JOIN USGanesh, golden boy of romance in Kannada films
In ‘Chellata’, Ganesh kickstarted his career as a hero in Kannada cinema with this dialogue: “Namskara, Namskara, Namskara.” Much before he tasted fame in the industry, he was familiar to Kannadigas as ‘Comedy Time Ganesh’, who greeted them with the same catchy line while anchoring the television show.
As ‘Chellata’ turned 15 on Wednesday, fans on social media reminisced about the time he arrived as a breath of fresh air in Sandalwood. The gigantic success of Yogaraj Bhat’s ‘Mungaru Male’ in 2007 turned him into a man with a golden touch, earning him the tag ‘Golden Star’ Ganesh.
He gave seven straight hits (‘Chellata’, ‘Mungaru Male’, ‘Hudugaata’, ‘Cheluvina Chittara’, ‘Krishna’, ‘Gaalipata’ and ‘Aramane’) to reignite the era of romance in Kannada in the late 2000s. Ganesh’s rapid ascent made his competitors insecure, with one of the superstars even expressing his displeasure over it in a television interview.
During his prime, Ganesh’s films were visually sumptuous. They brimmed with drama, attracting the family audience. His roles were quintessentially about youth and romance. Naturally, female fans swooned over him. Reports said many women threatened to commit suicide when he decided to get married.
His performances were marked by wit, articulate dialogue delivery, and a bottomless pit of energy. Ganesh’s success inspired many from the television field to nurture their tinsel town dreams.
With ‘Bombaat’, the law of averages caught up with him. The film was an attempt to provide Ganesh a mass image but failed terribly due to a plot that ranged from tedious to idiotic.
From 2010 onwards, Kannada cinema witnessed a small yet significant wave of new-generation filmmakers writing refreshing scripts. The audience also developed a liking for thrillers, a genre hardly explored by Ganesh. It appeared he had no qualms about being stereotyped and that triggered a downward slide in his career.
The failures of ‘Maduve Mane’, ‘Shyloo’, ‘Munjane’, and ‘Sakkare’ proved directors’ inability to write romantic dramas suited to the changing times. Ganesh’s acting never suffered in these films but his roles felt like clones of each other, offering nothing new to the filmgoers.
His venture into direction with ‘Kool’ turned out to be a disaster. The unimaginative script wasted efforts of terrific talents like cameraman R Rathnavelu and editor Anthony. The industry can be unforgiving about crumbled careers. So apparent was his decline that the poor quality of films like ‘Buguri’, ‘Style King’ and ‘Mr 420’ were dead giveaways from their posters themselves. Even remakes and a 'Mungaru Male' sequel couldn't bring him back to consistent form.
Between an array of substandard films, the success of ‘Shravani Subramanya’ and ‘Zoom’ held his career together. His strongest performance in recent years came in ‘Geetha’, 'Mugulu Nage' and '99'. Ganesh played an angry young man fighting to preserve his mother tongue and also a classy, committed lover in 'Geetha'. In '99' and 'Mugulu Nage', he brilliantly pulled off the familiar pang of heartache.
The films matched the effort and skills of the actor. The actor seems to have learnt from his failures but more needs to be done. Ganesh 2.0 can turn the clock back with a clever script selection and hunger for unique roles. It will be interesting to see if he is interested in collaborating with newcomers.
‘Gaalipata 2’ is a much-anticipated film. Nobody extracts exceptional performances from Ganesh as Bhat does. They had retained their magic ‘Mugulu Nage’, their third film together and fans are hoping that the sequel to the 2008-classic spurs the big comeback of a fine performer.
Ganesh’s journey so far
- Ganesh’s ‘Mungaru Male’ made close to Rs 50 crore at the box-office
- He has so far acted in 36 films as a hero
- He has won four awards
- His upcoming films are ‘Sakkath’, ‘Gaalipata 2’, ‘Tribble Riding’
- The actor’s only directorial film is ‘Kool’