Eight months have flown by and more than one hundred Kannada films have already been released. Glance at the list and you don’t recognise most of the titles. Have you heard of this film called ‘Thathana Thithi, Mommogana Prastha’? Even if you did would you make an effort to pay and watch it? As usual you don’t need both hands to count the number of films that recovered investment leave alone gaining profits. The year started with an ‘erotic thriller’ called ‘No Ball’ and since then directors have been bowling ‘wides’! It’s ‘Baragala’ (a film released last month) at the box-office. ‘Beautiful Manasugalu’ had its moments and ‘Chowka’ created a buzz. Many credited the film’s success to Darshan’s cameo. That’s strange and unfair because ‘Chakravarthy’ which had the star looming over every frame tanked big time. There was ‘Enendhu Hesaridali?’. How can there be a plausible plot when you can’t think of a suitable title? ‘Smile Please’ had producer K. Manju seething. Sudeep roared with ‘Hebbuli’ though director Krishna showed scant respect for logic or details. Sudeep is unanimously hailed as the only star who willingly forgoes part of his remuneration if the film goes over budget and the producer is in trouble. I hear he vowed not to, in future after some serious introspection. ‘Eradane Sala’ saw the highly over-rated Guruprasad getting into a slanging match with the talented Dhananjaya over a trivial issue. Anyway nothing could have helped this shoddily made film. ‘Jilebi’ starring Pooja Gandhi left a sour after taste in the producer’s mouth. P.N. Sathya just could not recreate the magic of ‘Deadly Soma’ with ‘Bangalore Underworld’. People are tired of gore on-screen. There’s enough when you turn on the TV. ‘Eradu Kanasu’ was a nightmare with eerily empty theatres. ‘Rajakumara’ is the biggest hit so far bringing cheer to the beleaguered Vijay of Hombale Films after the forgettable ‘Ninnindhale’. Puneet confessed he was not very happy and wanted some changes but the director Santosh stuck to his guns and was vindicated. He’s the most sought after director today and credit goes to Yash for spotting his talent. ‘Manasu Mallige’, a remake of the highly enjoyable Marathi hit ‘Sairat’ wilted. The insufferable ‘Masti Gudi’ did nothing but remind us of the untimely death of two strapping young men due to sheer negligence.
The three big stars shining this year are Sudeep, Puneet and Raj B. Shetty. The last named purely because his talent shone brighter than his bald pate. Credit of course goes to Pawan Kumar who’s being hailed as the God of good, meaningful films. Reliable rumours are that he’s Netflix’s go to man in Kannada. Well, why not? He’s shown exceptional marketing acumen with a sizeable ‘multiplex’ following. “Ondu Motteya Kathe’ will collect around three crores net, just from theatres,” says a producer. TV rights, revenue from digital platforms like Netflix and overseas collections are a bonus.
All the remakes have failed so far. ‘Golden Star’ Ganesh is now entirely dependent on Yograj Bhat to polish his rusty career while ‘Duniya’ Vijay’s seems lifeless. None of the films have thrown up promising talent save Rishi in ‘Operation Almelamma’.
Most of the producers are new with little knowledge of the process or the consequences but the lure of the limelight is irresistible. It makes you squint momentarily but it’s addictive. Things are looking up. Big is again beautiful because satellite channels have become benevolent again. Hindi channels are lapping up dubbed versions for astronomical sums. Their only question is how many ‘fights’ the film has. The more violence, the higher the price.
Darshan’s ‘Tarak’ was reportedly lapped up by a Kannada channel for a little over 5 crores and the Hindi dubbed version nearly two crores. Sudeep gets the highest for the dubbed version because he recognised in the North. Ironically, this will in no way help the producer because star salaries have doubled.
There’s always been a price war amongst the present superstars in Kannada and the rate now is around 8 crores. If you’re wondering who’ll pay so much you are sadly wrong. A national channel has offered one superstar 25 crores for the satellite rights of his next five films. No wonder some of the biggest production houses in the South have wound up. It’s because the business no longer makes sense and anyway there are plenty of new ‘bakras’ waiting to be financially slaughtered.
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