K.G.F is an Indian Kannada-language period action film series based on the Kolar Gold Fields created by Prashanth Neel and produced by Hombale Films starring Yash.[4] Set in the late 1970s and early 1980s the series follows Raja Krishnappa Bairya / Rocky (Yash), a Mumbai-based high ranking assassin born in poverty, to his rise to power in the Kolar Gold Fields and the subsequent uprising as a notorious businessman.
K.G.F | |
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Directed by | Prashanth Neel |
Written by | Prashanth Neel |
Produced by | Vijay Kiragandur |
Cinematography | Bhuvan Gowda |
Edited by |
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Music by | Ravi Basrur |
Production company | Hombale Films |
Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 323 minutes (2 films) |
Country | India |
Language | Kannada |
Budget | ₹180 crore |
Box office | est.₹1,483–1,500 crore[1][2][3] |
The first installment Chapter 1 was released on 21 December 2018 and Chapter 2 on 14 April 2022.
Journalist Anand Ingalagi's book El Dorado, which detailed the events at the Kolar Gold Fields (K.G.F.) between 1951 and 2018, was banned by the Indian government, but a television news channel procures a copy and interviews him.
In 1951, The Government officials discovered gold ore in southern Mysore State where on the same day, Raja Rocky Krishnappa Bairya was born to a poor underage woman Shanti. Suryavardhan, a powerful crime boss, who accompanied the official has them killed and leases the land for 99 years under the pretext of running Narachi, a limestone mine, but secretly establishes K.G.F. He had five associates: Rajendra Desai, who oversees the transportation of refined gold bars; Kamal, Rajendra Desai's son; Andrews, who oversees the gold smuggling in the Western Coast of the country; Guru Pandian, president of the in-government DYSS party; and Adheera, Suryavardhan's brother who headed the K.G.F. security. Suryavardhan suffers a paralysis and appoints his elder son Garuda the future heir of K.G.F. Suryavardhan expected Adheera to serve as his son's aide, but Adheera unsuccessfully attempts to assassinate Garuda. In turn, Garuda bombs Adheera's car and is presumed dead. Suryavardhan's former associates now eye the riches of K.G.F.
Rocky arrives in Bombay as a ten-year-old on a quest for wealth and power as desired by Shanti, and begins to work for Shetty, a gold smuggler and Andrews's underboss, who competes against a Dubai-based rival Inayat Khalil. Years later, Rocky rises in the ranks and oversees the arrival of African gold bars to the Bombay coast, where his influence begins to rival Shetty's influence. Andrews, who notices about Rocky offers Bombay in return for assassinating Garuda. Rocky accepts the offer and heads to Bangalore, where he meets Desai's daughter Reena and falls in love with her, much to her brother Kamal's chagrin. A statue inauguration is organised for luring Garuda out of K.G.F., but the attempt is averted even before the inaugration begins. Rocky witnesses the authority and power that Garuda commands. Seeing no other option to murder Garuda, Rocky journeys to K.G.F., killing a unit of Garuda's henchmen to enter. The workers in K.G.F., who were forcibly kidnapped, are subjected to inhumane conditions and treated as slaves. Rocky becomes one of them and although apathetic at first, he is moved by the cold-blooded murder of a mother and son by a guard. Rocky stealthily accesses the map of the mine in the maintenance room during a roll call and narrowly escapes death after a fellow slave sacrifices himself to save the lives of his wife and unborn child. Andrews, Kamal and Desai are misinformed about the incident and assume Rocky is killed.
Rocky engages in a fight with an entire unit of 23 guards, killing each one of them to rescue a blind slave they were about to brutally murder. With this act, Rocky emerges as a messiah in the slaves' eyes, where he tells them to burn the guards' corpses to let Andrews's and his men know that he is still alive via their informants, Kulkarni and Garuda's younger brother Virat. Garuda prepares to leave his residence to investigate the fire and missing guards. To avert this, Virat smothers Suryavardhan to death, and Garuda rushes back home. Shaken by the recent bad turn of events, Garuda orders Maa Kaali's ritual to be rescheduled from the following week to the next day, planning to kill his father's allies as soon as the ritual is complete. At night, Rocky heads unsuspected through a tunnel to the site where Garuda has decided to behead three slaves as offerings to the goddess, as Vanaram discovers that the third slave is already killed in his prison cell. Upon Garuda's arrival and sacrifice of two slaves, a concealed Rocky, who had taken the third slave's place, emerges and kills him.
