Googly (film)


Googly is a 2013 Indian Kannada language romantic comedy film directed by Pavan Wadeyar and produced by Jayanna Combines, starring Yash and Kriti Kharbanda are the lead actors while Ananth Nag and Sadhu Kokila play the primary supporting roles. The film released on 19 July 2013.
The film won multiple nominations at the 3rd South Indian International Movie Awards. Having been nominated in 11 categories, the film won SIIMA awards for Best Director, Best Cinematographer, Best Lyricist and Best Fight Choreographer. A sequel of this movie is being directed and named as Googly-2. The movie is being remade in Bengali by Eskay Movies. It became one of the blockbuster Kannada cinema in the year 2013.

Plot

Sharath is a fun loving guy who seldom has any friends because of his freakish attitude. He always lives his life as he wishes. One day he is selected to represent his college at the Global Business Seminar meet, as he is the topper of his university. As he enters the crowded auditorium he gets bored with the seminar and falls asleep. When his name is called upon, he is woken up by Swathi who is an MBBS student. Later he gives his hilarious speech and thanks Swathi for waking him up. By this meet, both of them become close friends and start to like each other.
Over a period of time, Sharath starts to suspect every act of Swathi. One day Swathi is injured, and things become more complicated when he misunderstands Swathi's friend to be her boyfriend at a hospital where she is undergoing treatment. As a result, Sharath gets annoyed and slaps Swathi. Unlike any guy who'll normally brood over his past girlfriend, Sharath takes this as a challenge and devotes his time to studies, and becomes a huge business tycoon within couple of years.
After few years, he realises his mistake of hurting Swathi and tries to reconcile with her by apologizing to her through a phone call on her birthday. He's hurt to hear that Swathi is getting engaged to someone. Later, he returns to India to attend his friend's wedding, and is surprised to see Swathi. Upon further conversation with Swathi, he comes to know that Swathi had lied to him regarding her engagement to get rid of him because she didn't have the mental strength to be heartbroken again if Sharath would leave her for the second time after reconciliation. Thus, he tries to win her heart again. Swathi later decides to reciprocate it but on their way back home some goons, who were beaten up by Sharath for separating two lovers, attack him. In the hospital, Sharath's mother scolds Swathi and she leaves heartbreakingly without informing anybody. Sharath manages to find her in train station with the support of the media. When she replies she had lost her purse, mobile and ticket in the station then Sharath tells her that in spite of going through so much pain to find her she is lamenting over the loss of a silly thing in a hilarious manner. They reconcile and the movie ends with the couple united.

Cast

Choreography and music

Palaniraj and Ravi Verma choreographed the action scenes, with dance choreography done by Murali. Joshua Sridhar composed the score and soundtrack while ace Kannada music composer and state awardee Anoop Seelin scored the background music. Lyrics were written by Yogaraj Bhat, Jayanth Kaikini, Pavan Wadeyar and Kaviraj.

Filming

Filming took place across Bangalore, Mangalore and climax scene was shot in sakleshpur railway station.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack music for the film was composed by Joshua Sridhar and the background music for the film was scored by Anoop Seelin. The lyrics for the soundtracks were penned by Jayant Kaikini, Yogaraj Bhat, Kaviraj and Pavan Wadeyar. The album consisting of six soundtracks was released on June 3, 2013, in Bangalore.

Critical reception

The film opened to generally positive reviews from critics upon release. G. S. Kumar of The Times of India reviewed the film and gave a 3.5/5 rating writing, "Armed with a good script, director Pavan Wadeyar has done a good job of a romantic story with neat narration and screenplay capturing the trauma of a young industrialist..." He concludes crediting the performances of Yash, Kharbanda, and the film's music and cinematography. Bangalore Mirror in its review wrote, "Wadeyar is in complete control of the proceedings. Though most part of the film focuses on the leading pair, there is hardly a dull moment. His dialogues are brimming with wit and humour." and added, " Yash is at his best and truly establishes himself as a star material in Sandalwood. Kriti’s charm continues and she is sure to ‘wound more hearts’ in the gallery in this film as well." Writing of Deccan Herald, B. S. Srivani rated the film 3/5 and praised the performances of the actors and gave a special mention to the film's music. Of the music, she wrote, "the film’s music plays an important part in shoving the aberration aside. Both Anoop Seelin and Joshua Sridhar come up with scintillating scores. That the tunes are catchy and are a rage is not surprising at all. Seelin’s background score is refreshing and complements Joshua’s work nicely."

Box office

Released on 19 July 2013, Googly, according to box office reports earned more than a crore on the first day and within the first four days of its release. According to the producer, the film collected gross at the box office in its first week. The film completed a 100-day run in theaters, and grossed at the box office. Satellite rights were sold for.