In the milieu of Kasaragod (a border district in Kerala having a large Kannada speaking population), where the language supremacy becomes the hothead matter. A Kannada-medium Government-run Middle and High School, faces financial difficulties due to nonreceipt of money from the government officials. As a consequence, various expenses like books, uniforms, teachers' salaries, building repairs and extracurricular activities are virtually at a standstill.

Nambiar, the righteous Principal is being harassed by a hostile and corrupt Government official, Balakrishna Panikker, who is hell-bent upon closing the school as he wants to establish the supremacy of Malayalam. In a moment of weakness, Nambiar is forced to sign on a government order without reading it, which declares that the building is unsafe and needs to be demolished. A group of students coming from normal middle class to poor background are bound by the common thread of learning in Kannada. Their lives are thrown into turmoil when Panikker comes with a government order to physically close the school.

They then decide to get a famous person to fight their case. Accordingly, they chance upon the name of one social worker in Mysore, Ananthapadmanabha in a newspaper. They then journey to Mysuru to persuade Ananthapadmanabha to take up their case. In a hilarious twist, there are two Ananthapadmanabhas living next to each other and both these friends are at loggerheads over trivial issues. The boys are supposed to talk to Ananthapadmanabha.M but instead, end up talking to Ananthapadmanabha.P, who agrees to take up their struggle.

With a lot of hope, they bring the 'famous' Ananthapadmanabha.P to Kasargod. After initial skirmishes with Panikker, it appears that the boys are fighting a losing battle. There are many minor events that help in crystallizing a hitherto scattered struggle into a cohesive well-oiled movement. The parents of the children also get involved in the same under the leadership of Ananthapadmanabha. The culmination of this is a court scene under a sympathetic judge. Ananthapadmanabha, though not a lawyer himself, is allowed to argue on behalf of the students.

Ananthapadmanabha exposes the machinations of Panikker, arguing that the pictures of the abandoned school are photoshopped and concludes the case triumphantly. Being involved with the kids makes him realize how lonely he was. He then decides to remain in Kasargod as a part-time teacher in the school. Realising his mistakes, Ananthapadmanabha M. visits the school and gives Ananthapadmanabha P. his best wishes. The film ends with a group photo of students, parents and teachers.

• Anant Nag as Ananthapadmanabha P., a teacher in criminology and a self-claimed social activist who fights for the survival of S.H.P Shaale, Kasargod. He mentions his surname as "P for peacock."
• Ranjan S as Praveena Kumar, a student who failed 7th grade thrice
• Sampath as Mammootty, (named after the Malayalam actor) a student in 6th grade
• Saptha Pavoor as Pallavi, daughter of Upadhyaya and a student in 7th grade, Praveena's crush
• Pramod Shetty as Shantharama Upadhyaya, a well-known Yakshagana artiste and Kannada Activist, Pallavi's father
• Supreetha Shetty as Vasantha Upadhyaya, wife of Upadhyaya, Pallavi's mother
• Mahendra Prasad as Mahendra, a student in 7th grade and best friend of Praveena
• Manish Heroor as Mute Student in 7th grade and best friend of Praveena
• Democracy Sohan Shetty as Satheesha, a student in 7th grade
• Prakash Thuminad as Bhujanga, an areca nut grower
• Ramesh Bhat as Anantha Padmanabha M., a social activist and neighbor of Anantha Padmanabha P. He mentions his surname as "M for match-fixing".
• Rishab Shetty as Inspector Kemparaju (cameo), a police inspector in Mysuru
• Shanil Guru as Raghava, cook in Upadhyaya's house
• Balakrishna Adoor as Balakrishna Panikker, Assistant Education Officer of Kasargodu
• Radhakrishna as Sebastian, watcher of a mansion which is owned by a Dubai resident
• Rajeev Shetty as Raamanna Rai
• Pushparaj Bollar as Driver Govindu, Raamanna's driver
• Arpith Adyar as "Reporter cum photographer"

Filming edit

The film was shot in 55 days at one stretch.^[7]

Vasuki Vaibhav has composed the songs and B. Ajaneesh Loknath has composed background score for the film. The lyrics for the songs are written by K. Kalyan, Trilok Trivikrama, Avinash Balekkala, Veeresh Shivamurthy and Vasuki Vaibhav.^[8][9]

The movie has received positive reviews.^[11][12]

Awards edit

More than 3,000 students were reported to have watched the film at Kasargod. The Kannada Sangha members of Chandigarh made it possible to play the Kannada Naadageete before the screening of the movie. It was reported that the movie had the highest ticket sales in Mumbai compared to any Kannada movie released there earlier. It was also the first Kannada movie to be released after 12 years in Thiruvananthapuram (two centres) and in Vizag (one centre) and first Kannada movie to have its posters spread over 12 areas in Chennai.^[20]

Satellite rights edit

The satellite and digital rights were secured by Udaya TV and Sun NXT where the film had its World Television Premiere on 23 December 2018 at 6:00 p.m. IST^[21]

The movie got positive response from both audience and critics. It completed 100 days in theatres and was a blockbuster hit.

• Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai at IMDb