Arakshaka

Arakshaka is a 2012 Indian Kannada psychological thriller mystery film starring Upendra, Sadha and Ragini Dwivedi in the lead roles. The film is directed by P. Vasu. Krishna Prajwal has produced the film under Udaya Ravi Films. Gurukiran is the music director of the film.[3] Karnataka`s former CM and State Janata Dal President, H. D. Kumaraswamy released the audio of the film. The film is loosely inspired by the 2010 Hollywood film Shutter Island.[4]

Arakshaka
Arakshaka Poster
Directed by	P. Vasu
Produced by	Krishna Prajwal
Written by	V. R. Bhaskar Upendra (Dialogues)
Screenplay by	P. Vasu
Story by	P. Vasu
Starring	Upendra Ragini Dwivedi Sadha
Music by	Gurukiran
Cinematography	P. K. H. Das
Edited by	Suresh Urs
Production company	Udayaravi Films
Distributed by	Udaya Ravi Films
Release date	26 January 2012 [1]
Running time	2 hours 40 minutes
Country	India
Language	Kannada
Budget	₹4 Crore[2]
Box office	₹4.92 Crore[2]

Upendra has played a psychological role after a brief gap. He had last played such type of roles in his earlier psychological films like A (1998), Upendra (1999) which were directed by himself, and Preethse (2000).[5]

The film was released on 26 January 2012 and opened to positive reviews.[6] It turned out to be an average grosser but went on to achieve cult status later on.[7]

Cast

• Upendra as Arun and Vishnu, twin brothers
• Ragini Dwivedi as Dr. Nandini
• Sadha as Catherine
• Seetha
• Shayaji Shinde
• Sharan
• Arasu Maharaj
• Mysore Ramanand
• Joe Simon
• Venkata Rao
• Cool Chinna
• Rajesh Nataranga
• Jyothi Muroor
• Adi Lokesh
• Vijaya Sarathi

Critical reception

Oneindia gave a very positive review to the movie saying, "Arakshaka is the best suspense-thriller made in the Kannada film industry in the recent years. P Vasu's script is the hero of the film, as it successfully creates suspense, sets authentic mood and makes you sit on the edge of the seat for the most part of the movie. Arakshaka is a psychological-murder mystery that keeps you guessing till the end".[8] Rediff also gave the movie a positive review by giving 3 stars out of 5 and said, "Aarakshaka is worth a watch. It will surely make people think a lot, but leave them confused. Director Vasu has succeeded in playing a mind game with viewers. Aarakshaka needs a lot of thinking and reasoning. Go for it with your thinking cap on".[9] Nowrunning.com also gave it a positive review by giving 3.5 stars out of 5 and said, "Aarakshaka boasts of out of the box story, watch it!".[10]

Box office

Aarakshaka witnessed an average of 80% occupancy in single screens and around 60% in multiplexes. In rural places the film got 65% occupancy on opening day. The movie made good collections during its four-day weekend. The film’s first week gross was ₹3.42 Crore despite little publicity.[11] However, the collections fell during the second week mainly due to the release of Darshan starrer Chingari.[12] The film’s second week gross was ₹1.5 Crore, bringing its two weeks total gross to ₹4.92 Crore, thus returning investment within two weeks.[2] The film turned out to be just a moderate success.[13] Aarakshaka was declared as an Above Average Grosser by Oneindia Sandalwood Half Yearly Box Office Reports.[7][14]

Sound Track

Aarakshaka
Soundtrack album by Gurukiran
Released	December 2011
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Label	Ashwini Media Networks

Gurukiran has composed 5 songs set to the lyrics of Kaviraj, Upendra and Hamsalekha[15]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"I'm a Barbie Girl"	Kaviraj	Chaitra H. G.
2.	"Kalli Kalli"	Upendra	Srinivas, Shruti Tumkur
3.	"Kuch Kuch"	Kaviraj	K. S. Chithra, Vijay Yesudas
4.	"Rathri Yella"	Hamsalekha	Gurukiran, Akansha Badami
5.	"Thu Nan Makla"	Upendra	Kailash Kher

References

1. "Arakshaka - Movie Reviews, Videos, Wallpapers, Photos, Cast & Crew, Story & Synopsis on". Popcorn.oneindia.in. Archived from the original on 6 November 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
2. "Upendra's Aarakshaka on Suvarna".
3. Prakash. "Arakshaka Movie Review | Actor Upendra | Director P Vasu | Kannada Movie Reviews". Entertainment.oneindia.in. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
4. Sriram (25 January 2012). "Arakshaka Movie Review | Real Star Upendra | P Vasu Direction | ಆರಕ್ಷಕ ಚಿತ್ರವಿಮರ್ಶೆ | ರಿಯಲ್ ಸ್ಟಾರ್ ಉಪೇಂದ್ರ | ಪಿ ವಾಸು ನಿರ್ದೆಶನ - Oneindia Kannada". Kannada.oneindia.in. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
5. "Upendra Plays Psychic in Arakshaka". Supergoodmovies.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
6. Prakash. "Actor Upendra | Arakshaka Box Office | Movie Collections". Entertainment.oneindia.in. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
7. Prakash (3 July 2012). "Sandalwood Half Yearly Report: Anna Bond biggest hit so far". Entertainment.oneindia.in. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
8. Arakshaka - Movie Review
9. Review: Aarakshaka is worth a watch - Rediff.com Movies
10. Aarakshaka Review - Kannada Movie Review by V.S. Rajapur
11. "Arakshaka Rs.2.5 Crore Net in 8Days:Cinejwala: - Cinejwala.com .::No.1 Total Entertainment Portal::". Cinejwala.com . 5 February 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
12. Prakash (10 February 2012). "Darshan starrer Chingari overpowers Upendra's Arakshaka". Entertainment.oneindia.in. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
13. P Vasu to direct Puneet Rajkumar | Original Story | Taaza News Archived 26 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine
14. ಕನ್ನಡ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು: ಅರ್ಧವಾರ್ಷಿಕ ಸೀಳುನೋಟ - kannada movies first half 2012 - Oneindia Kannada
15. "Aarakshaka". Ksongs.in. 28 December 2011. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.

External links

• Arakshaka at IMDb