Kempe Gowda (film)

Kempe Gowda
Film poster
Directed bySudeepa
Written byAnil Kumar
Screenplay bySudeepa
Story byHari
Based onSingam
by Hari
Produced byShankar Gowda
Halappa
StarringSudeepa
Ragini Dwivedi
P. Ravi Shankar
Girish Karnad
CinematographyS. Krishna
Edited byN. M. Vishwa
Music byArjun Janya
Production
company
Shankar Productions
Distributed byShankar Productions
Eros International
Release date
  • 10 March 2011 (2011-03-10)
Running time
141 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageKannada
Box office₹ 8 crores [1]

Kempe Gowda is a 2011 Kannada-language action film starring Sudeepa and Ragini Dwivedi in the lead roles. The film was directed by Sudeepa and produced by Shankar Gowda. It is a remake of the Tamil-language film Singam directed by Hari. Arjun Janya has composed the music.[2] A namesake sequel titled Kempegowda 2 was released in 2019.[3]

Plot

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Kempe Gowda is a sub-inspector in the small hometown of Rona in the Gadag district of Karnataka, where he is adored. His bumbling colleague Pashupati is cheerful and always helps him with his work. His family business is provisional stores and Kempegowda wants to join it but he joined the police due to his father's wishes. He resolves most of the problems in his village with non-violence and mutual counselling. He uses force only when the situation demands it, thereby gaining much reputation and love from the villagers. Mahadev an industrialist based in Bengaluru and a friend of Kempegowda's father comes to the village along with his beautiful daughter Kavya. Eventually, Kempegowda and Kavya fall in love with each other.

Bengaluru-based Armugam, a big-time extortionist with shady mafia dealings who blackmails people by complaining to the Income Tax Department, is required to travel to Gadag to sign a conditional bail. He instead, sends one of his allies to do the formalities, much to the anger and rage of Kempegowda who demands that Armugam sign the bail in person. Humiliated, Armugam reaches Gadag but is unable to take any revenge on Kempegowda fearing the immense love and devotion of the entire village towards Kempegowda. Using his political contacts, he gets Kempegowda transferred to Bengaluru to teach him a lesson. Kempegowda, unaware of Armugam's hand behind his transfer, joins Magadi Road police station. His co-worker, Sub-Inspector Bose, hates Armugam for his crimes but is unable to take any action because of Armugam's political powers. The assistant commissioner, Kempegowda's senior, is on Armugam's payroll and takes care of concealing and eliminating the evidence of Armugam's crimes from the eyes of the law. The police commissioner also does not help Kempegowda as there is no evidence against Armugam and the assistant commissioner and in turn, warns him to stay away from Armugam's case.

Unable to take on Armugam in his stronghold, Kempegowda wants to return to his village but is stopped by Kavya who encourages him to fight against the evil and not run like a coward. Being mentally tortured by Armugam, Kempegowda arrests Armugam's brother Vaikunta in a fake case of illegally smuggling alcohol. He thwarts off the assistant commissioner in full view of the public when the assistant commissioner, bounded by his duties to Armugam, tries to protect the henchman. Meanwhile, Armugam kidnaps Kavya's younger sister Divya for ransom. Rescuing her, with unexpected help from the Home Minister Kempegowda successfully traces the origins of the kidnapping racket to Armugam. Kempegowda also gets promoted to Assistant Commissioner of the specially-formed Anti-kidnapping Task Force. Mahadev, who was hostile to Kempegowda following an altercation with Kempegowda's father back at Gadag, softens up and agrees to give him Kavya's hand in marriage.

The police officers, including the police commissioner, and the assistant commissioner, now on Kempegowda's side, decide to help Kempegowda fight Armugam. They manage to kill Armugam's brother in an encounter at a hospital and begins to target everyone and everything related to Armugam. In retribution Armugam starts targeting everyone close to Kempegowda including Kavya whom he shoots but is saved by Kempegowda and Bose who is hacked to death by Armugam's henchmen. Finally in a bid to escape the arrest warrant issued out to him, Armugam kidnaps the Tamil Nadu Home Minister's daughter. He falsely tells Kempegowda that he is going to Mangaluru with her when he is actually going to Nellore in Andhra Pradesh to put the police off the track. However Kempegowda manages to pursue them till Gudur near Nellore, where he rescues the home minister's daughter and kills Armugam in an encounter. In the end as the post credits roll, Kempegowda is seen with Kavya heading back to Mysuru, and as when Kempegowda is stopped briefly by the Home Minister who offers an undercover mission, to which Kempegowda willingly agrees.

Cast

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Soundtrack

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Kempe Gowda
Soundtrack album by
Released10 January 2011
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length20:22
LanguageKannada
LabelAnand Audio
ProducerArjun Janya
Arjun Janya chronology
Birugaali
(2009)
Kempe Gowda
(2011)
Rajadhani
(2011)

The soundtrack of Kempegowda was released by Anand Audio. The songs were composed by Arjun Janya with lyrics by V. Nagendra Prasad. This film marks the first collaboration of Arjun Janya with Sudeepa.

