''Arasu'' (Search/King) is a 2007 Indian

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

-language

romantic drama film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

directed by

Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has featured in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 list since 2012. He has appeared in more tha ...

. It features

Puneeth Rajkumar Dr. Puneeth Rajkumar (17 March 1975 – 29 October 2021), affectionately known as Appu (by his fans, after his first lead role in the movie Appu (2002 film), ''Appu''), was an Indian actor, playback singer, film producer, television presenter a ...

in the

title role The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piëce. The title o ...

as the son of a business tycoon who leaves his inherited wealth to make a living on his own upon being rejected by a girl played by Ramya who he proposes to in marriage. When a middle-class girl played by

Meera Jasmine Jasmine Mary Joseph,
, rediff.com; 1 August 2004. known professionally as Meera Jasmine, is an Indian ac ...

enters their lives, it soon turns out to be a

love triangle A love triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with someone is simultaneo ...

Srinivasa Murthy Jadalathimmanahalli Krishnappa Srinivasa Murthy (born 15 May 1949), known popularly as Srinivasa Murthy, is an Indian actor and television director. He is mostly known for his work as a director having made many television series in Kannada, b ...

, Komal and

Adi Lokesh Adi Lokesh is an Indian actor who works in Kannada films. He is known for his villainous roles such as his role in '' Jogi'' (2005) as Bidda. Personal life He is the son of actor Mysore Lokesh. His sister is actress Pavitra Lokesh. Career ...

appear in supporting roles. Kannada film actors

Darshan Darshan, a Sanskrit word meaning "sight" or "viewing", may refer to: Ceremony and religion * Darshan (Indian religions), the auspicious sight of a divine image or holy person; also a school of Hindu philosophy * Darshan (Judaism), a Scriptural ...

and

Aditya Aditya may refer to: * Ādityas, a group of Hindu deities * An alternative name for Surya Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta t ...

made cameo appearance. Actress

Shriya Saran Shriya Saran Bhatnagar ( born 11 September 1982) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil and Hindi films. Although Saran aspired to become a dancer, she became an actress and made her film deb ...

also made a cameo appearance in the film, her first Kannada language film. The movie was dubbed in Hindi as ''Zinda Dili'' and in Marathi as ''Premachi Satva Pariksha''.

Plot

Shivaraj Arasu is a NRI from a rich business family who idles away his time spending the family money. He is advised to return to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

by his manager Ramanna to run the well-progressing companies he heads. Once in India, Aras finds it hard to adjust after living a luxurious and carefree life in

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He falls in love with Ramanna's daughter Shruthi and proposes to her, but she blasts his spoiled lifestyle and challenges him to earn at least 5,000 a month on his own before she can think of considering his proposal and also makes a caustic remark on the company. This startles Aras who takes up the challenge of quitting the company and going in search of a job. Now on the streets without a single penny in his pocket, Shivaraj struggles hard. Hungry, he asks for a meal at a hotel and is surprised by the low prices there but gets thrown out when the hotelier does not believe his promise to pay them back a hundredfold. He finds an old lady selling bananas. He repeats the same to her, eats two bananas, and promises Rs. 200,000 to the old lady after a month. At this stage he finds an ordinary girl, Aishwarya. The muscle power of Shivaraj when the rowdies attack her earns him a good name. Shivaraj also gets a job as a

sales representative Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred ...

in the

saree A sari (also called sharee, saree or sadi)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * is a drape (cloth) and a women's garment in the Indian subcontinent. It consists of an un-stit ...

shop where Aishwarya is working. He finds a place to live in the small room of Aishwarya. Aishwarya turns very sympathetic, and Shivaraj decides to stay in her house for one month. Shivaraj sleeps on the floor and his wonderful behavior and a lot of help for the people in his colony give him a comfortable standing. He owes a lot to Shruthi for her remark that has changed his lifestyle, and he is extremely happy with Aishwarya for supporting him in knowing the hard realities of life. Shivaraj is liked immensely by Aishwarya this month. On the other hand, Shruthi is also in love with Shivaraj and ready to marry him. It turns out that Shruthi and Aishwarya are actually very close friends. Shivaraj is not aware that Aishwarya is in love with him, but Aishwarya declares to Shruthi that she is in love with Shivaraj which surprises her. When Aishwarya goes somewhere, Shruthi, feeling bad for Shivaraj's condition, asks for his forgiveness, to which he agrees. Now Shruthi decides to give up her love for the sake of her friend Aishwarya. On the other hand, Aishwarya knowing that Shruthi is ready for marriage with Shivaraj also comes forward to sacrifice her love. Not knowing what to do, the intelligent Shivaraj takes a bold step. Without revealing his decision, he convinces both to marry his good friends Vijay and Vinay. In return, the friends arrange for another woman Arpitha to come to Shivaraj, with Arpitha suddenly driving in and proclaiming her love for him as the film ends.

Cast

as Shivaraj Aras *

Meera Jasmine Jasmine Mary Joseph,
, rediff.com; 1 August 2004. known professionally as Meera Jasmine, is an Indian ac ...

as Aishwarya * Ramya as Shruthi *

as Ramanna * Komal as Daas *

as Manja * Satyajith as hotelier * P. N. Sathya * Shankar Rao * K. Prakash Shenoy *

Sai Prakash Enreddy Prakash Reddy a.k.a. Om Sai Prakash is a Kannada and Telugu film director and producer. Career Born in Phirangipuram in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, he left Phirangipuram to Chennai with the aim of becoming a film director. He ...

* Ashwath Narayan * NGEF Ramamurthy * Yathiraj * Radhakrishna *

Renukamma Murugodu Renukamma Murugodu was an Indian actress who worked in Kannada film industry. She began acting at 13 and performed in many dramas, soaps and films including Kraurya, Nammura Mandara Hoove and Shabdavedhi. Renukamma was a winner of the Gubbi Ve ...

as fruits seller * Veena *

as Vijay (Cameo appearance) *

as Vinay (Cameo appearance) *

as Arpitha (Cameo appearance)

Soundtrack

Reception

A critic from ''

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...

'' wrote that "On the whole ''Arasu'' is watchable for its lead performers". A critic from ''

Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

'' wrote that "''Arrasu'' is a neat family entertainer".

Awards

Filmfare South Awards. * Best Kannada Actor —

—Won

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arasu (Kannada Film) 2007 films 2000s Kannada-language films 2000s Indian films Films set in Bengaluru Indian romantic drama films Films scored by Joshua Sridhar Films shot in Bengaluru Films shot in Germany Films shot in Venice Films directed by Mahesh Babu (director)