Kurukshetra, the much-awaited Kannada film, based on the epic battle of Mahabharata was released on Friday in more than 400 screens in Karnataka, along with its Telugu version in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam dubbed versions of the movie will be released in the next few weeks. A few theatres are screening the 3D version of the movie.
A host of stars play the mythological characters in Kurukshetra. Among leading Sandalwood stars who are part of the movie, veteran stars late Ambareesh as Bheeshma and V. Ravichandran as Krishna has greater screen presence besides Darshan who essays the role of Duryodhana, on whom the film is centred.
The movie also stars Arjun Sarja as Karna, Nikhil Kumar—son of H.D. Kumaraswamy—as Abhimanyu, Sonu Sood as Arjuna, Meghana Raj as Bhanumati and Haripriya as Uttara.
Kurukshetra is directed by Naganna, whose last work Sangolli Rayanna was also a historical film, and produced by Munirathna, a film producer and Congress MLA from Rajarajeshwari Nagar who was in news last month for revolting against the Congress–JD(S) coalition government with a band of rebel lawmakers.
The film is rumoured to be the most expensive Kannada film ever made, beating the record of K.G.F.: Chapter 1.
V. Harikrishna has given music for the film. The 2D and 3D versions have been shot separately at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad by cinematographer Jayanan Vincent, and Joni Harsha is the man behind the action sequences.
Kurukshetra is Darshan’s 50th film and Ambareesh’s last.
