The year opened with Darshan hitting headlines on the personal and professional front.
Audience gave a thumbs up to the Challenging star for he set the cash registers ringing at the box office with Chingari earning approximately Rs 12 crore and his other movie, Kranti Veera Sangolli Rayanna doing Rs 20 crore business.
This is still running housefull in major cities and towns of Karnataka.
Though Darshan grabbed eyeballs as he was jailed for assaulting his wife Vijayalakshmi, he continues to hit the box office with back to back hits.
In fact, even behind bars, his movie Sarathi became the first hit of 2012.
Rumours of his alleged affair with the film’s heroine Nikita led to a fight between Darshan and his wife which finally landed him in jail.
His other movie, Kranti Veera Sangolli Rayanna - a film based on the life of a chieftain from Belgaum in Mumbai Karnataka region and a freedom fighter who bravely resisted the Britishers has been termed as the film of the year.
Realising the big fan support that he received by making his film Sarathi a hit when in jail, Darshan not only managed to broker peace with his wife Vijayalakshmi, but even sought a public apology for letting down his fans and assaulting the wife.
After being out of jail, Darshan has been making the right moves by connecting with his fans through his frequent promotional tours across the state besides projecting himself as a family man.
His wife even presented him with a Brit-make luxury sports car.
He is the lone star who has given back to back hits in 2012 and continues to challenge his fellow stars.
Another controversy which made headlines was Soorappa Babu’s complaint to Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce against Shivarajkumar requesting him to settle the `20 lakh paid to the star as advance for the film Varada which did not take off.
The producer had to apologise for using foul language against the father of Darshan, late Togudeep Srinivasa, which was recorded and uploaded on social media.
The news did not go well with Darshan’s fans who demanded strict action against the producer.
Later Soorappa Babu accepted his mistake and apologised.
The year ended with actor Pooja Gandhi’s break up with realtor Anand Gowda.
She then quit JD-S and joined KJP.