KGF: Chapter 1

<p>Journalist Anand Ingalagi’s book , which detailed the events at the (K.G.F) between 1951 and 2018, was banned by the Indian government, but a television news channel procures a copy and interviews him. In 1951, Raja “Rocky” Krishnappa Bairya was born to a poor, underage girl named Shanti. On the same day, government officials, accompanied by Suryavardhan, arrived to investigate a strange yellow rock discovered by workers digging a well in southern Mysore State. Upon realizing that the rock was gold ore, Suryavardhan, a powerful don and politician of the time, killed the officials and leased the land for 99 years under the pretext of running a limestone mine called Narachi, while secretly establishing K.G.F and his crime syndicate. To manage the empire, Suryavardhan had appointed five associates: Adheera, his ruthless younger brother, who headed the security at K.G.F; Kamal, son of Suryavardhan’s late associate Bhargav, who looks after gold refinery in Varca; Rajendra Desai, who oversees the transportation of gold bars coming from the refinery; Andrews, who oversees the gold smuggling in the ; and Guru Pandian, president of the incumbent DYSS party who gave political influence to Suryavardhan. Suryavardhan suffers a and appoints his elder son Garuda as the future heir of K.G.F, expecting Adheera to serve as his son’s aide. His associates, now eyeing the riches of K.G.F, plan to assassinate Garuda. Adheera is presumed dead after Garuda bombs his car in retaliation for Adheera’s unsuccessful assassination attempt. Rocky arrives in as a ten-year-old on a quest for wealth and power as desired by his dying mother, and begins to work for Shetty, a gold smuggler and Andrews’ underboss, who competes against a -based underworld don Inayat Khalil. Years later, he rises in ranks and oversees the arrival of gold bars to the Bombay coast. Andrews notices Rocky’s influence has begun to rival Shetty’s own, and offers Rocky complete control of the Bombay underworld in return for assassinating Garuda. Rocky accepts the offer and heads to , where Suryavardhan’s statue is built at the DYSS party office to lure Garuda out of K.G.F. Desai, Andrews, Kamal, and Andrews’ secretary Daya covertly smuggle in a for Rocky, but the attempt is foiled when they are spotted by Garuda’s bodyguards. Garuda reveals he had replaced his father’s statue with his own. Rocky, witnessing the authority and power that Garuda commands and seeing no other option to murder him, decides to journey to K.G.F. The workers in K.G.F, who are forcibly kidnapped from nearby villages, are subjected to inhumane conditions and treated as slaves. Rocky allows himself to be kidnapped and enters K.G.F with other slaves. Rocky stealthily accesses the map of the mine in the maintenance room during a roll call and narrowly escapes death after a fellow slave sacrifices himself to save the lives of his wife and unborn child. Andrews, Kamal and Desai are misinformed about the incident and assume Rocky is killed. Although apathetic at first, he is moved by the cold-blooded murder of a mother and son by a guard. Rocky engages in a fight with an entire unit of twenty-three guards, killing each one of them to save a blind slave. With this act, Rocky emerges as a messiah in the slaves’ eyes. He orders them to burn the guards’ corpses to let Andrews and his men know he is still alive via their informants, Kulkarni and Garuda’s younger brother Virat. Garuda prepares to leave his residence to investigate the fire and missing guards. To avert this, Virat smothers Suryavardhan to death, in order to sidetrack Garuda, who rushes back home. Rocky heads unsuspected through a tunnel from the mines to Garuda’s mansion, following the map in the maintenance room. Shaken by the recent bad turn of events, Garuda orders ‘s ritual, to be rescheduled from the following week to the next day. Garuda plans to kill his father’s allies as soon as the ritual, where he has decided to behead three assassins (sent earlier to kill him) as to the goddess, is completed. The next day, while preparations for the ritual are being made, Vanaram, the head of security, discovers one of the assassins dead inside his prison cell, and realizes someone has entered the mansion. As Garuda beheads two assassins, Rocky, who hid himself as the third assassin, emerges and beheads Garuda. The ecstatic slaves accept Rocky as their leader. Ingalagi concludes that Rocky intentionally chose K.G.F as the location to assassinate Garuda, thereby inspiring an army of slaves to help him seize control. He indicates, however, that this is just the beginning. The news of Garuda’s murder reaches Inayat Khalil