''Varadhanayaka'' is a 2013 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

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

Ayyappa P. Sharma and stars

Sudeepa Sudeep Sanjeev (born 2 September 1971), also known as Sudeepa, is an Indian actor, director, producer, screenwriter, television presenter and singer, who primarily works in Kannada films. He has also worked in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. He ...

Chiranjeevi Sarja Chiranjeevi Sarja (died 7 June 2020) was an Indian 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 the first child ...

, Sameera Reddy and Nikesha Patel. The film marks the Kannada debut of Sameera Reddy. The film is a remake of Telugu film '' Lakshyam''.

Arjun Janya Arjun Janya (born Lokesh Kumar) is an Indian Film composer, film score soundtrack composer and singer. Arjun made his film debut in the 2006 Kannada film ''Autograph Please''. Since then he has composed and scored music for successful films suc ...

is the music director of the film. Shankare Gowda has produced the venture under Shankar Productions banner.

Plot

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. 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 even come to know each other. Varadhanayaka investigates the case of a dreaded criminal ''Section'' Shankar, who is involved with land dealings which is completely illegal and others including the

DIG Digging, also referred to as excavation, is the process of using some implement such as claws, hands, manual tools or heavy equipment, to remove material from a solid surface, usually soil, sand or rock (geology), rock on the surface of Earth. Di ...

is involved. When the chairman of the bank who has lent money for the deal demand 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 there with his men and the DIG nearly kill ACP Varadhanayaka. Shankar asks his men to dump the 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 the 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, where 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

as Varadhanayaka *

as Hari * Sameera Reddy as Lakshmi, Varadhanayaka's wife *

Nikeesha Patel Nikesha Patel is a British-Indian actress. She debuted in the 2010 Telugu film, Telugu film ''Puli (2010 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 ...

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 writer. He predominantly appears in Kannada films, in addition to Telugu language, Telugu and Tamil language, Tamil films. ...

as ''Section'' Shankar * Dr Ambareesh ... (Guest Appearance) *

Sumalatha Ambareesh Sumalatha (born 27 August 1963) is an Indian actress, politician who is the current Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Mandya, Karnataka. She has acted in more than 220 films in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi. She gained ...

... (Guest Appearance) *

Rockline Venkatesh Thirupathi Narasimhalunaidu Venkatesh (born 23 March 1963), better known by his stage name Rockline Venkatesh, is an Indian actor and producer known for his works in Kannada, and Hindi cinemas. He is the founder and owner of the production and d ...

as the new

(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'' (Chief ...

as Varadhanayaka and Hari's father * Jai Jagadish 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 2 ...

as Shankar's PA *

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 ...

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

* Padmaja Rao as Varadhanayaka and Hari's mother * Bullet Prakash * Dharma * Satyajit * Rajiv

Production

Casting

Shankare Gowda, the producer had initially cast

to play the main protagonist played by Gopichand in the Telugu version. Later, to reprise the cop role played by Jagapathi Babu in the original version, Gowda approached

, his main star in the previous venture ''

Kempegowda Kempe Gowda I, locally venerated as Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda, or commonly known as Kempe Gowda, was a chieftain under the Vijayanagara Empire in early-modern India. He is famous for founding the present-day southern Indian city of Bangalore. E ...

''. 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 Vasudev Mani Iyer (born 4 June 1984), known by her professional name Priyamani, is an Indian actress and former model, who works in the South Indian film industry. She is a recipient of Several Awards. Priyamani made her acting debut t ...

was approached to play the lead but she refused the offer. Finally in July 2011, Nikesha Patel who had just begun her career in Telugu films was cast opposite Sarja in the lead role. Later Kamalinee Mukherjee was approached to play the role opposite Sudeepa. However, she was dropped and later Bollywood actress Sameera Reddy was finally roped in for the role. Director Ayyappa Sharma's brothers Sai Kumar and

were also roped in to play the supporting characters. It was also announced that Arjun Sarja 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 missiles can ...

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

has composed 5 songs to the lyrics of Kaviraj and

A. P. Arjun A. P. Arjun (born 8 August 1984) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and lyricist. He works in Kannada cinema. He made his debut as a lyricist in the film ''Thangigagi'' (2006), he debuted as a director with the 2009 film '' Ambari''. His ...

Reception

Critical response

GS Kumar of

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

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 web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

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 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 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 -

* Best Music Director - Nominated -

* Best Playback Singer (Male) - Won -

for the song "Baite Baite"

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Varadhanayaka 2013 films 2010s Kannada-language films Kannada remakes of Telugu films Films set in Bangalore Indian action drama films Films scored by Arjun Janya 2010s masala films 2013 action drama films