Tagaru

2018 Indian-Kannada language action crime film

Tagaru

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Duniya Soori
Screenplay by| Duniya Soori
Surendranath
Story by| Duniya Soori
Surendranath
Produced by| K. P. Srikanth
Starring| Shiva Rajkumar
Dhananjay
Bhavana
Vasishta N. Simha
Manvitha
Devaraj
Narrated by| Devaraj
Cinematography| Mahendra Simha
Edited by| Deepu S. Kumar
Music by| Charan Raj

Production
company

Venus Entertainers

Release date

* 23 February 2018 (2018-02-23)[1]

Running time

| 129 minutes
Country| India
Language| Kannada

Tagaru (transl. ram - male sheep) is a 2018 Indian Kannada-language action crime film co-written and directed by Duniya Soori and produced by K. P. Srikanth under Venus Entertainers. The film stars Shiva Rajkumar, alongside Dhananjaya, Bhavana, Manvitha Kamath, Vasishta N. Simha and Devaraj. The music was composed by Charan Raj, while cinematography and editing were handled by Mahendra Simha and Deepu. S. Kumar.[2][3][4][5][6]

The film was officially launched on 22 August 2016 and the first look was released the following day. The project marks the second collaboration between Duniya Soori and Shiva Rajkumar after Kaddipudi.[7][8]

Tagaru was theatrically released on 23 February 2018 to positive reviews from critics and became one of the highest-grossing Kannada film of 2018.[9][10][11] A major chunk of the narrative device was reported to be the main source of inspiration for the template of the tweaked script of the 2021 Telugu film Krack.[12] The film was remade in Tamil as Raid.[13]

## Plot

[edit]

ACP Tagaru Shiva investigates the suicide case of a girl named Tejaswani. The suicide is linked to a notorious gangster Daali and his brother Cockroach; he also investigates a teenager's death, which is orchestrated by Uncle's aide Baby Krishna. Shiva kills Baby at his hideout, and arrests Cockroach, who came to celebrate Baby's birthday, and tortures him, but releases him on bail due to Daali and Uncle's influence.

Shiva meets Panchami through an alliance sent by his superior officer ACP Ramachandra, and they begin to spend time with each other and decide to get married. A cat-and-mouse game ensues between Daali and Shiva, where Shiva kills Cockroach in an encounter. An enraged Daali and his best friend Chittaranjan "Chitte" attack Panchami and Shiva during their morning jog. Shiva and Panchami are admitted to a hospital, where Panchami dies from her injuries, leaving Shiva and Ramachandra devastated.

Seeking vengeance for Panchami's death, Shiva discreetly kills every associates connected to Daali and Chitte, including Chitte and Uncle. Shiva learns that Panchami's sister Punarvasu is arrested by the Goa Police in a raid. He saves and takes her to Ramachandra's house. Daali learns about Shiva's involvement behind the murders and hires a hitman to finish him. The hitman finishes Ramachandra, but he soon gets killed by Shiva. Shiva heads to Daali's birthday bash and kills Daali, thus avenging Panchami's death. In the aftermath of this saga, Shiva heads to investigate another case.

## Cast

[edit]

* Shiva Rajkumar as ACP Shivakumar
* Dhananjay as Daali aka Nimbe
* Bhavana as Panchami, Shiva's fiancée
* Manvitha as Punarvasu, Panchami's younger sister
* Devaraj as ACP Ramachandra, Shiva's mentor
* Vasishta N. Simha as Chittaranjan "Chitte"
* Sudhi as Cockroach, Daali's brother
* Sachidananda Sachu as Don Uncle aka Narayanaswamy
* Devanatha as Baby Krishna
* Poornachandra Mysore as Jamoon Ravi
* Anitha Bhat as Daali's girlfriend
* Triveni Rao as Constable Saroja
* Rockline Sudhakar as Subbi aka Saahiti
* Dileep as Dileepa
* Satyanarayana as Constable Satyanna
* M. N. Lakshmi Devi as Shiva's grandmother

## Production

[edit]