Ingalagi concludes that Rocky intentionally chose K.G.F. as the location to assassinate Garuda, so that an army of slaves would help him seize control and also indicates that this is just the beginning. The news of Garuda's murder reaches a no-nonsense politician named Ramika Sen. Adheera, who is actually alive, plans to resurface, and so does Khalil. The film ends with Vanaram ordering his men to attack Rocky and his army.
After detailing the events in K.G.F: Chapter 1, Anand Ingalagi suffers a stroke and his son, Vijayendra, takes over to narrate the rest of the story. Rocky kills Virat and takes over the K.G.F, keeping Reena hostage to ensure the cooperation of Guru Pandian, Andrews and Rajendra Desai, and kills Kamal when he protests. He issues orders to start work in eight hidden mines. Meanwhile, Adheera resurfaces and kills all guards at an outpost. In a ruse to bring Rocky to Adheera, Andrews kills Desai to lure Reena outside K.G.F and John captures Reena. Adheera shoots Rocky but spares his life, while his men roadblock all gold exports from K.G.F.
Meanwhile, Shetty ties up with other subordinates of Andrews across India's western coast and exterminates Rocky's allies with Inayat Khalil's newfound support, but Rocky's aides kill Shetty's associates and recapture the coast. A recuperated Rocky, along with Reena, visits Dubai to deal in gold with Khalil, and also buys Kalashnikovs from him. Rocky and his gang gravely wound Adheera and kill his henchmen with their newly acquired weapons. Exasperated with K.G.F, some central ministers had planned a no-confidence motion against the DYSS-supported government to bring Ramika Sen in power, but Rocky's henchmen threaten other ministers against the vote and the motion fails. Rocky also kills Shetty, gaining control over Bombay. Pandian warns Rocky of Sen's rising stature, but he disregards him.
In 1981, Ramika Sen wins the Indian general elections and becomes Prime Minister. After CBI officer Kanneganti Raghavan briefs her about the situation in K.G.F, she issues orders to close all state borders and authorises Raghavan to raid Rocky's warehouses. A young Ingalagi is caught spying by Rocky's henchmen, but Rocky is impressed by his integrity. The CBI find nothing in their raids save for a 400 gram-gold bar. Rocky retrieves it from a police station and singlehandedly brings the place down with a DShK. Rocky halts all exports from K.G.F, which strains relations with Khalil, but continues the mining. His aides trace his biological father, a drunkard who abandoned his family, and pays the unaware man to take care of Shanti's newly shifted grave. Reena confesses her feelings to Rocky and they get married.
Rocky meets with Sen and hands her a file exposing his involvement in money laundering, but she cannot consider it as almost all her party members are complicit in the corruption. Still furious after his defeat, Adheera makes his way to K.G.F through a secret passage with Andrews, Daya and John, supported by Khalil's armada. Just as Reena reveals her pregnancy to Rocky, Adheera fatally snipes her. In the ensuing clash, Rocky's army kill Andrews and Daya, while Rocky kills John and chokes Adheera to death. Rocky and his henchmen disrupt Sen's speech at the Parliament and kill Pandian (who had staged the attack on Garuda for which Adheera was framed, and informed Adheera of Garuda's attack priorly. He was also the one who showed Adheera the secret passage, goaded Andrews into hiring Rocky, staged the no-confidence motion drama in Delhi, and persuaded Shetty to join forces with Khalil just to gain Rocky's trust).
Sen issues a death warrant against Rocky and enforces the Indian Army. Rocky evacuates K.G.F and leaves on a ship with his cache of gold. Before leaving, Rocky forms a new colony for all K.G.F workers. He signals the Navy to his location, but refuses to surrender. Sen issues orders to bomb K.G.F and Rocky's ship, and he drowns in the ocean along with the gold, which stays lost till date. A young Ingalagi decides to write a book on Rocky. In mid-credits scene, three months prior Rocky's death, a CIA official hands over a file listing Rocky's crimes in the United States and 16 other nations between 1978–1981 to Sen. In the present, the peon of the television news channel finds the final draft of K.G.F: Chapter 3.
