Taj Mahal (2008 film)

Taj Mahal
Theatrical poster
Directed by	R. Chandru
Produced by	T. Shivashankar Reddy
Written by	R. Chandru
Starring	Ajay Rao Pooja Gandhi Rangayana Raghu Ananth Nag
Music by	Abhiman Roy
Cinematography	K. S. Chandrashekar
Edited by	K. M. Prakash
Production company	Shiva Shakthi Enterprises
Release date	25 July 2008 (2008-07-25)
Running time	154 minutes
Country	India
Language	Kannada
Budget	₹2.5 crore
Box office	est.₹10 crore (US$1.5 million)

Taj Mahal is a 2008 Indian Kannada romantic drama film directed and written by R. Chandru and starring Ajay Rao and Pooja Gandhi. Produced by T. Shivashankar Reddy, the film is Chandru's directoral debut. The film opened on 25 July 2008, and ran for 200-day in Karanataka. Music director Abhiman Roy was awarded the Best Music Director accolade at the Karnataka State Film Awards for his film score. Taj Mahal was one of the most successful Kannada-language films of 2008. It was remade in Telugu under the same title.

Ajaykumar (Ajay Rao) an honest, poor boy from a village hand over a lost suitcase to the police. He tells them that his name is Kumar and leaves his cell number. Shruthi (Pooja Gandhi) the owner of the suitcase is immensely happy when she gets back her father's suitcase and calls Kumar to thank him.

Slowly they speak over the phone many times and fall in love. Incidentally they both study in the same engineering college but knows her lover only as Kumar. In college the guy is known as Ajay. Shruthi is not aware that Ajay and Kumar are the same person and flatly rejects Ajay when he proposes to her. In confusion and deep agony, Ajay decides to finish his engineering and go back to his village but on the examination day he gets a call from Shruthi.

Shruthi's father back from abroad and is seriously looking for Kumar who is seeking isolation in his village. By the time Shruthi comes to know that Kumar and Ajay are one and the same person, meanwhile Ajay (Ajay Rao) was no longer live.

Sunil Raoh was asked to play the lead but backed out, citing personal reasons. Ajay Rao, who had one successful role in the film Excuse Me, replaced Raoh. Taj Mahal's success enhanced Rao's career. Upon the film's release, some viewers called Chandru, accusing him of basing the film on their lives. Chandru dismissed these claims and stated that the film was based on events in a friend's life.