A friend recently invited a director who’s made arguably the most successful Kannada film to watch ‘Mufti’. “I don’t watch Kannada films,” was the retort. Let me assure you he’s not alone. I know a few other makers who share his view. They rush to watch the latest Tamil or Telugu hit but will beg for ‘prothsaha’ (support) only when their own directorial effort is due for release. When there’s a discussion on a Thursday about the forthcoming releases and films worth watching there’s seldom a mention of Kannada films. Even a reasonably good or successful film is referred to as good for Kannada standards! Excuses like lack of theatres and competition from other language films have been debunked by the success of ‘Godhi Banna Sadharna Maikattu’, ‘Kirik Party’ and recently ‘Ondhu Motteya Kathe’ to name a few. Now the problem seems to be regulating the number of Kannada releases. With titles like ‘Jilebi’, ‘Tonic’ and ‘Paani Puri’ it’s the theatre owners who should be complaining. People don’t even turn up out of sheer curiosity. By the way ‘Nuggekai’ and ‘Khara Bath’ are two other titles to spoil your cinema appetite. Just glance down the list of nearly 170 films released this year and you don’t know when most of them came and went. The year started with ‘No Ball’ and very few legitimate deliveries have been bowled after. There were very few remakes probably because the cost of rights has shot up. The first ‘star’ film to get released was ‘Hebbuli’ in which Sudeep played a commando with a weird crop cut. The film with an inflated budget apparently emerged unscathed at the box-office. Now the box-office figures are a grey area with many producers refusing to accept their films have flopped for reasons that are baffling. Sometimes it’s because the star wants to hike his remuneration. Well stranger things happen in the film industry.
‘Eradane Sala’ directed by the highly over-rated Guru Prasad probably left the producer with huge ‘saala’ (debts). An open confrontation between the director and his find, Dhananjaya failed to lure viewers. Audiences have become immune to publicity stunts staged and otherwise. ‘Jilebi’ left a sour taste in the very few who ventured to watch and ‘Bangalore Underworld’ did nothing for Aditya’s career even though it was touted as another ‘Deadly Soma’. ‘Shuddhi’ and ‘Urvi’ starring talented actresses failed to lure women audiences from watching soaps in their cosy living rooms. It was ‘Rajakumara’ that struck gold at the box-office with a tackily told tale about an orphan who grows up in the lap of luxury abroad returning to reunite estranged parents with their irresponsible off-springs. Families loved the soppy fare and Puneet was back to the No.1 spot. It’s not a very stable position anymore. Yash’s KGF could change the equations. ‘Chakravarthy’ had a rousing opening like all Darshan’s films but failed to rule at the box-office thanks to indifferent filmmaking. The scant respect shown to the basic intelligence of the paying public boomeranged like it does, most of the time. Fed up with the tripe they’re being fed on a regular basis, the public has become ruthless. Even the untimely and premature demise of two strapping youngsters due to sheer negligence and irresponsibility, refused to make audiences curious enough to watch ‘Masthi Gudi’. It’s a mild miracle that the few who ventured to watch the terrible film lived to lament. ‘Bangara S/O Bangaradha Manushya’ starring Shivanna did not strike gold while ‘Pataki’, a remake starring Golden Star Ganesh failed to transform the star who’s fast losing sheen into an action hero.
‘Ondhu Motteya Kathe’ brought some cheer with a pleasantly told tale about the insecurities of a youngster with a bald pate. Backed by the highly enterprising Pawan Kumar the film turned out to be a jackpot, more for Pawan than the producer but it again reiterated the fact that audiences never turn their back on interesting fare. Raj B. Shetty may not have fans garlanding his hoarding but is a welcome addition to the fresh crop of talented writers like Hemant and Rakshit. The secret lies in the simplicity and lucidity of the plot. ‘Operation Alamelamma’ caused a few ripples with the strapping hero Rishi getting noticed and landing a role in Hemant Rao’s next film. ‘Raj Vishnu’, a remake just did not enthuse fans of the two legends. Sharan’s dependence on remakes is proving to be expensive. Ask K. Manju who produced ‘Satya Harishchandra’ another remake. One decade after ‘Mungaru Male’ Yograj Bhat and Ganesh reunited for ‘Mugulu Nage’ but did not laugh all the way to the bank. Thankfully, they themselves produced the film. Dhruva Sarja again shone with ‘Bharjari’, a crude verbose affair. ‘Tarak’ starring Darshan is another box-office enigma. Most people thought the film tanked but some disagree.
The title ‘Dumki Damaar’ described the film’s fate best. The producer must be lamenting calling Upendra for ‘Upendra Matthe Baa’.
‘Uppu Huli Khara’ was bland but at the fag end, ‘Mufti’ seems to have struck gold. Starring Shivraj Kumar and Sri Murali this violent film set in a fictitious town has audiences saying it’s very good for Kannada standards.
sshivu@yahoo.com