In March 2015, Yash signed for four projects which included one with Prashanth Neel.[5] The project was considered to be one of the most expensive films in Sandalwood cinema. Hombale Films, the production house led by Vijay Kiragandur, bankrolled the project, and one of its production executive Karthik Gowda, stated that "KGF, which is set in the 70s, took over one and a half years of pre-production, because they wanted to ensure they got every single detail right, be it the matchboxes, telephone, or the clothes people wore."[6][7] Neel, stated that the film would be launched in April 2016, and the shooting would begin in May 2016.[7] Ravi Basrur was also hired for the project, while Bhuvan Gowda handled the cinematography.
In an interview with The Times of India, Prashanth Neel stated that he planned to split the film in two parts, as the narration of the story is in a non-linear format. He further stated "The scale of the project is huge and we had a scope for a beginning, an interval, and an end for both parts, so it made sense for us to release it as two parts".[8][9]
In December 2020, during the making of its second installment, Neel denied rumours of a third installment in the KGF franchise, claiming that the story would conclude in its second part. However, at the end of the second film, it was hinted that the story would continue with a third part titled K.G.F: Chapter 3.[10][11]
Yash grew his beard and long hair for his role as Rocky, a slick and a suave person of the 1970s.[12] Yash's friend, driver, and bodyguard Ramachandra Raju was cast as Garuda after he was spotted by Neel.[13][14] In January 2017, Srinidhi Shetty was cast alongside Yash.[15] Neel offered the role of Rocky's mother to newcomer Archana Jois, who was apprehensive at first to act as a mother despite being in her twenties but later accepted the role.[16] In August 2017, Vasishta Simha bagged a pivotal role in the film.[17] For the second part, Sanjay Dutt was roped in for a pivotal role in February 2019.[18]
On 29 July 2019,[19] Sanjay Dutt was revealed to be playing the role of the main antagonist Adheera, marking his Kannada debut.[20][21][22] He compared his character to Thanos, and revealed that it was "shown to be a dangerous character with scary makeup" and added that it was a role he was looking for.[23] Raveena Tandon was reported to play the role of Prime Minister Ramika Sen, and stated that "it was a difficult character to portray".[24]
Telugu actor Rao Ramesh was cast in a pivotal role in May 2019,[25] and Tamil actor Saran Shakthi was cast in August 2019.[26] On 26 August 2020, when the filming resumed, Prakash Raj was also revealed to be playing Anant Nag's son.[27]
In July 2016, the filmmakers kick-started a 15-day schedule in North Karnataka, without Yash, as the actor was shooting for Santhu Straight Forward (2016). The first schedule of the film took place on a huge set, which took more than 35–40 days to construct.[28] The film was slated to take off earlier that year, but was pushed back because of problems surrounding the Kalasa Banduri issue, which meant the team had to cancel its initial shoot schedule plans. The film's shooting then began on 15 January 2017 after completing the final stages of pre-production.[29][30] On 25 January 2017, the filmmakers erected huge sets at Badami, to replicate Kolar in the period of 1970–80, thereby filming extensively in the location.[31] The art director Shivakumar recreated the Kolar Gold Fields film set of the 1980s and VFX was used as an extension for the film.[32] In June 2017, the project was 50 percent complete, and production had restarted after sets were rebuilt, following their destruction by heavy rains.[33][34]
Some sequences of the movie, which has Yash and Srinidhi Shetty in the lead roles, were also shot at the centenary clock tower located next to the campus.[35] Yash entered the final schedule of the film in April 2018.[36] In May 2018, actors Malavika Avinash and Anant Nag filmed the interview sequence.[37] At the end of the month, Yash had announced that he had completed his portions, and started dubbing for the film. As of May 2018, the filmmakers completed major portions of the film, except one song.[38]
On 9 August 2018, Tamannaah was hired for a song number,[39] thus marking her second film appearance in Kannada, after Jaguar (2016).[40] On 17 August 2018, the filmmakers announced that shooting of the film had wrapped,[41] although another song shoot for the film's Hindi version, featuring Yash and Mouni Roy,[42] took place at the Goregaon Studio on 7 and 8 December 2018.[43] By December 2018, it was reported that the makers shot 20% of its second part, and the crew went on double shifts till January 2019.[44] On 4 January, it was announced that they have completed 15% of the shooting and planned to resume the second part in the summer of 2019.[45]
