16 years ago on November 7, when Navagraha released in theatres, it not only presented Challenging Star Darshan in a character with shades of grey, but also had a massive ensemble cast, which meant there were other characters who were just as important as him in the narrative. The film, directed by Darshan’s brother Dinakar Thoogudeepa, was his adaptation of the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs and had the children of 7 popular villain/character artistes on the cast.

While Darshan is the son of Srinivasa Thoogudeepa, the film also starred Srujan Lokesh (Lokesh), Tharun Sudhir (Sudhir Kishore), Dharma Keerthiraj (Keerthiraj), Vinnod Prabhakar (Tiger Prabhakar), Giri Dinesh (Dinesh), Nagendra Urs (Sundarakrishna Urs). The heist thriller, which was about the theft of the Mysuru Dasara’s centrepiece – the golden howdah, was not a runaway hit, because it was a genre that audiences were unaccustomed to at the time.

Navagraha re-release on 16th anniversary of film

Over the years, Navagraha has attained cult status, and fans often said that if the film had released more recently, it would have done far better. Well, the makers of the film listened and are bringing Navagraha back to theatres on November 8. What remains to be seen is if audiences will, indeed throng theatres and make it the hit it deserved to be.

In a recent interview, Dinakar had revealed that Jaggu, the master thief and brain behind the heist, was not the role he had envisioned for Darshan. In fact, he wanted Vinnod to play Jaggu, with Darshan as the cop investigating the heist, which was eventually done by Sourav. While Darshan preferred the role of Jaggu, he got it only after Vinnod voiced his apprehension about playing character with shades of grey.

For Darshan fans, the re-release of Navagraha will be the only consolation this year. While the year began with the expectation that the Challenging Star would have a release in December, with Prakash Veer’s Devil, that is not to be, what with the actor currently in jail as an undertrial in the murder case of Chitradurga-resident Renukaswamy. Darshan is accused no.2 in the case.

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