Kirik Party is a 2016 Indian Kannada-language Romance film comedy drama directed by Rishab Shetty and produced by Govind Sahai Guptha and Rakshit Shetty, under Paramvah Studios.
The film marks the second directorial venture of Rishab Shetty after Ricky (2016). The principal photography commenced on 17 April 2016 at Malnad College of Engineering in Hassan and was completed in September 2016.
Kirik Party was released worldwide on 30 December 2016 to positive reviews from critics and became one of the highest grossing Kannada films of all time and also had a 365-days run in multiplexes.
Plot
The story begins with Karna, a first-year student at college, meeting Saanvi, a final year student and the daughter of a police officer. Saanvi is well-liked on campus, but she forms a close friendship with Karna. Saanvi is writing a book about a sex worker she knows personally, who ends up giving birth with Saanvi and Karna's help. The baby is named Saanvi, which deeply affects Karna emotionally. Over time, Karna and Saanvi grow closer and go out together. However, a tragic incident occurs when Saanvi falls from a hostel window and dies after drinking alcohol at a party. This event deeply affects Karna, leading him to become stubborn and rude in his final year. Arya, a junior, falls in love with Karna and tries to help him return to his former self. After a series of events and emotional encounters, Karna is able to come to terms with his past and move forward with Arya's support.
Karna, influenced by Arya's words, leaves on a bike journey, deciding to sell his car to fund a sex worker's child's education. During the trip, Karna realizes he is in love with Arya and returns to college. On his final day, Karna writes letters confessing to locking himself in the car and falsely accusing his friends, and expressing his love for Arya. Karna reunites with his friends, but the principal forgives them before reading the letter. At the send-off party, Arya reveals the truth to Karna and asks him to give the letter to the principal, not her. Karna mistakenly switches the letters, leading the principal to discover Karna's love for Arya, who is his daughter. In the end, the principal angrily confronts Karna for his actions. This chain of events showcases Karna's growth as he takes responsibility for his mistakes and faces the consequences, ultimately learning valuable lessons about honesty and love.
Cast
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Rakshit Shetty as Karna
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Rashmika Mandanna as Saanvi Joseph
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Samyuktha Hegde as Aarya
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Achyuth Kumar as Ghouse
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Aravinnd Iyer as Lokesh Kumar
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Dhananjay Ranjan as Manjunath M.
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Ashwin Rao Pallaki as Ravi
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Shankar Murthy as Sankoch Murthy
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Chandan Achar as Alexander Gabriel
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Pramod Shetty as Jnanesh
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Rajath Kumar as Rajath
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Manjunath Gowda
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Giri Krishna
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Raghu Ramanakoppa
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Hanumanthegowda as Dr. Thontadarya
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K. S. Sridhar
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Raghu Pandeshwar as Watchman Narayana
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Dinesh Mangaluru as Karna's Father
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Salman Ahamed as Poovaiah
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Sriharsha Mayya
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Raghavendra N.
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Aishwarya Acchappa as Bhagya
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Surabhi
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Neetha Muralidhar Rao
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Arohitha Gowda as Sonu
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Paramesh as Ranna
Production
Development
In February 2016, during the promotions of
Ricky in
Udupi,
Rakshit Shetty announced that his next film would be
Kirik Party and that Rishab Shetty, the director of the former, would again direct the film. He added that most of
Ricky's crew would feature in the film except for
Hariprriya, as the film demanded a "fresh female lead". He said that the film would be made in a budget of 4
crore.
In an interview with
The Times of India in December 2016, he said that he wrote the story about six years ago and was inspired from his "college experiences". He added, "Karna his is what I was like in college. He is actually a combination of mine and my best friends' characteristics. I was a naughty guy back then and have changed a lot since; I became serious after moving to Bengaluru".
Casting
Rashmika Mandanna told
Indiatimes about her entry to cinema industry "The makers of Kirik Party saw a picture of mine from the Clean & Clear Fresh Face of India 2014 competition — one in which I was dancing during the college round — and approached me to act in the film. So, it really got things going. I always wanted to be in films. I would watch actors receiving awards and thanking their parents in their acceptance speeches — that is something that I always wanted to do. But I honestly didn't think that I would bag such a big movie. I would just say that I'm lucky."
Auditions were held in March 2016 for the two female leads and supporting roles in the film, in Bangalore.
Filming
Filming began on 17 April 2016 with a
muhurat shot in Bangalore.
It completed in September, with the final leg of the schedule filming a "journey song" for which the makers traveled to 15 places in four states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa spanning 2,400 kilometers.
A yellow Hindustan Contessa bearing the 3636 on the number plate was used in the film. Rishab Shetty conceived a mute character in the film and the car was used in the place after certain modifications. Elaborating on the role it plays in the film, he said, "It is not about just buying the car, but how they fall in love also makes this vehicle an important part of the film. The car even has a name, Kirik car." The makers spent over a month on finalizing on the "perfect car" before narrowing down on the Contessa "for its long looks".
