PremiumKrishna Ajai Rao on Yuddhakaanda: I produced the film to put me alongside frontline heroes
Krishna Ajai Rao on Yuddhakaanda: The team of Yuddhakaanda Chapter 2 is trying to show the courtroom drama, which deals about the need for swift justice for women, to the President of India
Last Updated: 07.10 PM, Apr 05, 2025
Krishna Ajai Rao has been in the Kannada film industry for over two decades and has a string of successes also to his credit. And yet, the actor, who was last seen in the 2022 Shokiwala, says that his stature as an actor – as far as name and fame go – has not grown proportionately. To this day, Ajai is not in the league of several of his contemporaries. And that, he says, is down to people in the industry, for not encouraging and supporting him enough, forcing him to take matters in his own hands and begin producing the movies he likes to be seen in.
Ajai’s next Yuddhakaanda Chapter 2, is his second production venture, and the film that he believes will give him the name and fame he deserves. Speaking at a media briefing to announce the film’s theatrical release date – April 18, 2025 – Ajai said, “As an actor, Yuddhakaanda is the film that I believe should make me stand alongside the frontline heroes of the industry. I have not got the name, fame and respect I should have got, but I don’t blame anyone. When no one else takes the effort to get me the position I deserve, I decided to take it upon myself. I realized that I have to create my own future.”
Yuddhakaanda Chapter 2 is a courtroom drama surrounding the fight for justice for a mother and her daughter, with Ajai playing a lawyer called Bharath. The underlying message of the film, he says, is that justice delayed is justice denied, a subject that he believes needs to be taken across the country. Produced as a mid-level project to the best of his capabilities, Ajai adds that the film’s strong content has the potential to be recognized across India. Instead of hoping that the film will travel on its own, Ajai says that he will work towards getting the nation to take notice.
One of these measures is that Ajai is looking at showing the film to the President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu, which, he believes will put the spotlight firmly on the cause in it.