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 the Hombale Films banner. It stars Puneeth Rajkumar and Priya Anand in lead roles. Apart from them, the film features an ensemble cast of Ananth Nag, Sarath Kumar, Prakash Raj, Chikkanna, Avinash in important roles.[2] V. Harikrishna composed the film's score and soundtrack. The film was released on 24 March 2017 and received positive reviews from critics and audience. The film went to become Highest Grossing Kannada Film ever until K.G.F: Chapter 1[3] pushed it to second.

Raajakumara
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Santhosh Ananddram
Produced by	Vijay Kiragandur
Written by	Santhosh Ananddram
Starring	Puneeth Rajkumar Priya Anand
Music by	V. Harikrishna
Cinematography	Venkatesh Anguraj
Edited by	K. M. Prakash
Production company	Hombale Films
Distributed by	Jayanna Films
Release date	24 March 2017 (2017-03-24)
Running time	148 minutes
Country	India
Language	Kannada
Box office	₹75 crore[1]

The film became the first Kannada movie to complete 6000 shows in multiplex within six weeks of its release.[4] The film also completed 7577 shows in multiplex within 87 days.[5][6] The film being shown for more than 100-day theatrical run in over 45–50 centres across Karnataka.[7][8] The gross collections of the movie was reported to be ₹75 crores.[1]

Plot

Siddharth (Puneeth Rajkumar) is the adopted son of rich couple Ashok (Sarathkumar) and Sujatha (Vijayalakshmi Singh) leads a happy life in Melbourne, taking care of his father's business and fighting for his native country's pride, he is a kind-hearted guy who helps anyone in need. He falls in love with Nandini (Priya Anand), a salsa instructor. Tragedy struck in Siddharth's life, he loses his whole family in a flight crash and returns to India.

Through Nandini's father (Avinash), he comes to know that his father was hated by people due to polio scheme introduced by him for poor people which was ruined due to the machinations of Jagannath (Prakash Raj), a corrupt minister. Siddharth takes care of old people in an old age home solving all of their problems. One of them Vishwa Joshi (Anant Nag), happens to be the father of Jagannath and he helps Siddharth giving away the evil acts done by his son.

Jagannath tries to ruin his plans, tries to get the old age home and even gets his father attacked by his henchmen. In the end, however Jagannath has a change of heart, saves his father and surrenders himself to the police and all the old people reunite with their children.

Cast

• Puneeth Rajkumar as Siddharth aka Appu, adopted son of Ashok and Sujatha
• Priya Anand as Nandini, a salsa instructor, Siddharth's love interest and fiancèe
• Ananth Nag as Vishwa Joshi, Jagannath's father
• Sarath Kumar as Ashok, adoptive father of Siddharth
• Prakash Raj[9] as Jagannath, a corrupt politician
• 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, assistant of Jagannath
• Vijayalakshmi Singh as Sujatha, adoptive mother of Siddharth
• Rangayana Raghu as Venky, Siddharth's uncle, who always like to have fun
• Dattanna as Mohammad Rafi
• Avinash as Jagadeesh, Nandini's father
• Ashok as Murthy
• Dany Kuttappa as Financier
• M P Venkatarao
• Aruna Balaraj
• Rockline Sudhakar
• Ravi Hegde
• Sundar Ram
• Goutham karanth
• Bank suresh
• Malathi sudhakar
• Ashok dev
• Veena sundar
• Vijay koundinya as Corrupt police inspector
• M. K. Mata as Thangam
• Mandeep Rai as Murthy
• Vijayanand as Press photographer
• K. S. Shridhar

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. This film, one of the highly expected movie due to its marketing. "Rajakumara is a different subject which portrays two different stories & the two stories is bridged between Appu's character", said Santhosh. It took almost 1 year for pre-production work, location hunt and casting finalisation.