Track listing

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No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Hale Radio"Yogaraj BhatSudeepa, Shamitha Malnad3:45
2."Tara Tara"Ghouse PeerVijay Prakash, Shreya Ghoshal, Akanksha Badami4:40
3."Sri Rama Jaya Rama"V. Nagendra PrasadShankar Mahadevan4:12
4."Geleyane"V. Nagendra PrasadNaresh Iyer, Lakshmi Manmohan3:56
5."Shankara"V. Nagendra PrasadP. Ravi Shankar, Arjun Janya3:48

Release

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Kempe Gowda was released in 100+ theaters on 10 March 2011 across the state.[4]

Reception

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Critical response

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A critic from The Times of India scored the film at 4 out of 5 stars and says "Ragini does due justice to the role as the lively and exciting girl next door. Sharan as a cop excels in tickling your funny bone. Tara, Girish Karnad, Jai Jagadish and Ashok Kheny play their part to a T. Cinematography by Krishna of `Mungaru Male' fame is noteworthy. Equally good is music by Arjun Janya. Ravi Varma and Different Danny deserve special mention for their brilliant stunt works".[5] A critic from The New Indian Express wrote "Ragini has done a neat job. She is very good in the song sequences. Sharan makes audience giggle for a while with his performance. The movie is worth watching and also proves to be a family entertainer with a number of scenes loaded with sentiment".[6]

Box office

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This film was a blockbuster at box-office becoming one of the highest-grossing Kannada movies of 2011.

Kempe Gowda earned 50 million (US$600,000)in its first week.[7]

Awards and nominations

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Totals
Awards won 5
Nominations 23 + N/A

59th Filmfare Awards South :-

1st South Indian International Movie Awards :-

  • Best Actor (Male) – Kannada – Nominated – Sudeepa[10]
  • Best Actor (Female) – Kannada – Nominated – Ragini Dwivedi[10]
  • Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Kannada – Nominated – Tara[10]
  • Best Actor in a Negative Role – Kannada – Nominated – P. Ravi Shankar[10]
  • Best Playback Singer (Male) – Kannada – Nominated – Vijay Prakash for the song "Thara Thara Hidiside"[10]
  • Best Lyricist – Kannada – Nominated – Ghose Dheer for the song "Thara Thara Hidiside"[10]

Sandalwood Star Awards :-

4th Suvarna Film Awards :-

  • Best Editor – Winner – N.M. Vishwa[19]

Bengaluru Times Film Awards :-

1st Kannada International Music Awards (KiMA):-

References

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  1. ^ "Top earning Kannada movies of 2011". Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Sudeep's Kempe Gowda releasing in 100 theatres". Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  3. ^ "A good family entertainer". The New Indian Express. 12 March 2011. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  4. ^ "'Kempe Gowda' in 100 Plus Theaters on Thursday". supergoodmovies.com. 9 March 2011. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012.
  5. ^ "KEMPEGOWDA MOVIE REVIEW". The Times of India. 14 May 2016. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Kempegowda". The New Indian Express. 12 March 2011. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  7. ^ "'Kempe Gowda' terrific on Box Office!". apnaindia.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  8. ^ a b c "Nominations for Kannada Filmfare announced". news.in.msn.com. 13 June 2012. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  9. ^ "59th Filmfare Awards Winner List (South)". indiaglitz.com. 9 July 2012. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "SIIMA NOMINEES ARE". projectsjugaad.com. June 2012. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014.
  11. ^ "TV9 Exclusive : Sandalwood Star Awards 2012 – {Epi : 2} – Part 7/14". youtube.com. 27 March 2012.
  12. ^ "TV9 Exclusive : Sandalwood Star Awards 2012 – {Epi : 2} – Part 11/14". youtube.com. 27 March 2012.
  13. ^ "TV9 Exclusive : Sandalwood Star Awards 2012 – {Epi : 2} – Part 2/14". youtube.com. 26 March 2012.
  14. ^ "TV9 Exclusive : Sandalwood Star Awards 2012 – {Epi : 2} – Part 4/14". youtube.com. 26 March 2012.
  15. ^ "TV9 Exclusive : Sandalwood Star Awards 2012 – {Epi : 1} – Part 9/13". youtube.com. 26 March 2012.
  16. ^ a b "TV9 Exclusive : Sandalwood Star Awards 2012 – {Epi : 1} – Part 5/13". youtube.com. 26 March 2012.
  17. ^ "TV9 Exclusive : Sandalwood Star Awards 2012 – {Epi : 1} – Part 4/13". youtube.com. 26 March 2012.
  18. ^ "TV9 Exclusive : Sandalwood Star Awards 2012 – {Epi : 1} – Part 3/13". youtube.com. 26 March 2012.
  19. ^ "Suvarna Awards 2012 – DECLARED". gandhadagudi.com. 14 May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  20. ^ "The Bangalore Times Film Awards 2011". The Times of India. 21 June 2012. Archived from the original on 18 December 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  21. ^ a b c d e "The Bangalore Times Film Awards 2011". epaper.timesofindia.com. 20 March 2012. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  22. ^ "Best Composer (Film Album)". kima.co.in. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014. click on "Best Composer (Film Album)"
  23. ^ "KIMA 2013 Winners". kima.co.in. Archived from the original on 22 May 2014.
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