Natasaarvabhowma (transl. Emperor of Actors) is a 2019 Indian Kannada-language action film directed by Pavan Wadeyar and produced by Rockline Venkatesh. The film stars Puneeth Rajkumar, Anupama Parameswaran (in her Kannada debut) and Rachita Ram, alongside P. Ravi Shankar, Prabhakar, Prakash Belawadi, Chikkanna, Sadhu Kokila, Achyuth Kumar and Avinash, with B. Saroja Devi in a guest appearance. The music was composed by D. Imman, while cinematography and editing were handled by Vaidy S and Mahesh S. Reddy.
Natasaarvabhowma was released on 7 February 2019 to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics and became a commercial success at the box office.
Contents
Plot
In Bangalore, Central Minister Ghanshyam Yadav is intercepted by some goons but is rescued by Gagan Dixit, a news reporter returning from Kolkata. Gagan investigates the attack and realizes that the fight was a staged act by Yadav to gain sympathy votes in the elections. Gagan reports to Avinash, the newspaper editor, and publishes this story anonymously, leaving Yadav infuriated.
Gagan meets up with his best friend Keshava and decides to rent a haunted house owned by Namadev, despite Keshav's objections. Gagan convinces Keshav that since he has a sacred thread on his right wrist, they will be fine. Gagan unsuccessfully tries to call the phone number of someone, and they leave for the mobile network's office to obtain the location of the number. They meet with Sakshi, the manager, who refuses to give it. After the story about the fake fight is published, the newspaper loses many ads and Avinash sends Gagan to do a special write-up on Yadav by interviewing him in his private jet. After a fairly tense interview, the jet lands in Bellary and Yadav is ambushed. Gagan initially believes it to be another fake fight for sympathy votes, but realizes that Yadav is bleeding unlike in the last fight.
Gagan saves Yadav, putting himself in Yadav's good graces. Gagan had previously rescued Sakshi from goons in her office and she had agreed to share the location. When Gagan visits her, she refuses again as Namadev has told her that it was a setup by Gagan and Keshava to get the location of the number. Gagan goes to Sakshi's office again but learns that her father suffered from a stroke, causing Sakshi to faint. Gagan and Yadav manage to rescue Sakshi and her father just in time. Due to this, Sakshi falls in love with Gagan and agrees to give details about the phone number. After various paranormal activities in the house, Keshav quarrels with Namadev.
Gagan tries to break up the fight and consequently loses his sacred thread. Gagan starts experiencing supernatural activities in the house, where he finds some spectacles in a drawer and wears them and his behaviour changes. Gagan goes to interview the famous veteran actress B. Saroja Devi at a country club, where he notices his vision blurring and wears the spectacles to regain focus. Gagan shifts his focus to Prabhakar Reddy, a lawyer, in the pool and relentlessly thrashes Prabhakar, occasionally asking him "Why did you kill me?". Prabhakar escapes and Gagan loses consciousness.
Production
Filming
The main scenes between Puneeth Rajkumar and Anupama Parameshwaran were shot in Kolkata, along with a romantic song "Tajaa Samachara". The shooting schedule in Kolkata was wrapped up in September 2018.
Music
The soundtrack was composed by D. Imman and the audio launch was held on 12 January 2019 in Hubli. Following Puneeth Rajkumar's death in 2021, a tribute track penned by Pawan Wadeyar, which was the original concept for the introduction song for Natasaarvabhowma, was added to the soundtrack on 17 March 2022.
Release
The film was released on 7 February 2019.
Home media
The digital streaming rights was sold to ZEE5.
Reception
Natasaarvabhowma received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics.
Critical response
Aravind Shwetha of The News Minute gave 4/5 stars and wrote "A movie tailor-made for Puneeth’s fans and is paisa-vasool throughout!." A. Sharaadha of Cinema Express gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Natasaarvabhowma is Puneeth's show out-and-out. He not only gets out of his regular formulaic characters with this film, but also makes sure he provides all the entertainment his die-hard fans usually look forward to from him." Sunayana Suresh of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Watch this film if you want a film that has the commercial elements in place, but also has a little twist. Whether the twist is edgy and risque enough, that is another debate." Manoj Kumar R of The New Indian Express gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Pawan Wadeyar has mashed the themes of horror-comedy, revenge and a few dance numbers to serve a masala film that offers nothing new."
Box office
Natasaarvabhowma had a record 1,394 shows on the first day in Karnataka.