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 which stars 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 & Melbourne after which the crew did the rest of the shoot in Bengaluru, Chennai, Mysore, Goa, Kashi & 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 V. Harikrishna
Released	6 March 2017
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	21:15
Language	Kannada
Label	D Beats
V. Harikrishna chronology
Saheba (2017) Raajakumara (2017) Bangara s/o Bangarada Manushya (2017)
External audio Official Audio Jukebox on YouTube

V. Harikrishna composed the soundtrack album and background score for the film. The full album was released on 6 March 2017.[10] The song "Bombe Helutaithe" has the tune 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"	Ghouse Peer	Sonu Nigam	4:34

Hindi tracklist

No.	Title	Length

Critical reception

The film got positive reviews upon the theatrical release from the both critics and the audience.[11]

The Sunayana Suresh from Times Of India rated it 4/5 and stated that "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."[12]

The Indiaglitz rated it 4/5 writing, "This is a good family watch; the youths think on their mistakes, the oldies get relief, fans of Puneeth Rajakumar thoroughly enjoy."[13]

The writer Shashiprasad SM of Deccan Chronicle rated the film 3/5 stars and stated that "If family sentiment is your preferred mode of entertainment, then ‘Raajakumara’ will not disappoint you."[14]

The writer Archana Nathan of The Hindu described the film as generic, writing "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."[15]

The writer Shyam Prasad of Bangalore Mirror rated the film 3/5 stars and stated that "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 subtlety that proves his acting prowess again.[3]

Box office

The film released in over 350[16] screens across Karnataka, collected ₹75[17][7][1] crore, and went on to become Highest Grossing Kannada Film at that time and until release of K.G.F: Chapter 1.[18]

Awards

Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
2017 Karnataka State Film Awards	Best Family Entertainer	Vijay Kiragandur Santhosh Ananddram	Won	[19][20]
	Best Music Direction	V. Harikrishna	Won
65th Filmfare Awards South	Best Director	Santhosh Ananddram	Nominated	[21][22]
	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	[23]
	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	[24][25]
	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

1. "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.
2. "Exclusive: Puneeth's look in Raajakumara — Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
3. Raajakumara movie review: Inheritance of loss – Bangalore Mirror. Bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com (24 March 2017). Retrieved on 2017-06-27.
4. Kumar, Santhosh. (5 May 2017) Raajakumara Continues The Golden Run At Box Office. Filmibeat. Retrieved on 2017-06-27.
5. Details. Vijaykarnatakaepaper.com. Retrieved on 27 June 2017.
6. New benchmark for Kannada films – Bangalore Mirror. Bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com (9 May 2017). Retrieved on 2017-06-27.
7. Upadhyaya, Prakash. "Sudeep, Yash, Upendra, Jaggesh to join Puneeth's Raajakumara 100-day celebration".
8. "Rajakumara 100, all time industry hit-Kannada Movie News". IndiaGlitz.
9. "Prakash Raj enjoys hopping across cities on work — Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
10. Raajakumara |Track List | Puneeth Rajkumar | V Harikrishna | Santosh Ananddram | Hombale Films. YouTube (5 March 2017). Retrieved on 2017-06-27.
11. Raajakumara (Rajakumara) movie review:A tailor-made entertainer for Puneeth Rajkumar fans. Ibtimes.co.in (24 March 2017). Retrieved on 2017-06-27.
12. Sunayana Suresh (24 March 2017). "Raajakumara Movie Review". Times Of India. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
13. Rajakumara review. Rajakumara Kannada movie review, story, rating – IndiaGlitz.com. M.indiaglitz.com. Retrieved on 27 June 2017.
14. Raajakumara movie review: Power star is the saving grace. Deccanchronicle.com. Retrieved on 27 June 2017.
15. Raajakumara: Too generic even for a star vehicle. The Hindu. Retrieved on 27 June 2017.
16. The film is not about Appaji – Bangalore. The Hindu (14 March 2017). Retrieved on 2017-09-29.
17. https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/south-masala/is-the-rs-100-cr-club-a-reality-in-kannada/articleshow/66322009.cms
18. : 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.
19. Karnataka State Film Awards 2017 Announced
20. "State Film Award 2017: Suddi bags Best Film award". Deccan Herald.
21. "Nominations for the 65th Jio Filmfare Awards South 2018". filmfare. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
22. "Winners of the 65th Jio Filmfare Awards (South) 2018". Filmfare. 16 June 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
23. "Here's the list of Hemmeya Kannadigas who have made Karnataka proud". Times Of India. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
24. "SIIMA Awards 2018 - Telugu, Kannada nomination list out". International Business Times. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
25. "SIIMA Awards 2018 Telugu Kannada winners list". International Business Times. 16 September 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2020.

External links

• Raajakumara on IMDb