Appu was released on 26 April 2002 and completed a 200-day run in theatres.[2] Due to this film, Puneeth Rajkumar came to be known as "Appu" among the masses. The film was remade in Telugu in 2002 as Idiot, in Tamil in 2003 as Dum, in Bengali in 2006 as Hero and in Bangladeshi Bengali in 2008 as Priya Amar Priya - making it the second Kannada film to be remade in Bengali in both India and Bangladesh after Anuraga Aralithu.[3] It was the third Kannada movie to be remade in four languages after School Master and Anuraga Aralithu.[4][5][6]
Plot
Appu, a carefree guy, is the son of Venkata Swamy, a head constable. Venkata Swamy wants Appu to clear the IPS exams and become an Inspector. One night, Appu, after playing carrom with his friends, is thrashed by a rival gang, but he is rescued by a girl Suchitra alias "Suchi", who pays his hospital bills and donates her blood. She is gone from the hospital by the time Appu regains consciousness. Appu learns about Suchi from his friends and falls in love with her. Suchi later turns out to be the daughter of Rajashekhar, the city commissioner. Appu meets Suchi in the college and proposes to her.
When Suchi does not accept his proposal, Appu teases her which leads Suchi to complain about him to Rajshekhar, who takes Appu to the police station and severely thrash him before being rescued by Venkata Swamy and SI Sudarshan. Appu becomes more adamant to win over Suchi and proposes to Suchi, who later accepts his feelings. Rajshekhar discovers their relationship and hires goons to thrash Appu. Suchi discovers this and runs to help him, but meets with an accident.
Appu and Suchi get admitted to the same hospital, where they unite. Rajshekhar arranges her wedding with another person, to which she openly opposes and attempts suicide. Appu arrives and rescues her, but Rajshekhar still wants to get Suchi married to a man of his own choice, where he also engages goons to kill Appu. Appu finally escapes all the troubles and meets the DGP to help him to marry Suchi. The DGP finally suspends Rajshekhar and arranges Appu's wedding in the police station. In the aftermath, Appu finally clears the IPS exams with flying colors.
After the success of Yuvaraja (2001), Puri Jagannadh was approached by the Rajkumar family to introduce their third son Puneeth Rajkumar to make his onscreen debut as the lead actor. Puri gladly accepted the opportunity.[8][9] Rakshitha, daughter of cameraman B.C. Gowrishankar made her acting debut with this film, and she went on to play the same character in its Telugu and Tamil remakes.[10]
Gurukiran composed the film's background score and music for its soundtrack, with the lyrics written by Upendra, Sriranga and Hamsalekha. The soundtrack album consists of six tracks.
A critic from Chtiraloka wrote that "This is a film for all. Buy a ticket and have two and half hours of good summer vacation in Bangalore theatres".[11]
