Dhumm

The protagonist Varada (Sudeep) is like fire when faced with injustice. His heart is cool as ice otherwise. He picks up a machete for a solid reason and continues his vengeance when required. His mother is against Varada's violent principles but Varada thinks he is the only bad element in the house and never gives up his ideals. But subconsciously Varada is also struggling to get a good name and this is established in the climax.

The fiery handsome guy in love with his opponent's daughter (Rakshita) reaches a tight spot when his sister is murdered. He hatches a clever plot and fulfills his task of restoring the glory of his father. He begs his mother to accept him as a good son after settling his scores with some goons.

• Sudeep as Varada
• Rakshita as Preethi
• Srinath as Varada and Shankar's father
• Sumithra as Varada and Shankar's mother
• Nassar as Shankar, Varada's brother
• Rangayana Raghu as M.L.A.
• Arun Sagar as Vinod (Preethi's brother)
• Sadhu Kokila as Varada's friend
• Chitra Shenoy as Preethi's sister

The soundtrack was composed by Gurukiran collaborating with Sudeep for the second time after Chandu (2002). All the lyrics were written by V. Nagendra Prasad. The soundtrack was released by Ashwini Recording Company.

Chitraloka.com wrote that "This is an action extravaganza. M.S.Ramesh has really showed his ‘guts’ in making a nice action film that stands out from other action films. The dialogues and wonderful performance by key artists have boosted up the quality of the film. [...] Congrats for the convincing job done by Ramesh and Team".

Regarding the Telugu dubbed version Hero No. 1, Gudipoodi Srihari of The Hindu wrote that "Sudeep does not look like a debut-making hero. He plays his role with ease".

Filmfare Awards South :-

• Best Music Director, Kannada(2002) - Gurukiran