Josh (2009 Kannada film)

Josh, also known as Jhossh, is a 2009 Indian Kannada-language romance film directed and written by Shivamani. Produced by Sanjay Babu under SVP pictures, the film mainly stars debutants Rakesh Adiga, Shamna Kasim and Nithya Menen, whilst Akshay, Vishnu Prasanna, Dwarakish, Achyuth Kumar, Tulasi Shivamani and Sihi Kahi Chandru feature in supporting roles. The music is composed by Vardhan, making his debut.

The film was released on 10 April 2009 across Karnataka and went on to become one of the highest grossers at the box-collection for the year. The film had a run over a hundred days at cinema halls. The film was remade in Telugu and Tamil as Keratam and Yuvan, respectively.

Cast

 * Rakesh Adiga as Rakesh a.k.a. Rocky
 * Poorna as Meena
 * Nithya Menen as Meera
 * Vishnu Prasanna as Rocky's friend
 * Akshay as Akshay, Rocky's friend
 * Alok Babu as Rocky's friend
 * Amith as Rocky's friend
 * Robot Ganesh as College rowdy
 * Sharan as PE teacher
 * Dwarakish
 * Sihi Kahi Chandru
 * Tulasi Shivamani as Sharadamma
 * Achyuth Kumar as Rakesh's father
 * Srinivas Prabhu as Meena's father
 * Harish Davangere
 * Shivaji Rao Jadhav
 * Sneha Acharya
 * Chethana
 * Jagannath Chandrashekhar
 * Ganesh Rao Kesarkar
 * M. S. Rajashekhar
 * Kuri Prakash
 * Sudha Belawadi as Meena's mother
 * Srinath
 * Shashidhar Kote
 * Chidanand M. S
 * Karibasavaiah as Akshay's father
 * Bhaskar Surya
 * Tabla Nani
 * Chidanand

Soundtrack
All the songs are composed by Vardhan teaming up with the director and producer for the first time with Shivamani. The songs were well received.

Reception
A critic from Sify opined that "Student and parents should watch this film without fail". R. G. Vijayasarathy of Rediff.com wrote that "Jhossh is a technically brilliant film with absolutely top class performances and good narration. This is film that needs to be encouraged". A critic from The Times of India wrote that "It is a must-see for teenagers, with the director excellently combining ragging, drag-racing, fighting, love, hatred, sentiment and family problems with a lively message".