By MK Ashoka
Bangalore, May 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) The film industry in Kannada has never lacked ambitious and ambitious directors and producers who wanted to put the industry on the national map. Although great efforts have been made in this direction since the 1990s, he could only achieve commercial success and acceptance in 2022 with “KGF Chapter-2”.
Veterans say it was a matter of pride that Kannada films were released in 200 cinemas across the country. ‘KGF Chapter-2’ was shown on more than 12,000 screens. If the Chinese market opened up, the film would get 20,000 to 30,000 screens. They remember that whenever they visited the United States, people talked about Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. Now they’re talking about Rocking Star Yash.
They still remember how film crews in Kannada searched for the cheapest available slots, how they had to wait for big Telugu and Tamil films to finish filming for their turn in Chennai studios.
Kannada films have just been swept away by other industries. It was the love of the Kannadigas, the love of the language that the industry thrived on with low-budget films and eventually came to the national stage.
The film ‘Africadalli Sheela’, a fantasy adventure film released in 1986, produced and directed by Dwarakish was one such notable effort. It was made on the same model as the Hollywood film “Sheena”. It is the first Indian film to have been shot in African forests. The music was composed by Bappi Lahiri. The remake version was released in Hindi starring Nana Patekar. However, the big hit eluded the team.
The hopes of the Kannada film industry rose with “Muttinahaara,” a 1990 Kannada war drama directed and produced by veteran director Dr. Rajendra Singh Babu. Later, Kannada superstar Vishnuvardhan bombarded the box office, prompting producers to turn to low-budget films.
Kannada film industry showman V. Ravichandran’s ambitious project ‘Shanthi Kranthi’ was shot simultaneously in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. The film starred V. Ravichandran and Juhi Chawla. Tamil superstar Rajinikanth topped in Hindi and Tamil, while superstar Nagarjuna topped in Telugu.
Considered the most expensive film in the Kannada film industry, it also failed to stand out or gain commercial success. At a time when big-budget films were exploding at the box office, hopes were once again raised with the release of “Om” in 1995.
The film was directed by star director and superstar Kannada Upendra and Shivarajkumar played the lead role. The film managed to achieve huge success and even domestic filmmakers enjoyed the film. It was remade as ‘Arjun Pandit’ in Hindi with Sunny Deol.
Somehow, the Kannada film industry has never caught the attention of the film world. Darling Krishna, the Kannada superstar, producer and director of super hit ‘Love Mocktail 2’ explained that the process of globalization, liberalization and privatization that started in the 1990s has become a reality for the Kannada film industry in 2022 with the success of ‘KGF Chapter-2’.
“It’s a matter of pride. The film showed the market of the industry. It’s a matter of joy and great achievement. Before I came to the film industry, during the study days , we had seen how guys from other languages were talking so highly about movies from other states. Although we tried to talk about Kannada movies, they didn’t take it seriously,” Darling Krishna explained .
“What happened with ‘KGF Chapter-2’ is magic. It’s the result of teamwork. To get a team like this on board is a difficult task. To compete at the national level, a budget huge is needed. They spend around Rs 30 crore to Rs 40 crore just for advertising,” he said.
Sudhakar Bhandari, Senior Producer and Director, explained that there was a time when senior producers would arrive in Chennai and wait for cinemas in other languages to pack their bags and look for the cheapest floor available to shoot. The path was not easy, the Kannada film industry grew step by step.
Although Kannada films have won national awards, with budget constraints the industry has not been able to match the audiovisual greatness of films in other languages, he explains.
Sudhakar Bhandari recalls, amidst all the constraints, how veterans came up with films like “Babruvahana” which could be compared to the Hollywood film “Ben Hur”. With very limited facilities, limitations, special effects and experimentation was a big effort, he says.
‘KGF Chapter-2’ changed all that. “I got a call from Bombay. In the conversation they said ‘sab south ka samachar hai’ (everything revolves around the south now). I must appreciate the young men who rose to the challenge, never got bogged down and believed in their dreams. They have the passion, which is a good development for the Kannada film industry,” he says.
The southern movies that marked North India like ‘KGF’, ‘Pushpa’, ‘RRR’, ‘Bahubali’ were close to nativity. Indian software professionals have world-class talent. They work for foreign companies. If their talent is used for creative work, world-class products in the entertainment industry can be achieved, he says.
Source: IANS
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