Shivaji Surathkal: The Case of Ranagiri Rahasya was released on 21 February 2020 where it received positive reviews from critics. Inspired by Murder on the Orient Express, the film went on to become the highest-grossing Kannada film of 2020. The success of the film, led the makers to create a franchise and a sequel of the film titled Shivaji Surathkal: The Mysterious Case of Maayavi which released on 14 April 2023.[3][4][5]
Premise
Detective Shivaji Surathkal leaves to an eerie resort in Ranagiri to investigate the death of Roshan Ravi, the son of Home Minister Rajiv Ravi. While searching for clues, Shivaji must deal his own trauma of losing his wife Janani and analyse the 11 suspects behind Roshan's death.
Sunayana Suresh of The Times of India gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Akash Srivatsa surely seems to have redeemed himself as a storyteller after his debut outing Badmaash. A sequel to a film like this that has the potential to become a franchise would be welcome, so watch this one and stay on track."[6] A. Sharaadha of The New Indian Express gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Ramesh Aravind sheds his regular image, and this transformation was possible only because of the director and writer’s imagination, and the actor’s versatility."[7]Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South wrote "Despite an interesting premise, the film is an underwhelming murder mystery".[8]
Box office
The film was reported to have collected ₹2 crore in the first week of its run.[9]