and Ramika Sen, the to-be . Adheera, who is revealed to be alive, hears the news of Garuda’s death and plans to resurface. All others at the K.G.F including Desai, Kamal, Andrews, Daya, Khalil and Shetty, were overjoyed by hearing the news. As Vanaram orders his men to attack Rocky and his army, a gunshot is heard. Following the success of (2014), signed for four projects as of March 2015, including one with director (of fame). The project, , about an ambitious man and his life in the 1970s, was considered to be one of the most expensive films in . , the production house led by Vijay Kiragandur, bankrolled the project, and one of its production executive Karthik Gowda, stated that “KGF, which is set in the 70s, took over one and a half years of pre-production, because they wanted to ensure they got every single detail right, be it the matchboxes, telephone, or the clothes people wore.” The film’s director, Prashanth Neel, stated that the film would be launched in April 2016, and the shooting would begin in May 2016. , who earlier scored music for the director’s , was hired for the project, while handled the cinematography. In an interview with , Prashanth Neel stated that he planned to split the film in two parts, as the narration of the story is in a non-linear format. The decision to split the film into two parts also had to do with its commercial prospects. He further added “The scale of the project is huge and we had a scope for a beginning, an interval, and an end for both parts, so it made sense for us to release it as two parts”. As for the decision to make it a multilingual release, he says that it was because the film is based on a unique idea and has a universal theme. About the rumours of doing as a “Tamil version, with Suriya being roped in, but failing to do so”, he stated that it was meant to be a Kannada film. In December 2020, during the making of its second installment, Prasanth Neel denied rumours of a third installment in the franchise, claiming that the story would conclude in its second part. The film’s cast consists mostly of completely new faces. The cast members sported rugged looks, given the subject and setting of the film. Yash grew his beard and long hair for his role as Rocky, a slick and a suave person of the 1970s. Bangalore-based model , a winner of the Miss Supranational 2016, was cast alongside Yash. Srinidhi, a self-confessed fan of Yash, claimed that she had watched his films and , and stated that he is one of the actors to whom she looks forward. In August 2017, Vasishta Simha bagged a pivotal role in the film, while and were falsely reported to be a part of the film. In July 2016, the filmmakers kick-started a 15-day schedule in , without Yash, as the actor was shooting for (2016). The first schedule of the film took place on a huge set, which took more than 35–40 days to construct. The film was slated to take off earlier that year, but was pushed back because of problems surrounding the , which meant the team had to cancel its initial shoot schedule plans. The schedule was further complicated by Yash’s break from shooting films, in order to focus on his wedding to , which was held in Bangalore in December 2016. The film’s shooting began on 15 January 2017, after completing the final stages of pre-production. On 25 January 2017, the filmmakers erected huge sets at , to replicate in the period of 1970–80, thereby filming extensively in the location. The art director Shivakumar recreated the Kolar Gold Fields film set of the 1980s and VFX was used as an extension for the film. Aware that a freak accident happened at the sets of (2017), claiming the lives of two actors, producer Kirangadur secured an insurance cover for the crew members working on the film. As of 25 June 2017, the project was 50 percent complete, and production had restarted after sets were rebuilt, following their destruction by heavy rains. As a part of the film’s shoot, the filmmakers painted a portion of the Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion, which is located on the campus of . Some sequences of the movie, which has Yash and Srinidhi Shetty in the lead roles, were also shot at the centenary clock tower located next to the campus. Yash entered the final schedule of the film in April 2018. In May 2018, actors and filmed the interview sequence, one of the major scenes in the film’s storyline. At the end of the month, Yash had announced that he had completed his portions, and started dubbing for the film. As of May 2018, the filmmakers completed major portions of the film, except one song. In August 2018, was reported to shoot for a song sequence, thus marking her debut