Until the late eighties, most Indian films had to be processed in the two leading laboratories of Gemini and Prasad at Madras. The lab technicians were sought after people and revered by the best directors in the business from across the country. The director, a bundle of nervousness and anxiety would await the ‘first copy’ of his creative child. The director, along with his cinematographer, would watch the ‘first copy’ and together decide about the running time and the colour corrections.
I’ve had the rare privilege of watching the first copies of films like Chalisuva Modagalu with BC Gowrishanker, Kharij with Mrinal Sen, Dhalapathi with Mani Rathnam and Apoorva Sahodarargal with PC Sreeram to name a notable few. There would not be more than a dozen people with us, mostly consisting of the technical crew, watching in a huge hall. The general audience’s reaction would be missed but there’s a certain thrill to it. I was reminded of this when I entered a multiplex to watch Style King starring Golden Star Ganesh on Monday morning. I counted five till a noisy family of eight streamed in after the show began. At a rough estimate, the distributor’s share from that show should be around Rs. 800. If sources are to be believed it has not been much better elsewhere. Remember, Monday is the acid test for a film at the box-office.
It’s exactly one decade since Mungaru Maley was released. Overnight, ‘Comedy Time’ Ganesh was rechristened ‘Golden Star’. For a couple of releases after the phenomenal success, theatres showing Ganesh’s films had more girls than college classrooms did. A hurried marriage was blamed for his falling popularity but girls alone cannot make a film a hit and most box-office ‘badshahs’ across the country are married. Ganesh is a reasonably good actor, but with a limited range. His biggest hits have romance as the backbone, the last film being Shravani Subramanya . He made a disastrous debut as a director with Kool...Sakkath Hot Maga which was all form (thanks to Ratnavelu’s camerawork) and insipid content. The audience reaction was tepid. Every star worth his vanity case wants to prove he can do action films, transform from mushy romantic to muscleman, beating up a band of baddies. Trade says that’s the way to touch the hearts of the lowest common denominator (the ‘C’ class in cinema parlance). And who can resist playing a dual role which means occupying nearly every single frame in the film. Style King is that last ditch attempt.
PC Shekar has also been making films for the last decade and he is passionate about cinema. Success has eluded him and Style King is a work of desperation. Not everybody who knows the ingredients can cook a palatable meal. What I can’t understand is why a producer would pay a fortune (Ganesh’s price tag is around Rs. two crore ) to a fading star to resuscitate his careening career? A star’s salary is usually equivalent to the telecast rights the film fetches. The honeymoon is over. Channels are no longer bidding for films and the price paid nowadays is less than half, that too reluctantly and only for the A-listers. Of course, the stars have not agreed to a slash in salaries even though their films are bombing. The telecast rights of Style King apparently went for less than half of the hero’s salary.
Style King is the tale of two desperate lookalikes with only some facial fuzz and a gruff voice differentiating the two. Shekar throws in every element he thinks is popular but the basic tale is stale. There’s a bag of drugs being tossed around and the film is about who gets it in the end. The dialogues are vulgar, the songs run of the mill and the acting over the top. Ganesh is the only actor who doesn’t overact amongst a cast suffering from hysteria. The proceedings are anything but engaging with the predictability inducing a sense of ennui. There’s neither style nor substance in this film. Now Ganesh’s hopes lie with the sequel to Mungaru Maley .
As long as there are gullible producers, film stars will be filling their coffers. Their true worth will be known only when they agree to share the risk.
sshivu@yahoo.com
