''Rajani'' is a 2009 Indian

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

-language

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by Thriller Manju and produced by Ramu for his banner Ramu Enterprises. The movie is a remake of 2008

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

film ''

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

'' (2008). The film features

Upendra Upendra (Devanagari: उपेन्द्र) is an Indian masculine given name. The meaning of the Sanskrit word ' is "younger brother of Indra" and refers to either Krishna or Vishnu, who as a son of Aditi (or in the Vamana avatar) was born subs ...

and

Aarti Chabria Aarti Chabria (born 21 November 1982) is an Indian actress and a former model who appears in Hindi, Telugu, Punjabi and Kannada films. Career Actress Aarti Chabria started her career as a model in advertisements at the age of three years. He ...

in the lead roles. The film's score and

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

is composed by

Hamsalekha Gangaraju (born June 23, 1951), professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and a songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, di ...

. The film released across Karnataka on 18 September 2009 coinciding Upendra's birthday.

Plot

The film is about Rajani (

), who was once a software engineer but quits his job to give it to his friend and now is unemployed in Mysore. Sandhya (

) is a girl from Bangalore who studies in college and comes to Mysore for her vacation to stay with her elder brother Bobby ( Rangayana Raghu) and his wife (

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 in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Tulu, and Hindi. She is known as the 'young mother' in the Kannada film ind ...

). Rajani falls in love with Sandhya at first sight and starts chasing her to win her heart and enters the upper portion of their house as tenants with his brother Chandrashekar (

Ramesh Bhat Ramesh Bhat is a multiple-award–winning Indian actor. He has worked predominantly in Kannada films and television serials. Early life Ramesh Bhat was born in Kundapur. He completed his primary education at Manki and portrayed national leader ...

) and sister-in-law (

Thulasi Shivamani Tulasi (or Tulasi Shivamani) (born 20 June 1967) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil cinema. She started her career as a child actress. Later she appeared in lead actress and supporting actress roles. She has ...

). In the process, Rajani has a clash with local rowdy Lanka Raju (

Kadhal Dhandapani Kadhal Dhandapani (17 April 1943 – 20 July 2014) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. He rose to fame portraying the antagonist in Balaji Sakthivel's ''Kaadhal'' (2004), and is credited with the film's name as ...

). Mistaking him to be one Tapori, Sandhya hates him first but later realizes his true nature. She returns to Bangalore and lives with her older brother Sharath (

Sharath Lohitashwa Sharatchandra Lohithaswa (born 5 May 1972), known popularly as Sharath Lohithaswa, is an Indian actor mostly known for his work in Kannada and Tamil films. He has had a successful career in theatre, where he continues to work, and television. A ...

), a former builder and now a very powerful rowdy who is very possessive and protective about his sister. Rajani follows Sandhya to Bangalore and works his way into her house with Bobby's help, and finally, both of them confess their love. There, Rajani knows Sandhya's flashback and how she is being chased by the notorious and cruel Jakka ( Mukul Dev), assisted by his uncle (

Doddanna Doddanna (born 11 November 1949) is an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry who has acted in about 800 films. He started his career as a theatre actor. During this time, he entered the Kannada film industry as a character actor. Early lif ...

) for marriage. In the end, Sharath kills Jakka, and Rajani marries Sandhya.

Cast

as Rajani *

as Sandhya * Mukul Dev as Jakka *

as Paandu *

as Lanka Raju *

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

as The person who lives in neighbouring Place of banglore *

Ramakrishna Ramakrishna Paramahansa ( bn, রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস, Ramôkṛṣṇo Pôromohôṅso; , 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886),——— — also spelled Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya,, was an In ...

as Government Officer * Rangayana Raghu as Bobby *

as Sharath *

as Bobby's wife *

as MRO Chandrashekhar *

as Chandrashekhar's wife * Bullet Prakash *

Mandya Ramesh Mandya Ramesh is an Indian actor, comedian, director and theatre personality who mainly works in the Kannada films and theatre. He is the founder secretary oNatanaRangashaale, Mysore, one of the eminent theatre training institutions of India. ...

* Sathyajith as Advocate Sushil Kumar * Kuri Pratap * Killer Venkatesh

Soundtrack

The film's score and soundtrack is composed by

. The audio released under the Anand Audio label.

Reception

Critical response

A critic from

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...

wrote "The film is technically superior with good fights and song sequences. "Rajini" is a huge entertainer for Upendra fans. 'Rajini' a must-watch for Upendra fans". BS Srivani from

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by K. N. Guruswamy, a liquor businessman from Ballari and was launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printe ...

wrote "Coming to music, it is refreshing to see that Hamsalekha has loosened up a bit. He blasts some ‘jhakaas’ music for the front-benchers while some sensitive listeners are bound to be amazed at the cheek of the lyrics in two songs (Thriller Manju aims to thrill, after all). This Rajani is one ‘fultoo’ entertainer". A critic from

Bangalore Mirror ''Bangalore Mirror'' is a daily English-language newspaper published in Bangalore, India. It is a deputed newspaper and is the second-largest circulating English newspaper in the city ''Vijay Times'' ''Vijay Times'' was an English newspaper st ...

wrote "Stunt master turned director Thriller Manju finally manages to direct a film worth watching. After two dozen original films and a copied logo for his production house, Ramu reverses the trend here. He gets an original logo done and remakes the Telugu film Krishna. And for all those producers calling for austerity measures, this film has an answer. There is a song in which Upendra goes after Aarati asking her to follow him to Nandi Hills and Basavanagudi. The song has been shot abroad".

References

{{reflist 2009 films Indian action comedy films Kannada remakes of Telugu films 2009 action comedy films 2000s Kannada-language films Films scored by Hamsalekha 2000s masala films