Filming for K.G.F: Chapter 2 started on 13 March 2019 in Hyderabad, with a formal puja ceremony.[46][47] After an initial round of filming near Bangalore in May 2019,[48] Yash announced that he will join the sets only in June 2019.[49] The film's shooting started on 4 June at the Lalita Mahal Palace in Mysore,[50] although Yash joined the sets on 6 June.[51] Later the shoot commenced in August 2019 at Cyanide Hills in Kolar Gold Fields.[52] On 28 August 2019, N Srinivas, president of the KGF's National Citizens Party filed a petition against the makers and alleged that the film is being shot in the protected area of cyanide mound and is damaging the nature.[53] In September 2019, the makers started shooting for the second schedule in Hyderabad.[54][55] On 25 September 2019, Sanjay Dutt joined the sets of the film in Hyderabad.[56][57] After winning a court stay order on 27 September, the makers returned to shoot the film at Cyanide Hills.[58][59] In October 2019, the makers returned to Karnataka, after filming the extensive schedule in Hyderabad.[60]
In January 2020, the makers completed 80% of the shoot.[61] With the schedule being filmed in Mysore, the last leg of shoot was expected to be held in Hyderabad, and then in Bangalore and Kolar.[62] In February 2020, Telugu actor Rao Ramesh joined the sets of the film.[63] Raveena Tandon joined the sets of the film in Mysore on 12 February.[64] After the second schedule of the film held in Mysore got completed, the makers headed to Hyderabad on 21 February.[65] Raveena completed her portions on 28 February.[66] The makers completed major portions in March 2020, with post-production works being kickstarted, but filming came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India.[67] Prashanth Neel claimed that Sanjay Dutt had completed shooting for the film, with only dubbing for his portions, is pending,[68] after Sanjay Dutt was diagnosed with lung cancer, and left US for immediate treatment on 12 August 2020.[69]
The film was resumed in August 2020 at Bangalore post a gap of 5 months.[70] Malavika Avinash and Prakash Raj joined the sets on this schedule.[71][72] On 7 October 2020, Yash and Srinidhi Shetty resumed the shoot at Mangalore,[73] with the team entering the final leg of shoot.[74] Sanjay Dutt confirmed that he will join the shooting of the film on November,[75] although he resumed the shooting only in December.[76] The climax action scenes were filmed in December 2020 at Hyderabad.[77][78] In December 2020, the makers announced that the climax scene of the film was completed.[79]
Film | Release date | Director | Writer | Producer |
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K.G.F: Chapter 1 | 21 December 2018 | Prashanth Neel | Vijay Kiragandur | |
K.G.F: Chapter 2 | 14 April 2022 | |||
K.G.F: Chapter 3 | Yet to declare | |||
This section shows characters who will appear or have appeared in the K.G.F franchise.
Character | Films | |
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K.G.F: Chapter 1 (2018) | K.G.F: Chapter 2 (2022) | |
Raja Krishnappa Bairya "Rocky" | Yash | |
Reena Desai | Srinidhi Shetty | |
Garuda | Ramachandra Raju | Ramachandra RajuC |
Adheera | Sanjay Dutt | |
Ramika Sen | Raveena Tandon | |
Anand Inagalgi | Anant Nag | Anant NagC |
Ashok SharmaY | ||
Shanthamma | Archana Jois | |
Deepa Hegde | Malavika Avinash | |
Srinivas | T. S. Nagabharana | |
Guru Pandian | Achyuth Kumar | |
Vanaram | Ayyappa P. Sharma | |
Vijayendra Inagalgi | Prakash Raj | |
Kanneganti Raghavan | Rao Ramesh | |
Suryavardhan | Ramesh Indira | Ramesh IndiraC |
Andrews | B. S. Avinash | |
Rajendra Desai | Lakki Lakshman | |
Kamal | Vasishta N. Simha | Vasishta N. SimhaC |
Inayat Khalil | BalakrishnaC | Balakrishna |
Occupation | Film | |
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K.G.F: Chapter 1 (2018) | K.G.F: Chapter 2 (2022) | |
Director | Prashanth Neel | |
Producer | Vijay Kiragandur | |
Writer | Prashanth Neel | |
Cinematography | Bhuvan Gowda | |
Editor | Srikanth Gowda | Ujwal Kulkarni |
Music | Ravi Basrur |
Film | Release date | Budget | Box office revenue |
---|---|---|---|
K.G.F: Chapter 1 | 21 December 2018[81] | ₹80 crore[82] | ₹250 crore[83] |
K.G.F: Chapter 2 | 14 April 2022[84] | ₹100 crore[85] | ₹1,233–1,250 crore[86][3] |
Total | ₹180 crore (US$23 million) | ₹1,500 crore (US$190 million) |