| Rana Vikrama | |
| Director: | Pavan Wadeyar |
| Producer: | Jayanna Bhogendra |
| Starring: | Puneeth Rajkumar Anjali Adah Sharma Girish Karnad Rangayana Raghu Vikram Singh |
| Music: | V. Harikrishna |
| Cinematography: | Vaidy S |
| Editing: | Suresh Arumugam |
| Studio: | Jayanna Combines |
| Distributor: | Jayanna Combines Reliance Entertainment |
| Runtime: | 147 minutes |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Kannada |
| Gross: | 15 crore[1] |
Rana Vikrama is a 2015 Indian Kannada-language action thriller film directed by Pavan Wadeyar and produced by Jayanna Combines. The film stars Puneeth Rajkumar, alongside Anjali, Adah Sharma, Dinesh Mangalore, Vikram Singh, Girish Karnad, Avinash, Sudha Belawadi and Mukhyamantri Chandru.[2] The music was composed by V. Harikrishna, while the cinematography and editing were handled by Vaidy S and Suresh Arumugam.
Rana Vikrama was released on 10 April 2015 to positive reviews from critics and became a commercial success at the box office.[3]
2015: Divya, a news reporter, goes missing in a place called Vikramatheertha, which is not on the Karnataka map. She had earlier sent a letter to Home Minister K.V. Anand Rao. Learning about Divya's disappearance, Rao asks the police commissioner to send a newer recruit officer to investigate.
Meanwhile, Vikram, an aspiring cop, is rejected by the selection officer as he refuses to give a bribe. Along with his girlfriend Paaru, Vikram meets Anand Rao, who assigns him for the mission. Vikram goes to Vikramatheertha in Maharashtra and finds out that the people are actually enslaved by Patil to illegally export soil to an unknown buyer. After being insulted, Vikram thrashes Patil and his henchmen and sends Patil into a coma. Patil's brother Kulkarni, the ruling party MLA of Maharashtra, hears of Patil's coma and sends goons against Vikram, but to no avail.
Vikram organizes the people to order the area and goes to change the border between the states. On the way, Vikram thrashes Kulkarni's goons right in front of Kulkarni and warns him not to interfere. Vikram reports to Anand Rao with his findings, including an Halegannada inscriptions, the people who speak Kannada and also about Kulkarni. In the meantime, Vikram and the people excavate Vikramateertha and find many artifacts that they restore to their former glory and the pictures of the artifacts are sent to Rao, who later tells Vikram that the Central government has given approval for the site to be developed. Vikram requests that the annexement of the site should be developed on Kannada Rajyotsava to show Karnataka of their heritage.
Meanwhile, Johnson, the grandson of Louise Batten, calls Kulkarni, who is helping Johnson smuggle the soil of Vikramatheertha, to ensure everything is fine. He signs a contract for £10 billion dollars and will give Kulkarni in exchange for triple the soil. Rao reveals about Vikramatheertha's exploits and Vikramateertha's belonging to Karnataka to the media, where Johnson and Kulkarni learns about the news, Kulkarni relays everything to Johnson and begs him to come to India. On the day of Kannada Rajyotsava, While Anand Rao is talking about Vikramateertha belonging to Karnataka, Vikram's grandmother Gowri wakes up from her long inactivity and Vikram visits her ailing grandmother, who reveals her past.
1947: Vikramateertha was a thriving village with a famous Lord Shiva temple. Gowri, the daughter of the village chief Kusti Ranganna, falls in love with her father's student Rana Vikrama, where they get married. Meanwhile, the area is under the control of Viceroy Louis Batten, who is only interested in gaining profits. One of his scientist found 100% uranium in Vikramatheertha's soil. Louis Batten and the British collaborators tells the villagers they must vacate the village, but they refuse at which Batten kills Kusti Ranganna, only for Vikram to attack him. Humiliated, Batten sends a large army forces to forcibly evict or kill the villagers. The villagers fight back with stones and bare hands, but the guns and cannons of the enemy force them back. Vikrama tells Gowri and remaining villagers to flee and returns to fight the British. However, Vikram is betrayed by his own partner Ashoka and is handed over to Batten. Batten tortures him mortally, but Vikram slashes the throat of Batten before his death.
