Charminar is a 2013 Kannadaromantic drama film written and directed and produced by R. Chandru, featuring Prem Kumar and Meghana Gaonkar in the lead roles. The film deals with the life of a man in comparison with the famous monument Charminar in Hyderabad, that shows four important pillars including family, guru, friends and lover. Charminar is produced by R. Chandru films and the soundtrack composed by a newcomer Hari, former Guitarist based out of Hyderabad. The film was remade in Telugu in 2015 as Krishnamma Kalipindi Iddarini and in Odia in 2015 as Gapa Hele bi Sata. Director R. Chandru had accused that the 2018 Tamil movie96 had similarities with this movie.
Initially, actors Ganesh, Ajay Rao and Srinagar Kitty were considered to play the lead in the film. Ajay and Kitty have worked in Chandru's previous films, but both backed out citing prior commitments. Though Ganesh was ready to act in the film, Chandru could not afford the remuneration Ganesh had asked. Finally Prem was approached for the role and he accepted the offer. Meghana Gaonkar was chosen to play the lead female role of Radha.
Filming
Completing the two schedules of shooting director R Chandru is moving to Bidar, Bijapur, Sakleshpur and other locations for the songs, three days of shoot will be held in USA. The opening song for protagonist is shot there and in the ancient places like Hemagiri, Srirangapatna the sets were erected for the film disclosed R Chandru.
Soundtrack
The audio release of the movie was held on 14 December 2012 at Green House Raj Milan. R Chandru invited twenty plus teachers who taught him from alphabets and honored them with a shawl, memento, garland and fruit basket. Chandru honored his teachers from the chief guest from Sri Adhichunchanagiri Math while his father, brothers, actor Prem Kumar, Meghana Gaonkar, Kumudha joined the felicitation. 'Charminar' has music from newcomer Hari. lyricists Lokesh Krishna written lyrics for 5 songs beautifully and Mahesh Jeeva have written one song. The track "Radhe Radhe" & "Nanna yedeya gode mele" received extrodrinary appreciation and met with good reviews upon the release. The album consists of seven tracks.
Critical reception
Upon theatrical release, Charminar received generally positive reviews from critics. G. S. Kumar of The Times of India gave the film a rating of four stars out of five and praised the director stating, "Director R Chandru has excellently captured the feelings of a youth who struggles to convey his feelings to his girlfriend." CNN-IBN gave the film a rating of three and a half out of five and said, "the beauty of 'Charminar' lies in the way the director has introduced fresh elements into the narration and fantastic dialogues." and concluded thus, "Charminar has a huge emotional appeal and will attract the family audience and youngsters." Srikanth Srinivasa of Rediff too gave the film a rating of 3.5/5 and wrote "R Chandru, who made Taj Mahal has exceeded expectations and surprised audiences with Charminar, which strikes an emotional chord with the audience." Y. Maheswara Reddy of DNA gave the film a rating of three stars out of five and wrote "The film focuses on the role of teachers in moulding students as better citizens, and the director deserves a pat on his back for conveying the message sensitively."