### Filming

[edit]

On 3 November 2015 an article was published with an announcement that after the success of the crime drama film Kaddipudi in 2013, director Soori would again collaborate with actor Shiva Rajkumar for an action film titled Tagaru.[14] However, it was reported that the film would go on floors only after both of them complete their pending projects. On 22 August 2016, the film was officially launched in Bangalore with all the lead cast being finalized. The first schedule was wrapped up on 26 November 2016.[15] The second schedule began on 12 December and was held in Mysore, Udupi, Gokarna and other coastal areas.[16] From 3 March 2017, the third schedule was filmed with actress Bhavana joining the team.[17]

The first schedule was held in and around Bangalore and Tumkur while the second schedule scenes were canned at Mysore, Mangalore and other coastal belt regions of Karnataka.[18]

### Casting

[edit]

After finalizing Shiva Rajkumar to play the lead role, producer K. P. Srikanth, a former associate of Kanakapura Srinivas, took up the project to finance. This film marks his second independent film after Shiva which was directed by Om Prakash Rao. Actress Manvitha Harish was selected to play the female lead, marking her second association with Soori after the successful Kendasampige (2015). Later actors Dhananjay and Vasishta N. Simha were signed for antagonist roles.[19] Dhananjay's hairstyle was modified to suit the role. During the third schedule of the shooting, actress Bhavana was signed to play another pivotal character.[20] Veteran actor Devaraj was signed in to play the key supporting character.

## Soundtrack

[edit]

Tagaru

Soundtrack album by

Charan Raj

Released| 2018
Recorded| 2017
Genre| Feature film soundtrack
Label| PRK Audio
Charan Raj chronology
| Pushpaka Vimana
(2017)  | Tagaru
(2018)  | Dalapathi
(2018)

|
|

| External audio

Official Audio Jukebox on YouTube

Charan Raj has been signed to compose the score and songs for the film.[21] The lyrics for the songs are written by V. Nagendra Prasad, Yogaraj Bhat and Jayanth Kaikini.

Track listNo.| Title| Lyrics| Singer(s)| Length

|
|
|
|

1.| "Tagaru Banthu Tagaru"| V. Nagendra Prasad| Anthony Daasan|
2.| "Mental Ho Jawa"| Kiran Kaverappa, Vardhik Joseph| Ananya Bhat, Sree Raksha Achar|
3.| "Hold on"| Yogaraj Bhat| Ananya Bhat|
4.| "Badukina Bannave"| Jayanth Kaikini| Siddharth Belmannu|
5.| "Balma"| Jayanth Kaikini| Charan Raj, Siddharth Belmannu|
6.| "Jeeva Sakhi"| Jayanth Kaikini| Charan Raj|
7.| "Gumma Banda Gumma" (Police Theme)| Jayanth Kaikini| Sanjith Hegde|
8.| "Yaare Nee Chature"| Jayanth Kaikini| Varijashree Venugopal|

## Release

[edit]

It was reported that for the first time ever, multiplexes across the state of Karnataka are seeing standees of an actor draped in garlands of flowers and money.[22] Outside Karnataka, the film released in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Sangli, Dudhani, Miraj, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Goa and Kasargod. Tagaru was reported to have emerged as the biggest ever Kannada film in the opening weekend outside Karnataka by grossing ₹10 crore (US$1.2 million) in 3 days.[23] The movie was also reported to be the first Kannada movie to be released in both Kenya and Japan[24]

### Home media

[edit]

The satellite and digital rights were sold to Udaya TV and Sun NXT

## Reception

[edit]

Tagaru received positive reviews from critics.