in Kannada. However, on 9 August, was hired for a song number, thus marking her second film appearance in Kannada, after (2016). On 17 August 2018, the filmmakers announced that shooting of the film had wrapped, although another song shoot for the film’s Hindi version, featuring Yash and , took place at the Goregaon Studio on 7 and 8 December. In an interview with director Prashanth Neel for about the theme of the film, he stated “‘KGF’ has a strong texture of gold in it, which is about greed and gold. KGF, in many ways, is akin to . The way kings and soldiers have over the years gone looking for the mythical El Dorado, where anyone who lays claim to the place ruled the world. This is what Anant Nag (narrator) says in the film, too.” Prashant explains about the setting of the film in 1970–80, stating, “In 1978, because of the between the and the erstwhile that had affected places like and , the price of gold went up the highest in the recorded history. Till date, one cannot find another time when the price of gold shot up so much. So, 1978 was the perfect setting for us, because the higher the price of gold, the higher the greed of men.” The film was also inspired by and like and . composed the soundtrack album and the film’s score, while the track “Gali Gali” from (1989) for the film’s Hindi version. The audio rights of the film were purchased by in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam for (equivalent to 4.8 crore or US$570,000 in 2023), a record sum for any South Indian film; the Hindi version’s audio rights were bought by . The track “Salaam Rocky Bhai” served as the lead single from the soundtrack album. It was released in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam on 7 December 2018, along with the full soundtrack album; the album for the Hindi version was released on 9 December 2018. The versions of the songs were released on 27 December 2018. The film’s score was released in two volumes; the first volume of the was released on 10 September 2019, and the second volume was released on 12 October 2019. The first look of the film was released on 3 May 2017. On 8 January 2018, coinciding with Yash’s birthday, a one-minute long introductory teaser, with narrating, was unveiled by the production team. After responding to a fan’s request, Yash announced that the film’s trailer would be released in October 2018. shared the first look on 6 November 2018 and a second one on 8 November on the occasion of . The official trailer of the film was released on 9 November 2018. The trailer crossed more than one million views within an hour of its release. Special promotions were planned on 4 December in , and 6 December in . On 9 December 2018, the makers hosted a pre-release event at the JRC Convention Centre in Hyderabad to promote the film’s Telugu version. graced the event as the chief guest. As a part of the film’s promotion, an online game, , specially designed for mobile phones, was released by Mobi2Fun Private Limited for the , which saw more than 5,000 downloads upon its initial release. On 28 August 2017, the filmmakers announced that will be made as a multilingual film, released in , , , , and languages, marking the first foray of its crew members (including ) into different industries. The filmmakers planned to release the film in the second half of 2018. On 19 September 2018, it was announced that the first part of the film will be released on 16 November 2018; however, the release was postponed to 21 December. KGF Chapter 1 also release his Hindi dubbed version on channel Goldmines Telefilms. the Hindi dubbed version crossed more than 750 million views. The rights for the Kannada version were bought by KRG Studios, a sister company of Hombale Films. The film’s Hindi version was distributed by , , and Anil Thadani, who bought the rights under their banners and . The rights for the Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions were sold to and . The Malayalam-dubbed rights of the film were sold to . received a U/A certificate from the in early December 2018. It was reported that the film would be released to 1,800–2,200 screens worldwide, the widest ever release for a Kannada film. However, it was later reported that the film was released to 2,460 screens, including 1,500 for the Hindi version, 400 each for Kannada and Telugu, 100 for Tamil and 60 for Malayalam. The advance booking for the shows were started on 16 December 2018, and saw a tremendous response upon its initial bookings. Following its response, the filmmakers allotted early morning shows at 4:00 a.m. for the preview. The film was released in the and on 20 December 2018 and in the following