BANGALORE: Come July, Kannada cine buffs will have an opportunity to watch two Kannada films — Ontimane and Kabaddi — that went to the sets for more than two years ago. It’s been so long since the film was being made that the lead actress Sriraksha, meanwhile has had a baby and is a busy new mother while Vinod Alva, who plays an important role in the film could very well have forgotten about the film itself. Ontimane was stuck due to financial and other problems. Its director, YS Vittal Rao, is still pinning high expectations from the film. Layendra, the brother of Sadhu Kokila, is the music director for this film.
The other film Kabaddi hit the sets with a bang two years ago. Its director Narendra Babu has claimed that he had worked on its script for more than two years. Kishore, who earned a name with films Rakshasa and Dhuniya, is one of the heroes while Hamsalekha has provided the music.
It was all smooth between director Babu and the lead hero Kishore when the project started. However, when Kishore acting in the Tamil film Vennila Kabbadi Kuzhu, some differences started cropping up between them. Babu accused Kishore of backstabbing because there are similarities between Kannada Kabaddi and the Tamil film. He even alleged Kishore of supplying contents of Kabaddi to the director of Tamil film Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu.
As if this were not enough, Babu even had trouble with music director Hamsalekha. He claimed that Hamsalekha has demanded more remuneration than the amount fixed while accepting the assignment. It was said that Babu was ready to dump Hamsalekha in the middle of the film and opt for another music director to complete the re-recording.
Now that the film is finally seeing the light of day, Babu claims that he has had no problems with either Kishore or Hamsalekha. Ask him why he had criticised Kishore a few months ago and he says, “I want to forget those incidents and focus on the release of Kabaddi. As of now, I have no problems with Hamsalekha who has created and excellent score for the film.” Babu says he has watched the Tamil film in question. “I do not want to comment on the similarities between the two films at this juncture. You have to watch the both the films to find out for yourself. I will make arrangements that the media can watch both the films,” he says.
To which somebody advised Babu that it would be better if he focussed on the release of Kabbadi rather than make arrangements for screeing of the Tamil film.
Everyone associated with Kabbadi is hoping that the film will finally release on schedule, that is on July 3.