### Critical response

[edit]

A. Sharadhaa of The New Indian Express gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Tagaru manages to fall into the classics category, with intense characters, brilliant screenplay, creative cinematography and promising music including the background score playing with the stunts scenes."[25] Mayur Javali of Filmibeat gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Duniya Soori has come up with his typical genre of blood, crime and riveting dialogues. Though the story by him is usual, it's his screenplay and dialogue writing which puts him in the limelight. A good watch for the action-lovers and a huge treat for Shivanna's fans."[26]

Shyam Prasad. S of Bangalore Mirror gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Tagaru is a spicy blood pudding. There are few people who hahave a taste for it and this film is not the best advertisement for those who have not tried the dish so far. The film tried to look like a Quentin Tarantino film, but ends up like a Ram Gopal Varma film."[27] Deccan Herald gave 3/5 stars and wrote "A glorious celebration of machismo and underworld gangsta warfare, Tagaru splashes the screen with gut-wrenching gore and bloodshed. This idiom of cinematic narration, ensures novelty and niftyness, certain surefootedness providing Tagaru with the zip and style to be engrossed in it."[28]

While compiling the 25 Greatest Kannada Films of the Decade, Karthik Keramalu of Film Companion wrote "The entire film has uber-cool written all over it, albeit with guns and billhooks. Tagaru is the star-film of the decade (yes it's above K.G.F on the charts)".[29]

## Accolades

[edit]

Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref

|
|
|
|

66th Filmfare Awards South | Best Film | K. P. Srikanth  | Nominated  | [30]
[31]
Best Director | Suri | Nominated
Best Actor | Shivrajkumar | Nominated
Best Actress | Manvitha | Won
Best Supporting Actor | Dhananjay | Won
Best Music Director | Charanraj | Nominated
Best Lyricist | Jayant Kaikini ("Badukina Bannave") | Nominated
Best Playback Singer – Male | Anthony Daasan ("Tagaru Banthu") | Nominated
Best Playback Singer – Female | Ananya Bhat ("Hold On Hold On") | Nominated
8th South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Film  | Venus Entertainers  | Nominated  | [32]
[33]
Best Director  | Dooniya Soori  | Nominated
Best Actor | Shivrajkumar  | Nominated
Best Actress | Manvitha  | Nominated
Critics Best Actress | Manvitha  | Won
Best Supporting Actor  | Vasishta Simha | Nominated
Best Supporting Actress  | Bhavana | Nominated
Best Actor in a Negative Role  | Dhananjay  | Won
Best Music Director  | Charanraj  | Nominated
Best Playback Singer- Male  | Anthony Daasan ("Tagaru Banthu") | Nominated
Best Playback Singer – Female  | Ananya Bhat ("Hold On Hold On") | Won
Best Cinematographer  | Mahendra Simmha  | Nominated
11th Bengaluru International Film Festival | Third most popular Kannada film  | Duniya Soori
KP Srikanth  | Won  | [34]

## Possible sequel

[edit]

Soori had revealed that there would be a sequel to Tagaru even before the film was released while shooting the end credits of the film at the Bandi Makalamma temple. Sreekanth also gave the go-ahead for the sequel and the team even had the muhurath done with a simple puja.[35]

## Remake

[edit]

