Max release effect: Rishi's Rudra Garuda Purana to get a 2025 outing

A few weeks ago, there were a bunch of Kannada films listed to hit theatres in the last week of December. After Upendra’s UI on December 20, December 27 had films like Rishi’s Rudra Garuda Purana, and Prajwal Devaraj’s Rakshasa, among others, listed to close out the year. But then, out of the blue came Kiccha Sudeep’s Max, which is releasing on December 25, and is one of the most-awaited Kannada films of the year.

Rudra Garuda Purana for Republic Day 2025

With 2 big-ticket Kannada releases and a few other language films too, the year-end is quite chock-a-block, forcing the other titles to look for alternate release windows. Rudra Garuda Purana, for instance, has been pushed ahead by a month and will now be in theatres on January 24, 2025, a good 2 weeks after all the Sankranti/Pongal big movies.

Did Rishi just confirm his big Tamil film break? 

Rudra Garuda Purana is a crime thriller, which has Rishi in cop mode. Directed by KS Nandeesh, whose last movie was Dear Vikram, a film that came directly on OTT. In Rudra Garuda Purana, Nandeesh has used the mysterious case of Pan Am Flight 914 as inspiration. The Pan Am flight is said to have taken off in 1955 and disappeared without a trace, only to reappear three decades later. The popular TV series Manifest also uses a similar plot point, with a flight taking off and landing a few years in the future.

In Rishi’s film, the actor plays a cop investigating the disappearance of a minister’s son. The boy and his girlfriend were, apparently, on a secret trip on a bus, on a route that has not been operational for a quarter of a century, following a tragic accident. How is it that the minister’s son and his girlfriend were able to board this bus that does not exist?

Rishi: Entertainer or thriller, my focus is on delivering what’s been promised to audiences 

The film also stars Priyanka Kumar, Vinod Alva, Avinash, KS Sridhar, Giri Shivanna, Shivaraj KR Pete, Ashwini Gouda, Ram Pavan, Vamshi, Aakarsh, Joseph, Prabhakar, and Gautam Mysuru, among others.