# Raajakumara

Raajakumara (transl. The Prince) is a 2017 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by Santhosh Ananddram and produced by Vijay Kiragandur under Hombale Films. It stars Puneeth Rajkumar, alongside Priya Anand. R. Sarathkumar, Ananth Nag, Prakash Raj, Chikkanna, Sadhu Kokila, Achyuth Kumar and Avinash. 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 ₹75 crore (US$8.7 million) 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. 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 and also ran for 150 days in few centers.

## Plot

Siddharth is a 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, 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 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 of Karnataka. 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

* Puneeth Rajkumar as Siddharth aka Appu, Ashok's and Sujatha's adopted son
* Priya Anand 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
* Prakash Raj as Jagannath, a corrupt health minister of Karnataka
* 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

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 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 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 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 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 Karnataka. Though there were reports of the movie having collected 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.

## Awards

| Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
| 2017 Karnataka State Film Awards | Best Family Entertainer | Vijay Kiragandur Santhosh Ananddram | Won |
| 2017 Karnataka State Film Awards | Best Music Direction | V. Harikrishna | Won |
| 65th Filmfare Awards South | Best Director | Santhosh Ananddram | Nominated |
| 65th Filmfare Awards South | Best Actor | Puneeth Rajkumar | Won |
| 65th Filmfare Awards South | Best Music Director | V. Harikrishna | Nominated |
| 65th Filmfare Awards South | Best Lyricist | Santhosh Ananddram ("Bombe Heluthaithe") | Nominated |
| 65th Filmfare Awards South | Best Male Playback Singer | Vijay Prakash – "Bombe Heluthaithe" | Nominated |
| Zee Kannada Hemmeya Kannadiga Award 2018 | Hemmeya Chitra (Proud Film) | Raajakumara | Won |
| Zee Kannada Hemmeya Kannadiga Award 2018 | Hemmeya Nata (Proud Hero) | Puneeth Rajkumar | Won |
| Zee Kannada Hemmeya Kannadiga Award 2018 | 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 |
| 7th South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Director | Santhosh Ananddram | Won |
| 7th South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Actor | Puneeth Rajkumar | Won |
| 7th South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Actor in a Negative Role | Prakash Raj | Nominated |
| 7th South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Comedian | Chikkanna | Won |
| 7th South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Music Director | V Harikrishna | Won |
| 7th South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Lyricist | Santhosh Ananddram ("Bombe Heluthaithe") | Won |
| 7th South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Male Playback Singer | Vijay Prakash – "Bombe Heluthaithe | Nominated |