JOIN USCan Kannada cinema realise its pan-India dreams?
The gargantuan success of ‘KGF: Chapter 1’ (2018) triggered the trend of releasing films in multiple languages from the Kannada film industry. Though none matched the success of the Prashant Neel-directorial, the likes of ‘Avane Srimannarayana’, and ‘Roberrt’ did well to establish their pan-India presence.
The third wave has brought back the worst memories for Sandalwood, which is nursing pan-India dreams. If the pandemic relents, Kannada cinema can establish its presence in other markets with ambitious, big-budgeted films.
First off the blocks could be Rakshit Shetty’s ‘777 Charlie’. The actor-director has fans across the country for the freshness he brings with every project he does.
Initially scheduled to release on New Year Eve, ‘777 Charlie’ is an adventure drama steered by a dog. The film’s immensely successful teaser shows how the right associations from other language industries help a film get a wider reach. The film is presented by the seasoned actor Prithviraj Sukumaran in Malayalam and ace director Karthik Subbaraj in Tamil.
“When you dub a film today, the idea is to make it not look like a dubbed film. With great professionalism in every department, you can turn into an authentic product in any language,” actor-director Rakshit tells Showtime.
“Association with the right people from other industries boosts the film’s prospects. The word of mouth spreads like crazy. It powers the film’s box-office performance in the first weekend. Also, when you make a film like ‘777 Charlie’, which has been shot with a dog for 167 days, you can’t remake it. There are dog lovers all over the world. That’s the reason we thought of taking it to all languages. I think this is the future,” he explains.
The cost of production in the Covid era has gone up. The only way to recover it and make a profit is to expand the film’s visibility, says B Suresha, who is bankrolling Darshan’s ‘Kranti’. “Pan-India success depends on how the market behaves that day. We can’t entirely depend on the previous records of a superstar. ‘Roberrt’ would have entered the Rs 100 club if not for the Covid-induced lockdowns,” he reasons.
‘Kranti’ is being planned with Darshan’s star status in mind. ‘”Yajamana’ ran for four weeks in Ahmedabad and Delhi and three weeks in Lucknow. We didn’t even dub the film. People watched the original. So there is a target audience available and the numbers have increased post the success of ‘Roberrt’,” he points out.
Positioning of the product is important, points out a senior producer. “Right from the trailer, the film should be positioned in the right way to interest the non-Kannada audience in the film. Also, Sandalwood must consistently strive to release its films outside Karnataka. The Telugu industry would release just one film (morning shows) 25 years ago. Today, a film like ‘Pushpa’ gets 200 screens in Karnataka. That’s the result of consistency,” he explains.
“Last year, ‘GGVV’ and ‘Badava Rascal’ got a good share of screens in neighbouring states. “The Tamil market is the toughest to breach. But we have opened the doors for ‘Pushpa’ with 200 screens then we must convince them to welcome our films too,” says Suresha.
‘Vikrant Rona’ could add more layer to Sudeep’s career, who now has a reputation of being a terrific character artiste and antagonist in non-Kannada films, apart from being one of the biggest stars of Sandalwood.
“He has a reach very few people have. You cannot ignore that and you can’t ignore his core audience,” says the film’s director Anup Bhandari.
“Sudeep’s fans will get something extra special that they haven’t seen in a regular film. The story of ‘Vikrant Rona’ offered Sudeep a chance to perform as well as maintain his aura. It helped that both of us were on the same page. Sudeep sir told me to retain the story but make the product bigger,” he says.
Jayathirtha’s ‘Banaras’, a love story, has impressed popular marketing teams of Mumbai. T Series has offered a whopping Rs 3.5 crore for its music rights. “Arman Malik, who gave his voice for one of the songs, was impressed with how Banaras was portrayed,” says Jayathirtha. The fact that there are no big stars yet the film’s motion poster was compared with ‘Radhe Shyam’ reflects the filmmakers’ efforts.
R Chandru’s underworld drama ‘Kabzaa’, with Upendra and Sudeep, is also aiming to be a nationwide success.
Big release
The biggest film of the year is undoubtedly ‘KGF: Chapter 2’.
The film’s success will inspire more pan-India products from Sandalwood. But only better planning will help the industry be recognised further outside Karnataka.