It was also used during the film's promotions following which it was auctioned to contribute for a "social cause".
Soundtrack
The film has ten tracks composed by B. Ajaneesh Loknath, out of which only six were included in the soundtrack album which initially released on 26 November 2016.
The makers later released the remaining tracks as an extended album on 24 December 2016.
The soundtrack had lyrics written by
Rakshit Shetty, Dhananjay Ranjan, Kiran Kaverappa and Veeresh Shivamurthy. Deciding to not tie up with any music label, the producers released the album online under their own banner Paramvah Music, a subsidiary of
Paramvah Studios and the digital partner Divo.
The tracks received viral response from audiences.
Release
Kirik Party was released theatrically on 30 December 2016 across
Karnataka. The subsequent days saw releases in Karnataka's neighbouring States of
Kerala, and
Tamil Nadu. However, this movie did not release in
Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana. Over the following month, it was released and saw strong opening in
United States,
Singapore,
Dubai,
Japan,
Israel and parts of Europe.
The strong opening at the domestic box-office was significant in that the film faced stiff competition from the hitherto already successful run of Hindi film
Dangal.
The film's television premiere took place in
Colors Kannada on 20 August 2017.
Marketing
The trailer of the film was released by Kannada actor Upendra at Renukamba Preview Theater in Malleshwaram on 27 October 2016.
In
YouTube it garnered more than 3 lakh views within 48 hours of its launch, breaking the previous record for a Kannada film trailers. As of February 2017 it has crossed 2 million views on YouTube.
The official app of Kirik Party was released on 20 December 2016 for Android.
Reception
The film opened to positive reviews from critics upon theatrical release. Writing for
The Hindu, Archana Nathan called the film a "party down memory lane", further adding that "there is an underlying theme of self-discovery that runs through the film" and also noting that "Ajaneesh Lokanath’s sound track plays a huge role in this narrative experience."
Sunayana Suresh of
The Times of India rated the film 4 out of 5, saying "Go ahead, watch this film and relive nostalgia from your college days." She further said that the film "scores high on technical values".
Shashi Prasad of
The Deccan Chronicle too rated 4/5 stars and wrote, "Both Rakshit and Rishab Shetty seem to have held onto the pulse of the new set of audience." He added, "If possible, take your college friends to watch this one for maximum fun and love."
Noted critic Baradwaj Rangan writing on his blog said, "The must-haves of our cinema are all there. Romance. Comedy. Songs. Fights. But the director, Rishab Shetty, is stupendously inventive, and these generic elements acquire startlingly specific colours." He added "Forget La La Land. This is the most inventive musical of 2016."
Shyam Prasad of Bangalore Mirror rated 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "Director Rishab Shetty manages to derive lively and realistic performances from all actors. There is attention to detail but without forcing anything."
Box office
Domestic
The film collected on its opening weekend which is recorded as one of the biggest openings in Kannada cinema.
It also opened strongly in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The distributors revealed in January 2017 of having collected a share of close to and a gross of at the end of one week after release.
reported that the film had "apparently made a business of 25 crore" after 25 days.
By the end of 75 days, it collected and still was being screened in over 100 cinemas.
[ The film went on to become the highest grossing Kannada film of 2016 grossing over 50 crores.]
Overseas
The film released on in United Arab Emirates 6 January 2017 in over 20 screens and collected in three days, over the weekend. The overall gross had reached by then.
Accolades
|
|
| Best Actor – Kannada | | |
| Critics Best Actor – Kannada | |
| Best Supporting Actress – Kannada | | |
| Best Music Director – Kannada | | |
| Best Lyricist – Kannada | | |
| Best Male Playback Singer – Kannada | | |
| Best Female Playback Singer – Kannada | | |
|
| Best Director – Kannada | | |
| Best Story – Kannada | | |
| Best Actor – Kannada | |
| Best Actress – Kannada | | |
| Best Supporting Actor – Kannada | | |
| Best Supporting Actress – Kannada | | |
| Best Actor in a Comic Role – Kannada | | |
| Best Actor in a Negative Role – Kannada | | |
| Best Music Direction – Kannada | | |
| Best Lyricist – Kannada | | |
| Best Male Playback Singer – Kannada | | |
| Best Female Playback Singer – Kannada | | |
|
|
| Best Director – Kannada | | |
| Best Actor – Kannada | | |
| Entertainer of the Year | |
| Best Supporting Actor – Kannada | | |
| Best Comedian – Kannada | | |
| Best Actor in a Negative Role – Kannada | | |
| Best Female Debut – Kannada | | |
| | |
| Best Music Director – Kannada | | |
| Best Lyricist – Kannada | | |
| Best Male Playback Singer – Kannada | | |
| Best Female Playback Singer – Kannada | | |
|
Notes
External links
