Aditya N
Aditya N
The Kannada movie Karataka Damanaka garnered significant attention for several reasons. It marked director Yogaraj Bhat’s initial partnership with Century Star Shivarajkumar and also marked the return of actor-choreographer-filmmaker Prabhudeva to Kannada cinema. Despite being released during a period of severe water scarcity in the state, particularly in Bengaluru, the film, which revolved around the theme of water, did not resonate well with viewers.
Karataka Damanaka was anticipated to debut on an OTT platform promptly. However, it has taken a total of 4 months to commence streaming. The film was released on Amazon Prime Video on July 12, as a special birthday treat for the main actor, Shivarajkumar. The movie features Priya Anand, Nishvika Naidu, Rangayana Raghu, Rockline Venkatesh, and P Ravi Shankar in prominent roles. It revolves around two swindlers, Virupaksha and Balaraju, portrayed by Shivarajkumar and Prabhudeva, as they travel to Nandikoluru at the request of the prison warden. The warden assigns them a task – if they can persuade his parents to leave the village and relocate to the city, he will assist in reducing their prison sentence. Upon reaching Nandikoluru, they discover that the villagers are engaged in a futile struggle with the local MLA over providing fundamental necessities such as water. The film revolves around Virupaksha and Balaraju stepping in to assist them while developing romantic feelings with two girls.
Shivarajkumar’s initial release of the year was Karataka Damanaka, following the moderately successful Ghost. He is now preparing for the release of a home production. The prequel of Mufti, which delves into the life of his character Bhairathi Ranagal before he became a machete-wielding gangster, is set to hit theaters in September, possibly in the last week, competing with NTR’s Devara.