day. The day also saw releases in parts of , , and parts of , including , the first in these regions for a Kannada film. The film released in on 28 December and in on 4 January 2019. The Hindi-dubbed version of the film was released to 71 screens in on 11 January and became the first Kannada film to be released there, although (2013) was screened at and had no theatrical release in the country. was screened at the 11th on 28 February 2019, where it received an award for the Best Picture in the Entertainment category, and was adjudged the most popular Kannada film by the jury members. On 20 December 2018, the 10th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court in had passed an interim stay before the film’s release, following two petitions, filed by Venkatesh G, Yogesh and Ratan, citing plagiarism allegations, and also accusing the filmmakers of portraying Kolar’s history in a poor light. However, the producer Kiragandur stated that the film will be released on the said date, and asked fans to avoid rumours. On 27 December 2018, the filmmakers issued a statement that the shows in were cancelled due to an unauthorized screening, as the distributors of the film did not consult the producers of the original. On 18 December 2018, a few scenes from the film were leaked onto social networking sites, although Karthik Gowda, the executive producer, labeled it a rumour and clarified that the filmmakers have created a team to fight against online piracy. Despite preventative measures, of the film were made available before its release. In May 2020, the producers sued a local television channel for premiering the film’s Telugu version illegally. The film’s digital rights were sold to for (equivalent to 22 crore or US$2.6 million in 2023), and premiered on 5 February 2019, along with its dubbed versions. bought the satellite rights for an undisclosed record price, and hosted its premiere on 30 March 2019. The Tamil version of the film was telecast through on 7 April. acquired the satellite rights of the Hindi version. The film’s Telugu version was premiered on on 5 July 2020, and registered an average TRP rating of 11.9, with many citing the delay of the premiere for more than 18 months after the theatrical release date. The Malayalam version of the movie was jointly purchased by and . The movie premiered on Asianet and Kairali TV on 14 December 2020. The film was re-released in the United States to 35 locations on 31 January 2019, becoming the first Kannada film to be re-released in the country. On 1 November 2019, coinciding with the occasion of , the filmmakers re-released the film at 25–30 centres across , with a week run during its release. The film’s Hindi version was re-released in and theatres, on 23–29 October 2020. On the first day of its release, collected (equivalent to 33 crore or US$4.0 million in 2023) worldwide, which was the highest opening in the . In Karnataka’s capital alone, the film earned about (equivalent to 6.7 crore or US$790,000 in 2023) on the first day. The film registered a gross of (equivalent to 80 crore or US$9.4 million in 2023) at the worldwide box office on its first three days, becoming the fastest Kannada film to gross (equivalent to 67 crore or US$7.9 million in 2023). The film grossed around (equivalent to 151 crore or US$18 million in 2023) worldwide in the first week of its release, becoming the first Kannada film to gross (equivalent to 134 crore or US$16 million in 2023). On 9 January 2019, trade analysts announced that the film entered the (equivalent to 249 crore or US$29 million in 2023) mark, thus becoming the first Kannada film to do so. It went on to gross around (equivalent to 311 crore or US$37 million in 2023) and completed a theatrical run of over 100 days in a couple of centres in . On the first day of release, collected (equivalent to 24 crore or US$2.9 million in 2023) net at the domestic box office. The Hindi version raked in more than (equivalent to 2.7 crore or US$320,000 in 2023) at the box office on the first day. On the second day, the film outdid its first day totals, with a worldwide total of (equivalent to 33 crore or US$4.0 million in 2023). First weekend totals stood at around (equivalent to 80 crore or US$9.4 million in 2023) worldwide from all versions, whereas the Hindi-dubbed version collected over (equivalent to 12 crore or US$1.4 million in 2023). On the fourth day, the film collected approximately (equivalent to 107 crore or US$13 million in 2023) while the Hindi version saw a jump of 45% on Monday. On 25 December 2018, the film saw a steep incline on the box office due to the holidays, collecting more than (equivalent to 112 