| Raaj–The Showman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Prem |
| Screenplay by | Pavan Ranadheera |
| Story by | Prem |
| Produced by | D. Suresh Gowda S Srinivasa Murthy |
| Starring | Puneeth Rajkumar Nisha Kothari |
| Cinematography | Krishna |
| Edited by | Srinivas P. Babu |
| Music by | V. Harikrishna |
Production company | Sri Seethabhairaveshwara Productions |
| Distributed by | Jayanna Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 146 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Kannada |
| Budget | ₹ 7.5 crores [1] |
| Box office | ₹ 25 crores [1] |
Raaj–The Showman is a 2009 Kannada language drama film starring Puneeth Rajkumar and Priyanka Kothari, who made her debut in Kannada films. The film was directed by Prem.[2]
Plot
Muththuraj aka Raj, who stays happily with his parents in a village aspires to be an actor like Dr. Rajkumar. He promises his mother that he will be a great actor like Rajkumar. He arrives at the city and become a junior artist in films. A wannabe director, who has full confidence in his talents starts his new film with Raj in the lead role. But the film's actress Parvathy walks out. Sensing that his chance to become an actor will be under a threat, Raj starts pestering Paaru to work with him where she develops feelings for him. Paaru learns that her two relatives, who are actually Bangalore Underworld gangsters are fighting against each other to marry her.
She is forced to escape with Raj. The director decide to shelve the film after Paaru's relatives threaten them. Upset, Raj reveals his past and his promise to his mother to the director. The director realizes and supports Raj's decision and begins the shooting of the film, along with Paaru. They complete the film's shooting with only the climax remaining, Paaru's relatives arrive to take away Paaru, but Raj stops them and Paaru profess her love to Raj, who agrees and a combat ensues where Raj makes Paaru's relatives realize their mistake, who leave. The film is released and becomes a Blockbuster at the box office. Having realized his dream, Raj and Paaru leave for Raj's village and Raj reunites with his father and mother and introduces Paaru.
Cast
- Puneeth Rajkumar as Raaj (Muthuraja)
- Nisha Kothari as Parvathy aka Paaru
- Adi Lokesh
- Muniraj
- Mamatha Rao
- Tulasi Shivamani as Parvathi's Mother
- Shankar Ashwath
- Mico Nagaraj
- Murali Mohan
- Sathyajith
- Shivaram
- Ganesh Rao Kesarkar
- Umesh Punga
- Ramanithu Chaudhari in a cameo
- Rekha Vedavyas in a cameo
- Jayamala as herself in song "Muthuraja"
- Jaya Prada as herself in song "Muthuraja"
- Bharathi Vishnuvardhan as herself in song "Muthuraja"
- Urvashi as herself in song "Muthuraja"
- N. M. Suresh
- A. R. Babu
- Mumaith Khan as special appearance in song
Soundtrack
| Raaj the Showman | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |||||
| Released | Dec 27, 2009 | ||||
| Recorded | 2009 | ||||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||||
| Length | 31:34 | ||||
| Label | Ashwini Recording Company | ||||
| Producer | V. Harikrishna | ||||
| V. Harikrishna chronology | |||||
| |||||
| |||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hey Hey Paro" | V. Nagendra Prasad | Tippu | 5:03 |
| 2. | "Kuch Kuch Anthide" | Prem | Krishna Beura, Shreya Ghoshal | 5:44 |
| 3. | "Muthuraja" | V. Nagendra Prasad | Shankar Mahadevan | 5:47 |
| 4. | "O Kempa" | V. Nagendra Prasad | Dr. Rajkumar, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 4:13 |
| 5. | "Poli Evanu" | V. Nagendra Prasad | Shreya Ghoshal | 4:34 |
| 6. | "Raaj (Theme)" | Instrumental | 1:13 | |
| 7. | "Raja Heluvagella" | Kaviraj | Prem, Shreya Ghoshal | 5:00 |
| Total length: | 31:34 | |||
Production
Raaj The Showman is considered to be a high-budget film in the Kannada film industry.[3]
Reception
Release
Raaj the Showman was the first Kannada-language film to be simultaneously released worldwide and in India.[4]
Critical response
A critic from The New Indian Express wrote "Puneet Raj Kumar's brilliant portrayal as Muththuraj is the saving grace. He shows tremendous improvement as an actor and his performance, especially in fight sequences, is certainly a treat to watch. In a way the film belongs to Puneet. The second half deals with how Muththuraj saves Parvathy and realises his dream. In the end, he returns to his village and re-unites with his parents".[5] B S Srivani from Deccan Herald wrote "S Krishna and the DI team provide the right amount of pleasure with their visual efforts. Harikrishna’s music is first class. The supporting cast too is strong. As for the story, well, the treatment is sufficient to make it appear just a few hours old. This showman delivers the goods".[6] A critic from Bangalore Mirror wrote "Watch the movie for the excellent cinematography and the music. Prem’s direction is not worth commenting, nor are his efforts at the story and dialogues".[7] Manju Shettar from Mid-Day wrote "Puneeth's acting is not bad and Krishna's cinematography is good. But only two songs are catchy. Nisha Kotari has not done justice to her role. The dialogues and stunts lack freshness".[8]
References
- 1 2 "Hits and misses 2009 - News". 25 December 2009.
- ↑ "Raaj The Showman Movie: Showtimes, Review, Trailer, Posters, News & Videos | eTimes". The Times of India.
- ↑ "Puneet Raj Kumar as Captain Jack Sparrow?". www.rediff.com.
- ↑ "'Raaj - The Showman' (Kannada)". Deccan Herald. 13 August 2009.
- ↑ "Raaj - The Showman". The New Indian Express. 17 August 2009.
- ↑ "Raaj-The Showman". Deccan Herald. 14 August 2009.
- ↑ "Raaj '"The Showman: No show!". Bangalore Mirror. 14 August 2009.
- ↑ "Review: Raj - The Showman (Kannada)". Mid-Day. 16 August 2009.