At a time, when the eight-decade-old Kannada film industry is cribbing over the reluctance of audience to visit theatres to watch movies, four new flicks are drawing audiences like never before.
Thithi by Ram Reddy, U-Turn by Pawan Kumar of Lucia fame, Godi Banna Sadharana Mykattu (GBSM) by Hemanth M. Rao and Karva of Navaneet have set the box-office buzzing. Fans are struggling to get tickets, especially during weekends. The fact that they have subtitles is drawing a reasonably large non-Kannadiga audience as well. This trend is being considered unprecedented and viewed as a kind of new wave by film experts and people in the industry. These four films don’t have big stars and were made on modest budgets. According to Jack Manju, producer of U-Turn , the three-week collection of the film in Karnataka alone has crossed Rs. 4.5 crore, apart from Rs. 50 lakh collected in various cities across the country. Karva, which is being screened in over 90 screens across the State, is said to have collected Rs. 3 crore in the first week. “We have released U-Turn in other parts of the country without taking an advance from distributors, as success of the film will pave the way for release of good Kannada films in future,” says Pawan Kumar.
“We are confident of not only recovering our investment but also making a profit,” says Hemanth Rao. He attributes the success of these new wave of films to ‘regaining the faith of audience by not taking them for granted’.
Navaneet says that Anoop Bhandari was the trend-setter with his Rangi Taranga . Its success made audiences open up to the new genre of films, such as U-Turn , Karva , Thithi and GBSM .
