Review: ‘Vijayanand’ inspires!

‘Vijayanand’ traces the major events in the life of Vijay Sankeshwar, a man hailed as a trendsetter and a visionary, and presents the definitive moments of his career in an inspiring manner.

Nihal in Vijayanand

Releasing in: Theatres
Director: Rishika Sharma
Cinematography: Keerthan Poojary
Cast: Nihal, Siri Prahlad, Ananth Nag, Bharath Bopana and Archana Kottige among others
Music: Gopi Sundar
Editor: Hemanth Kumar
Rating: 3.5 stars


Director Rishika Sharma’s ‘Vijayanand’ is an inspiring tale told with a lot of conviction and passion.

The film, a biopic, is based on the life of well known industrialist and politician Vijay Sankeshwar, the founder of the popular VRL Group. Interestingly, this film is being claimed as the first biopic film in Kannada cinema.

The film begins with Anand Sankeshwar ( played by Bharath Bopana) recalling his father’s illustrious life and the insurmountable challenges he overcame to establish a giant in the Logistics business before going on to start and run two successful publications –one each in Kannada and English.

‘Vijayanand’ traces the major events in the life of a man hailed as a trendsetter and a visionary and presents the definitive moments of his career in an inspiring manner.

Condensing the developments that took place over a period of six decades in the life of a man, who literally ruled three fields — Logistics, Media and Politics, and presenting it as a film that is just two-and-a-half hour long must have been quite a challenge. But to Rishika’s credit, she seems to have done a neat job, with the story moving seamlessly at a brisk pace from start to finish.

The story narrates how Vijay Sankeshwar, who hails from a small town called Gadag in Karnataka, revolutionised the printing industry by bringing in the semi-automatic printing machine Victoria before choosing to enter the lorry business in which he had no experience whatsoever. From there, it goes on to show how he started off with one truck and how he now has established a group that has over 5,600 trucks!

The film also shows in detail what prompted Vijay Sankeshwar to enter the media industry first and the strategy that helped his two publications — one each in Kannada and English — to reportedly emerge market leaders.

Nihal, who plays Vijay Sankeshwar in the film, literally owns the character and registers an impressive performance.

Ananth Nag as BG Sankeshwar (Vijay Sankeshwar’s dad) delivers a commanding performance. Subtle yet sharp, Ananth Nag plays to perfection the role of a dad who is both proud of his son’s courage and achievements and at the same time, worried about his lack of fear.

Siri Prahlad, who plays Lalitha Sankeshwar, comes up with a neat and convincing performance. Archana Kottige and Bharath Bopanna too play their parts to perfection.

Gopi Sundar’s music is a treat to the ears. If Rishika Sharma’s motive was to inspire youngsters with this film, one must conclude that she has succeeded handsomely in that mission!