Raaj – The Showman

Raaj–The Showman is a 2009 Kannada language action drama film directed by Prem. The film stars Puneeth Rajkumar and Priyanka Kothari in the lead roles. The music was composed by V. Harikrishna, while the cinematography and editing were handled by S. Krishna and Srinivas P. Babu.

Plot
Muththuraj alias Raj, an aspiring actor, wants to become an actor like Dr. Rajkumar. He arrives at the city and become a junior artist in films. A wannabe director, who has full confidence in Raj's talents, starts his new film with Raj in the lead role. However, the film's actress Parvathy walks out of the film. Sensing that his chance to become an actor will be under a threat, Raj starts pestering Paaru to work with him, where Paaru develops feelings for Raj. Paaru learns that her two gangster relatives are fighting against each other to marry her. Paaru is forced to escape with Raj. The director decides to shelve the film after Paaru's relatives threaten them. Distraught, Raj reveals his promise to his mother to the director, which makes the director to support Raj and begins the shooting of the film, along with Paaru. They complete the film's shooting, with only the climax remaining. Paaru's relatives arrive to take away Paaru, but Raj stops them and Paaru profess her love to Raj, who agrees. A combat ensues in which Raj makes Paaru's relatives realize their mistake. Raj's film gets released and becomes a commercial success at the box office. Having fulfilled his dream, Raj and Paaru leave for Raj's village, where Raj reunites with his parents and introduces Paaru.

Cast
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 * Puneeth Rajkumar as Muthuraja alias Raaj
 * Nisha Kothari as Parvathy alias Paaru
 * Adi Lokesh as Paaru's relative
 * Muniraj as Paaru's relative
 * Mamatha Rao
 * Tulasi Shivamani as Paaro's father
 * Shankar Ashwath as Paaro's father
 * Mico Nagaraj
 * Murali Mohan
 * Sathyajith
 * Shivaram
 * Ganesh Rao Kesarkar
 * Umesh Punga
 * N. M. Suresh
 * A. R. Babu
 * Madhugiri Prakash

Cameo appearances
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 * Ramanithu Chaudhari
 * Rekha Vedavyas
 * Jayamala in the song "Muthuraja"
 * Jaya Prada in the song "Muthuraja"
 * Bharathi Vishnuvardhan in the song "Muthuraja"
 * Urvashi in the song "Muthuraja"
 * Mumaith Khan

Production
Raaj The Showman is considered to be a high-budget film in the Kannada film industry.

Release
Raaj the Showman was the first Kannada film to be simultaneously released worldwide and in India.

Critical response
R.G. Vijayasarathy of The New Indian Express gave 2/5 stars and wrote ""Raaj..." is technically sound and the music is fantastic. The film has everything except a sound script. Director has failed to translate the struggles of an aspiring actor in a convincing story." Manju Shettar of Mid-Day gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Prem hasn't done justice to the script of Raaj - The Showman. He has concentrated on the story rather than the film-making, resulting in a film that lacks creativity."

B. S Srivani of Deccan Herald wrote "As for the story, well, the treatment is sufficient to make it appear just a few hours old. This showman delivers the goods." Bangalore Mirror wrote "Watch the movie for the excellent cinematography and the music. Prem’s direction is not worth commenting, nor are his efforts at the story and dialogues."