Saarathi (English: Charioteer) is a 2011 Indian Kannada-language action thriller film written and directed by Dinakar Thoogudeep.

The film released theatrically on 30 September 2011 [3] when Darshan was under judicial custody for alleged domestic violence against his wife, Vijayalakshmi.

Along with his adopted father and friends, Raja follows Rukmini to Durgakote and finds that she hails from the family of palegars (village chieftan) who rule the place.

Saarathi was initially under the production of Kannada cinema veteran KCN Chandrashekhar,[8] but was later taken up by K. V. Satya Prakash as his first film venture.

The film released in 157 theatres across Karnataka on 30 September 2011, including over 30 in the city of Bangalore, and an additional 20 screens were put up due to its commercial success in the opening weekend.

The Times of India scored the film at 4 out of 5 stars and says "Hats off to Darshan for his fabulous performance, excellent dialogue delivery and body language.

[12] Sunayana Suresh from DNA wrote "Cinematography by Krishnakumar is top notch and he's done a great job with the action sequences.

[14] Shreyas Nag from Deccan Herald wrote "Rangayana Raghu and Bullet Prakash’s timing is just perfect with both of them complementing each other, making the audience laugh their guts off.

[15] News 18 wrote "Tamil actor Sharath Kumar makes a dignified presence in the role of Darshan's father.