kannada-language films
2010s Indian films
Films set in Bengaluru
Indian action drama films
Films scored by Arjun Janya
2010s masala films
2013 action drama films