2015: Johnson gruesomly bombs Vikramateertha, causing many deaths and the government is humiliated. Anand Rao assigns Vikram to investigate the bombing. Vikram convinces Rao of the need to kill Johnson for the safety of the country in order to prevent the uranium from getting into the hands of international terrorists. Vikram goes to find and kill Johnson with his squad officers, but Johnson escapes and has Vikram's own team double-cross him. After dispatching the squad, Vikram arrives at the mines, where Johnson is supervising the loading of the uranium and chases him along a train. Vikram kills Johnson and Kulkarni. Later, Vikram is promoted to ACP by Anand Rao.
It was reported in October 2013 that Pavan Wadeyar would direct Puneeth Rajkumar in this film, which was announced to be produced by Jayanna Combines.[4] The film was officially launched, along with a teaser on 17 March 2014, coinciding with Puneeth Rajkumar's birthday. Shiva Rajkumar clapped for the first shot, while Parvathamma Rajkumar switched on the camera. According to Pavan Wadeyar, Puneeth Rajkumar will be seen as a student and a cop in this film.[5]
Anjali, a popular Tamil-Telugu actress, returned to Kannada cinema with this film, breaking a seven-year hiatus.[6] [7] Adah Sharma was selected as the other heroine, after Rachita Ram opted out. Vikram Singh was roped to play as the main antagonist.[8]
The regular shooting of the film started from 9 June 2014 in Bangalore. To shoot the key scenes of the film, a massive outdoor set was erected at Hampi on the bank of the Tungabhadra River and it is said to be one of the most expensive outdoor sets for a Kannada film.[9] Yash visited the shooting spot at Hampi.[10] It is the first of the film Puneeth Rajkumar, which shot at Hampi, while his father Dr. Rajkumar and brother Shiva Rajkumar had a film shot there earlier.[11] The introduction scene of Adah Sharma was shot at MG Road metro station, thus becoming first Kannada film to shoot at Namma Metro.[12] [13] The major scenes were shot at Bangalore, Belagavi, Hospete, Sandur and near Donimalai. The major climax scene was canned at Jindal Factory, Bellary for 18 days. It was reported that the makers of the film had invested a whopping 1.25 crore in the climax. Pavan Wadeyar, in order to create a high-octane climax in the film,,got a 10 kg gun especially designed for the film.[14] The 16-member team of Ranavikrama wrapped up the last schedule of shooting in Milan, Italy in January 2015.[15]
The post production activities commenced during the final phase of shooting. Puneeth Rajkumar began dubbing for his role by the end of February 2015, but had to stop as the actor caught common cold and had later completed his dubbing portion. Vikram Singh completed his dubbing on 9 March 2015. Anjali completed her voice dubbing for her role on 19 March 2015. It was reported that it was her first time dubbing for a Kannada film.[16]
| Rana Vikrama | |
| Type: | Soundtrack |
| Artist: | V. Harikrishna |
| Border: | yes |
| Caption: | Soundtrack cover |
| Released: | 10 April 2015 |
| Recorded: | 2015 |
| Genre: | Film soundtrack |
| Label: | D Beats |
| Producer: | Jayanna Bhogendra |
The music was composed by V. Harikrishna in his eighth collaboration with Puneeth Rajkumar. Pawan Wadeyar, in an interview with Filmibeat, said that there are 4 songs in the film and Puneeth Rajkumar has crooned two songs, but later only one song sung by Puneeth Rajkunar was retained.[17] Pavan Wadeyar has announced in his Twitter that the songs of the film will be released on 10 April 2015.[18] The audio album received mixed response from audience.[19]
The film's first look was released on 17 March 2014 on the occasion of Puneeth Rajkumar's birthday in YouTube. The teaser was played in all theatres of Karnataka, irrespective of the any language film, which was being played at the centre. It was the first time that the trailer of a film was released across all theatres in Karnataka.
The second teaser was released on 12 December 2014, along with the Tamil film Lingaa. The third teaser was released on 17 March 2015, on the occasions of Puneeth Rajkumar's birthday.[20] [21]
The satellite and digital rights of the film were sold to Udaya TV and Sun NXT.
GS Kumar of The Times of India gave 4/5 stars and wrote "A fast-paced commercial flick which no action junkie should miss."[22] Shyam Prasad S of Bangalore Mirror gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Rana Vikrama will flatter the fans of Puneeth as the actor’s image is exploited to the maximum."[23] Veena. N of Filmibeat gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Rana Vikrama is high octane action entertainer. The movie is a feast for all Puneeth Rajkumar fans."[24]