Yuva (2024 film)

Yuva is a 2024 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by Santhosh Ananddram and produced by Vijay Kiragandur under Hombale Films. The film, which marks the fourth collaboration of Santhosh Ananddram and Hombale Films, stars Yuva Rajkumar in his lead acting debut, while Sapthami Gowda, Achyuth Kumar, Gopal Krishna Deshpande, Sudharani and Kishore appear in supporting roles.

Yuva was released on 29 March 2024 and received mixed to positive reviews from critics. It is currently the highest grossing Kannada film of 2024.

Plot
Yuva, a national-level wrestler, lives in Bangalore with his father Shankar, mother Girija and elder sister Shwetha. One day, Yuva gets banned from the sport due to allegations of matchfixing scam against him and his coach Veeranna Doddamani, where Shankar strains his relationship with Yuva. Unable to follow his passion, Yuva joins an engineering college in Mangalore and soon picks up fights with local students. After graduating from college, Yuva returns home and learns that Shankar has fled from home after Shwetha's marriage. Yuva also learns that Shankar took hefty loans from his friends, colleagues and loan sharks for the family. He begins to work as a food delivery boy, as his past deeds in college hindered his job prospects. Yuva also realize his responsibilities to take care of the family. Yuva soon finds Shankar in Gokarna and learns that Shankar invested the money in the stock market, but got cheated as the money was not invested in shares by the marketeers. Yuva recovers the money from the marketeers and solves the loan problems. Doddamani also rescindes his and Yuva's ban by capturing the real culprit behind the matchfixing scam. Yuva soon begins training in the championship and finally wins the championship. Despite being a wrestling champion, Yuva continues to work as a delivery boy and Shankar sees Yuva with respect.

Cast

 * Yuva Rajkumar as Yuva
 * Sapthami Gowda as Siri
 * Achyuth Kumar as Shankar, Yuva's father
 * Sudharani as Girija, Yuva's mother
 * Hitha Chandrashekar as Shwetha, Yuva's sister
 * Gopal Krishna Deshpande as College Principal
 * Sundeep Malani
 * Kishore as Veeranna Doddamani

Release
Yuva was initially scheduled to be released on 22 December 2023, but was postponed to 29 March 2024 due to unknown reasons. It was released in over 350 theatres across the state.

Critical response
SM Shashiprasad of Times Now gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Yuva works on some counts. However, it lacks the punch required to make it a more powerful venture than just being another run-of-the-mill entertainer." S. Sridevi of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Yuva is a power-packed family entertainer that can be enjoyed in theatres by all kinds of film buffs as it offers something for everyone." A. Sharadhaa of The New Indian Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Yuva serves as a gritty exploration of a young man's journey. While it may slightly falter in its execution in parts, the film's sincerity and earnestness ultimately shine through."

A. S. Pranati of Deccan Herald gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Yuva is an action-packed entertainer, but is let down by too many elements." Prathiba Joy of OTTplay gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "The story of director Santhosh Ananddram's debut vehicle for Yuva Rajkumar only picks up in the second half, and doesn't have much meat to chew on."

Vivek M. V. of The Hindu wrote "The debutant actor is dashing in action sequences, but director Santhosh Ananddram's routine story stops this film from being an all-out entertainer." Swaroop Kodur of Film Companion wrote "Yuva is an interesting film and has many memorable moments to its name, but the film is definitely not greater than the sum of its parts."

Box office
The first day worldwide gross was speculated to be around ₹4–5 crore. However, the tracked figures estimate the first weekend net collections to be ₹6 crores. The net collection of the film was reported to be ₹10.81 crores for the first two weeks.