crore or US$13 million in 2023) upon release. The fifth day totals stood at up to (equivalent to 134 crore or US$16 million in 2023). The film collected more than (equivalent to 140 crore or US$17 million in 2023) at the domestic box office in the first week of release. After ten days, the film had collected (equivalent to 116 crore or US$14 million in 2023) from Karnataka, (equivalent to 2.1 crore or US$250,000 in 2023) from , (equivalent to 8.2 crore or US$970,000 in 2023) from , and (equivalent to 19 crore or US$2.3 million in 2023) from Telugu-speaking states. The film entered the (US$12 million) mark in Karnataka on the fifteenth day of box office, thus becoming the first film in Karnataka to do so. It collected over (equivalent to 179 crore or US$21 million in 2023) in Karnataka, becoming the highest-grossing film in that state, and beating the previous record set by . The film collected (equivalent to 30 crore or US$3.6 million in 2023) in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, (equivalent to 4.0 crore or US$470,000 in 2023) in Kerala, and (equivalent to 11 crore or US$1.3 million in 2023) in Tamil Nadu; the film earned more than (equivalent to 214 crore or US$25 million in 2023) across theatres across South India. Its Hindi version earned more than (equivalent to 50 crore or US$5.9 million in 2023); it became the fourth-highest grossing Hindi-dubbed film after the and of the that time. The film earned more than (equivalent to 273 crore or US$32 million in 2023) at the domestic box office. Premiering at more than 100 theatres in 50 locations, became the fastest Kannada film to cross $200k and $300k in the United States box office. As of 25 December, the film earned $413,214, becoming the first Kannada film to earn $400k at the box office. Within the end of the first week, collected more than $522,848 at the box office, becoming the first to cross a half million ($500k) dollars in . During the second weekend, the film grossed $146,207, to take its total tally to $669,055, and it crossed the $700k mark within the second week. Thereafter, the tally saw a normal dip and the film ended its lifetime total at $805,637 in the country. Apart from the US, the film collected £22,656 in , $9,539 in , and RM 11,406 in , to collect a cumulative $1.5 million in overseas profits. On the website , 67% of 9 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. received positive reviews from critics. While its story plot, cinematography, action sequences, music, narration, direction and cast performances of the received acclaim, critics had mixed comments about the screenplay and editing. However the film’s dialogues became famous worldwide, especially Yash and Anant Nag’s dialogues. Reviewing for , Vivek M. V. felt that the “grandeur” lay in the film’s “fantastically gripping story”. He praised the film’s narration, its “brilliant” editing, and “riveting sequences”. Sunayana Suresh of gave the film rating of stars out of five, writing that it had a “fast-paced first half … but the second half and the climax sets up the right premise for the second part of the film.” She called the screenplay’s “non-linear” fashion the “most interesting part of the film”. She commended Yash’s performance, in that he “lives his character to the fullest”. Troy Ribeiro of echoed her sentiment, writing, “Yash’s endurance, strife and sincerity … get projected as perfunctory” in the context of “tight close-ups and mid-shots the camera stops us from getting emotionally connected to” every actor in the film. He further wrote, “With intense atmospheric lighting, every frame in the film looks aesthetic and natural. Brilliant cinematography and equally challenging action sequences are put together with razor-sharp edits. They give the film a racy pace.” Priyanka Sundar of called the film a “story of greed and redemption” that “burns bright”. While praising the “promising” background score, “sharp” editing, and “stunning” visuals, she felt that the screenplay could have been “tighter”. Janani K. of felt the film was “dragged and over-stretched”, and gave it a three out of five-star rating. While she commended Yash’s “extraordinary performance” and the “brilliantly choreographed stunt sequences”, she wrote that despite having “universal theme, [the film] gets lost in translation, thanks to sloppy editing and atrocious dialogues.” Subha J. Rao of gave the film a similar rating, and praised the film’s music, cinematography, and art direction, particularly the latter in “bringing alive the grime and heat of the gold mines”. However, she felt “[t]ighter editing … would have smoothened out the kinks” in the film. Shashiprasad