2 Years of Pogaru: Netizens remain divided about Dhruva Sarja - Rashmika Mandanna film

If one could recall, the Dhruva Sarja starrer Pogaru was arguably the first major Kannada film that opened in theatres in the post-pandemic era. The film hit the big screens on February 19th, 2021 amid a lot of promise with trade pundits and fans alike expecting the film to bring back the fading glory of a theatrical experience. And with Rashmika Mandanna, the certified National Crush at the time, starring as the female lead, the expectations were huge, to say the least. 

But, despite all the promise, Pogaru ended up being an underwhelming theatrical experience for many who weren't all that impressed with Sarja's rather over-the-top "rugged" and uncouth avatar in the film. If that wasn't enough, Nanda Kishore, the film's director filled the film with cringe-worthy dialogues and sequences that could be best described as outdated and also alarming. The makers tried their best to hide their archaic narrative and nonsensical contrivances by featuring internationally renowned bodybuilders like Kai Greene, John Lucas and Morgan Aste but that, too, could not fetch the desired results for the film.

And now, as the film completes two years of its release, fans still seem unwilling to forget the many facets of the film that irked and frustrated them. "Dialogues -Biceps | Biceps-Dialogues | Dialogues-Biceps," wrote a user, referring to the incessant display of the Action Prince's physique and the barrage of over-the-top dialogues in the film. Some even referred to Dhruva's hair in the film, claiming that the dialogues of the film were longer than the length of his locks!

However, not all the tweets were critical as many others remembered the film fondly for its credible box office exploits. Some spared a thought for Rashmika's character of Geetha teacher in the film, calling it one of her more memorable roles in Kannada cinema while the rest reminded everyone that Pogaru had a really big opening at the box office. 

The film, reportedly, was made at a budget of Rs. 20-odd crores and managed to collect close to Rs. 40 crores during its theatrical run. Also released in Telugu and Tamil (as Semma Thimiru), Pogaru couldn't achieve the desired results as a dubbed version.