The copyrights of the Tamil remake version were sold to Tamil director M. Muthaiya who has signed to remake the film with Vikram Prabhu titled Raid, but Muthaiya only wrote the dialogues and the film was directed by debutant director Karthi.[36][37][38][39]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Tagaru (2018) – Tagaru Kannada Movie – Tagaru Review, Cast & Crew, Release Date, Photos, Videos – Filmibeat". FilmiBeat. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
2. ^ "Tagaru, Ṭagaru: 1 definition". Wisdom Library. 10 October 2021. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
3. ^ "Srikanth Takes Up 'Tagaru'". Indiaglitz.com. Archived from the original on 11 July 2016.
4. ^ "Manvitha Harish in the company of Century Star". Deccan Chronicle. 13 July 2016. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
5. ^ "Bhavana (actress) Joins The Sets Of Tagaru". chitraloka. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
6. ^ "Sri Shivakumara Swamiji in Tagaru". Chitraloka.com. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
7. ^ "Shivarajkumar's Tagaru begins in Bengaluru". The Times of India. 22 August 2016. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
8. ^ "The First Look Of Tagaru Is Here". Chitraloka. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
9. ^ "ಶಿವಣ್ಣನ ಟಗರು ಸಿನಿಮಾದ 25ನೇ ವಾರದ ಸೆಲೆಬ್ರೆಷನ್ ಅಮ್ಮ ಕಟ್ಟಿದ ಆ ಕನಸಿನ ಗುಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ..!! – Vahini TV". Vahini TV. 8 August 2018. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
10. ^ "Latest Kannada Movies | Kannada Movies 2023 | List Of Kannada Films - FilmiBeat". Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
11. ^ "Shivarajkumar's Tagaru completes 100 days successfully, becomes biggest hit of the year". 27 May 2018. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
12. ^ Keramalu, Karthik (11 January 2021). "Krack Movie Review: A Very Interesting Action Thriller Featuring Ravi Teja And Shruti Haasan". Film Companion. Retrieved 12 January 2021.[permanent dead link]
13. ^ "Director Muthaiah to remake Kannada super hit Tagaru". 25 October 2018. Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
14. ^ "After Kaddipudi, Duniya Soori Is Back With 'Tagaru' For Shivarajkumar". Filmibeat.com. 3 November 2015. Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
15. ^ "Shivarajkumar wraps up Tagaru first schedule". Filmykannada.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
16. ^ "Tagaru Action-Packed First Schedule Completed". Chitraloka.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
17. ^ "Bhavana to join Tagaru sets from march first week". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 15 May 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
18. ^ "Shivarajkumar and Manvitha soak up Kudla culture during shoot". The Times of India. 27 January 2017. Archived from the original on 26 January 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
19. ^ "Dhananjay To Play A Villain In Tagaru". Chitraloka.com. Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
20. ^ "Bhavana joins 'Tagaru'". Bangalore Mirror. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
21. ^ "Tagaru craze soars". The New Indian Express. 7 December 2016. Archived from the original on 28 May 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
22. ^ "Tagaru fever grips theatres across the state". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
23. ^ "Tagaru characters come alive". Bangalore Mirror. Archived from the original on 3 April 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
24. ^ "Telugu States Latest News, Breaking News, News Headlines, Live Updates, Today Top News". Archived from the original on 30 April 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
25. ^ "Tagaru review: Shivrajkumar's gangsta flick falls into the 'classics' category, Suri style". newindianexpress.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
26. ^ "Tagaru Review: A HUGE TREAT For Shivarajkumar Fans!". Filmibeat.
27. ^ "Tagaru Movie review: Blood pudding". Bangalore Mirror. Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
28. ^ "Tagaru Movie Review - A gory tale of revenge and redemption". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
29. ^ "25 Greatest Kannada Films of the Decade | Film Companion". 8 August 2023. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019.
30. ^ "Nominations for the 66th Filmfare Awards (South) 2019". Filmfare. 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
31. ^ "Winners of the 66th Filmfare Awards (South) 2019". Filmfare. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
32. ^ "SIIMA 2019 FULL nominations list out!". Times Now. 18 July 2019. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
33. ^ "SIIMA Awards 2019 full winners list". Times Now. 17 August 2019. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
34. ^ Roshan H Nair (28 February 2019). "Best film awards at BIFFes are out". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
35. ^ "Shivarajkumar's cop mode to continue". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
36. ^ "Director Muthaiah to remake Kannada super hit Tagaru". 25 October 2018. Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
37. ^ "Shivarajkumar-starrer Tagaru's Tamil remake rights sold to director Muthaiah". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
38. ^ "Tagaru to be remade in Tamil". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
39. ^ "Vikram Prabhu's 'Raid' gearing up for February release". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Tagaru at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Films of Duniya Soori

Director|

* Duniya (2007)
* Inthi Ninna Preethiya (2008)
* Junglee (2009)
* Jackie (2010)
* Anna Bond (2012)
* Kaddipudi (2013)
* Kendasampige (2015)
* Doddmane Hudga (2016)
* Tagaru (2018)
* Popcorn Monkey Tiger (2020)
* Bad Manners (2023)

Producer|

* Kendasampige (2015)
* Inthi Ninna Preethiya (2008)

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