S. M. of scored the film stars out of five, describing the film as “a visual spectacle”. Barring that, he felt it fell short of “instilling the much-needed life into it.” Karthik Keramalu of felt that the film fell short of “becoming a great movie by a long mile”. He dismissed the dialogue delivered by Yash’s character as a “lengthy sermon about his own valour”, while also criticizing the film’s editing. Excluding what he described the film’s climax as “spectacular with the support of a brilliant cast” and “spot-on” sets and location, Muralidhara Khajane of felt there was “nothing in the film that we have not seen before”. While writing that “[t]here is a certain finesse to the edgy, moody cinematography”, he concluded that the film lacked a “soul, a believable story, and a rounded protagonist.” Manoj Kumar R. of scored the film stars out of five, deeming it “[a]n overstretched exercise in hero worship”. While drawing comparisons of certain scenes to those from , he felt the film had a “flimsy storyline”, which he added was made up for by its “terrific background orchestra”. Also writing for the same news publication, Shubhra Gupta drew comparisons of the film in plot to those of , , and in its first half. She felt that the film had “nothing more” than “striking cinematography, and the brown and sepia colours which suffuse the screen.” The character of Rocky was well received by critics. Janani K. of said that “You take a look at [Rocky] and instantly you know that this guy will do the impossible and pull people out of their misery.” Sunaina Suresh of said that “The growth of Rocky is shown steadily and the makers kept a clever story telling pattern right through that keeps pace with the narrative.” Suresh further added: “The first chapter shows Rocky as the maverick mastermind who will stop at nothing in order to achieve his mission.” Troy Ribeiro of said that “Rocky is the new Superhero in the town.” Before the release of the first film in December 2018, the filmmakers shot 20% of its second installment, with the crew doing double shifts till January 2019. The film has Yash and Srinidhi Shetty reprising their roles from the first film, while and were cast in pivotal new roles. The shooting of the film kick-started on 13 March 2019. was originally scheduled to hit theatres on 23 October 2020, but its release was postponed due to the . In January 2021, the filmmakers announced a new release date of 16 July 2021 but again got postponed due to the same reason. On 22 August 2021, the filmmakers announced that the film will release on 14 April 2022. Finally Chapter 2 was released on 14 April 2022 in , and in dubbed versions for the , , , and languages. The success of ‘KGF’ means a lot to the , especially to a lot of our talented technicians who don’t get the due they deserve. A lot of our talented technicians have been looking for a platform and ‘KGF’ has provided them that pedestal. This success has boosted the morale of the Kannada industry. It has justified the talent of . — Yash in an interview to , after the success of The film was praised by many celebrities across the South Indian film industry. Director praised the team after watching the trailer of the film, while and also appreciated Yash and the filmmakers. , , , and (wife of late actor ) also praised Yash’s performance. Tamil actor , who watched a special screening of the film on 20 January 2019 in , praised the team for its brilliant filmmaking, and Yash for his performance. Following the box office performance of the film, on 3 January 2019, the raided the homes of several film stars and producers from the Kannada industry, including Yash and the film’s producer, Vijay Kiragandur, and its actors have also been asked to provide details of Yash’s remuneration for the film, shedding light on the fact that the movie’s performance was considered to be the reason behind the IT raid. In a March 2018 interview with , Yash stated that “The success of boosted the morale of the Kannada film industry. This success means a lot to all the untapped talent of our industry”. also established Kannada cinema in the multilingual film market, with the 2019 releases , , and being released in multiple languages. Shjilpa Sebastian wrote an article for , “2019: The Year when Kannada Cinema Went National”, in which she stated that the film “changed the game plan for the Kannada film industry”. became the most streamed film on in 2019. Director , chairman of the , praised the film, stating: “We can expect more ‘KGF’s in the future. Not everyone can make a ‘KGF’, but its success can inspire more quality filmmaking using both local and international technicians.”</p>