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Aa Dinagalu
Promotional poster
Directed by	K. M. Chaitanya
Screenplay by	Girish Karnad
Based on	Daadaagiriya Dinagalu by Agni Shridhar
Produced by	Syed Aman Bachchan M. S. Ravindra
Starring	Chethan Kumar Veda Sastry Sharath Lohitashwa Ashish Vidyarthi Atul Kulkarni Girish Karnad
Cinematography	H. C. Venugopal
Edited by	Nagendra Urs
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Production company	Megha Movies
Release date	19 October 2007 (2007-10-19)
Running time	137 minutes
Country	India
Language	Kannada

Aa Dinagalu (transl. Those Days) is a 2007 Indian Kannada-language crime drama film based on the non-fiction novel Daadaagiriya Dinagalu by Agni Shridhar, and directed by K. M. Chaitanya. It stars Chethan Kumar in the lead role. The supporting cast features Veda Sastry, Sharath Lohitashwa, Ashish Vidhyarthi, and Atul Kulkarni. The plot revolves around mafia in Bangalore during the 1980s when gangsters Kotwal Ramachandra and M. P. Jayaraj dominated the Bangalore underworld. The film's soundtrack and background music was scored by Ilayaraja.

Upon theatrical release on 19 October 2007, the film received positive reviews from critics who acclaimed the screenplay and the acting performance of Sharath Lohitashwa who portrayed the role of Kotwal Ramachandra. The film won three awards each at the 2007–08 Karnataka State Film Awards and 55th Filmfare Awards South; the awards at the latter ceremony being Best Film, Best Director (K. M. Chaitanya) and Best Supporting Actor (Sharath Lohitashwa).

Plot

Sridhar narrates the preview as story of Kotwal Ramachandra in Bangalore Underworld in 1975, which is coincidentally with declaration of emergency by Indira Gandhi and led to grooming of M. P. Jayaraj as the uncrowned king in Bangalore. Mostly involving for terrorising people, Jayaraj seems to have got imprisoned for contempt of court for 10 years. After the death of Indira Gandhi, Jayaraj is released from prison and finds Kotwal Ramachandra to have taken his spot. Chetan is a business magnate, a Konkani Brahmin with a vast empire of his father who falls in love with Mallika, a dance teacher hailing from Vokkaliga community.

The couple's relationship is not accepted by Chetan's father Girish Nayak, who hires Kotwal Ramachandra to handle the case. Chetan learns about this and is perturbed mentally. For coming as a hardship, Chetan seeks vengeance on Kotwal and seeks Jayaraj to help him in his mission, but just before this, an incident takes place at Kanishka Hotel brings bad reputation for Chetan, who is suspected by the police. After his release, Chetan further strengthen his plan with Sridhar and Bachchan and they befriend Kotwal's friend Siraj. Believing that Kotwal will be safe, Siraj sends this trio to Tumkur. However, Kotwal is killed when his right hand Shetty ditches him. After this, Girish realizes his mistake and unites Chetan and Mallika, who get married and lead a peaceful life.

Cast

• Chethan Kumar as Chetan Nayak
• Veda Sastry (credited as Archana) as Mallika, Chetan Nayak's love interest
• Sharath Lohitashwa as Kotwal Ramachandra
• Ashish Vidhyarthi as M. P. Jayaraj
• Atul Kulkarni as Agni Shridhar
• Achyuth Kumar as Oil Kumar
• Dinesh Mangalore as Seetharam Shetty
• Girish Karnad as Girish Nayak, Chetan's father
• Vinaya Prasad as Chetan's mother
• Natak Amaan as Muneer
• Aryan Deepak as Bachchan
• Satya as Sardar
• Asif Farooqi as Siraj
• Dharma as Sub-inspector Shivaraj
• Kishan Shetty as Daniel
• Nagendra Urs as Balarama
• Akbar as Rajendra
• Prabhakar as Samson
• Samyukta Hornad as Divya Naik
• Shwetha Srivatsav as Kothwal's wife
• P. D. Sathish Chandra

Soundtrack

Ilaiyaraaja composed the film's background score and music for its soundtrack. The album consists of three tracks. Lyrics for them were penned by K. Kalyan and D. Sumana Kittur.

Critical reception

Upon theatrical release, Aa Dinagalu received generally positive reviews from critics. R. G. Vijayasarathy of Rediff reviewed the film rating it 3.5/5 and wrote, "Chaitanya has used a straightforward, simple narration resulting in a profound impact. The background score by Ilayaraja is one of the best heard in the recent times in Kannada films. Cameraman H. C. Venugopal has done a terrific job behind the camera. Sharath Lohithashwa is wonderful as Kothwal Ramachandra, while Atul Kulkarni, Ashish Vidyarthi, Girish Karnad, and the new face Chethan have all given wonderful performances in their respective roles" and concluded writing "Commendable direction, excellent star cast, high class technical crew and a fantastic script..." The Times of India in its review rated the film 3/5 and called the film a "brilliant portrayal of underworld don Kotwal Ramachandra." The reviewer concluded writing, "Sharath Lohithshwa, Ashish Vidyarthi and Atul Kulkarni are brilliant. While Girish Karnad gives a consummate performance, Archana shines and Dharma excels. H C Venu's camerawork is excellent. Ilayaraja's music is pleasing." The reviewer for Deccan Herald felt the film was "a damp squib". He felt, "the subject in a straight, staccato fashion that renders Aa Dinagalu more like docu-feature than a film that sparkles with auteur’s classic feel of the medium."

Awards

DVD

The DVD of the movie has been released on Anand Audio. This is the first time a Kannada movie with 5.1 surround sound is releasing on a DVD.

Box office

The film has been completed 100-days in Bangalore region.

See also

• List of crime films
• India Mafia

References

1. "Aa Dinagalu (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". iTunes. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
2. Vijayasarathy R. G. (22 October 2007). "Aa Dinagalu is worth a watch". Rediff. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
3. "Aa Dinagalu review". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
4. "This Dinagalu is a damp squib". Deccan Herald. 22 October 2007. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
5. "'Happy Days' at the 55th Tiger Balm Filmfare South Awards » Bollywood Spice". Archived from the original on 14 June 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
6. "Kanfida film awards for 2007 announced". The Hindu. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
7. ^ "Sharath Lohitashwa achieves a rare feat". filmnews.wordpress.com. 8 October 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
8. ^ "Rolling Frames Short Film Summit 2014" (PDF). rollingframes.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
9. "Aa Dinagalu DVD". Gandhadagudi. 20 November 2008. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008.
10. "Gaja is biggest draw at Kannada box office". bangalore365.com. 24 January 2008. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.

External links

• Aa Dinagalu at IMDb

• 2007 films
• Films about organised crime in India
• Films set in Bengaluru
• Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja
• Films shot in Bengaluru
• Indian gangster films
• Films based on Kannada novels
• Indian crime drama films
• Films set in the 1980s
• Films based on non-fiction books
• 2007 directorial debut films
• Films directed by K. M. Chaitanya
• 2000s Kannada-language films
• 2000s Indian films