How can small films survive in Sandalwood?

Orchestra Mysuru

Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage

In the recent Kannada film Thurthu Nirgamana, a scene inside a movie theatre is highly relatable. An inebriated man, woken up from sleep by the protagonist, says casually about the film he is watching: “This is a fresh attempt in Kannada. It’s part of a new movement in Sandalwood. But, there are no people in the theatre.”

Hemanth Kumar, the director of Thurthu Nirgamana, reasons why the scene is a reflection a of challenging scenario in the Kannada film industry. “Post the pandemic, the audiences’ behaviour has changed. It's not encouraging for rookie filmmakers attempting to make ‘concept’ films,” he tells Showtime.

Last year, Kannada cinema cracked the pan-India code with three high profile films — KGF: Chapter 2, Charlie and Kantara — breaking box office records. The successful year seems to have spurred a trend of big-scale periodicals featuring established stars. They are a big draw in theatres, as witnessed in 2022.

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Amidst such an atmosphere, what happens to small-scale films that focus more on the content than formula? Are the Kannada audiences keen on watching interesting experiments?

“A strong word of mouth for the film in the first week is a good sign,” says director Sridhar Shikaripura. His Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage is an engaging thriller built with an interlinked screenplay. The film, which depends heavily on coincidences, is about how all hell breaks loose when characters from four sub-plots come together one night. A critics’ favourite, it completed a 25-day run in theatres.

“It takes at least Rs 50 lakh to market a film,” reveals Sridhar, talking about the arduous task of reaching the masses. “We have to rope in social media influencers and digital marketing team to promote our film,” he says.

Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage stars rising actors like Naveen Shankar and Aishani Shetty. It stays away from a familiar template for a commercial film. So was it easy for the makers to to strike a deal with the distributors? “It’s not difficult to find distributors but only the right ones will arrange a healthy number of theatres for your film,” explains Sridhar.

Sridhar throws light on how producers play a key role in the tough competition for screens. “As per their rule, a multiplex will remove the film entirely or lessen its screens if it fails to collect Rs 1 lakh in the first week. That’s when an influential producer can negotiate with the multiplex officials and ensure his film survives for another week. We faced this problem when 'Avatar' released and we haggled a lot to retain some screens,” he says.

Industry insiders say filmmakers arrange for a set of people — who are called ‘fillers’ — to fill the halls if their film is underperforming in the first week.

The makers of ‘Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage’ are aiming to strike an outright OTT deal instead of opting for a pay-per-view model as it doesn't pay much dividends. “Because of how our industry was talked about last year, people outside Karnataka are interested in Kannada films. I got a call from a Writer’s Association in Mumbai asking if I would be interested in joining them. They were impressed by my film’s trailer,” says Sridhar.

Positioning films

Hemanth wrote Thurthu Nirgamana with the hangover of Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu (2016), a well-made new-generation film. That year, it appeared as if the industry was taking an interesting turn when people flocked to theatres to watch content-oriented films such as U-Turn, Karva and Thithi.

Times have changed and audiences are extremely complicated to understand, admits Hemanth. Thurthu Nirgamana is about what happens when a dead man gets a chance to relive his last three days. The fantasy drama, starring Sunil Raoh, Sudharani, Achyuth Kumar and a host of noted actors, is a palatable film that balances its abstractness nicely with the emotional quotient.

“We slipped in the way we positioned our film. Instead of promoting it as a sci-fi fantasy drama, we should have called it a family drama. The family crowd is huge but our idea was to attract the college and the IT crowd, who could have then convinced their family members to watch our film. Of course, you have to read between the lines to understand the intention of the film. We thought we will get brownie points for that but we were proved wrong,” explains Hemanth.

People, post pandemic, have begun to classify films as ‘theatre’ and ‘ott’ watches. “We put a lot of thought and effort into making a film like Thurthu Nirgamana a visually pleasing’ experience. You can’t dismiss it off as an ‘OTT watch’,” says Hemanth. Such results dent the confidence of passionate filmmakers. "If the same amount of people who are praising the film after watching online had seen it in theatres, we would have perhaps made profit," he says.

Sunil Mysuru, who made Orchestra Mysuru, echoes Hemanth’s thoughts. “I wanted to give the audience a memorable musical in theatres,” he says. Film buffs, who cold shouldered the movie in theatres, have now lapped it upon on the OTT space. Karthik Gowda, who distributed the film via KRG Studios, had expressed how he wished people had shown more love for the film in theatres.

“The film didn’t do well in theatres for a combination of reasons. Some complained about the runtime but I had to flesh out the dynamics and politics of orchestra business, which people do not know,” justifies Sunil.

Big films doing well augurs well for Sandalwood but one hopes the industry finds a way to balance the success of high profile films with small gems.