BANGALORE: With an investment of approximately Rs 125 crore, Sandalwood saw around 72 films hitting the screens in the first six months of 2014. And the film that was a surprise box office success happened to be Sri Murali’s Uggramm, followed by Chiranjeevi Sarja’s Chandralekha, Sudeep’s Maanikya and Yash’s Gajakesari, which marked cinematographer Krishna’s debut as a director. The year so far has also had its share of duds with flops like Malashree’s Gharshane and Paaru W/o Devadas. Unfortunately, the much hyped Ninnindale starring Puneeth Rajkumar too did not hit the right chord. Upendra’s Brahma managed marginal profit.
The year’s first half also saw actor Rakshit Shetty turning director with Ulidavara Kandante - a film which created much buzz before its release but could not survive for long at the theatres. However, the film got mixed responses and the actor-turned-director was appreciated for his approach.
Remakes ruled the roost with Maanikya, Oggarane, and the recent Drishya. Maanikya pulled in the crowds because of the Ravichandran and Sudeep combination. Ravichandran was able to bring back his trademark magic with his other film Drishya directed by P Vasu. However, Krazy Star, directed by him, did not do well.
But Prakash Raj was able to charm the audience with his remake of the Malayalam film Salt N Pepper. The film Oggarane, which was released in three languages, was given a thumbs up by the audience. Preetham Gubbi’s Dil Rangeela and P Sathya’s Shivajinagara created an initial buzz but were later declared as average earners. Ramesh Aravind’s Mahashiva Harallaya received mixed responses.
Major flops included Darling, Mathe Sathya Graha, Nage Bomb, Navarangi and Malli. These films could not manage to run for more than a week. But the highlight of the first six months was P Seshadri’s December 1, which received a National Award.
Prashanth Neel, director of Uggramm says, “I had seen Ulidavara Kandante and I absolutely loved the movie. I know why it is a wonderful film and also why it didn’t work out. For me, Ulidavara... still remains the best film in the first half of the year. Uggramm is more of a mass-oriented sort of a film and it took a lot of people, who never expected a film like this from an actor like Sri Murali, by surprise. The film, which initially did not have too many expectations attached to it, worked to our advantage and people came out of the theatres feeling wowed. The biggest thing was that it made it to the multiplexes and ran for 100 days. The last movie that ran for 100 days was Mungaru Male.”
Bitter first half
A major controversy to hit Sandalwood this year is the dubbing issue which erupts frequently over the idea of films from other languages being dubbed in Kannada. It created some misunderstanding between a few actors and producers. Other than that, films like Buguri and Dheera Rana Vikrama hit the limelight because of the game of musical chairs involving actresses.
Ramya and Jaggesh got into a Twitter war, which did not solve the problem for Vijay Prasad’s Neer Dose. The director is yet to find a solution after Ramya gave up on the project. Hemanth Hedge’s Nimbehulli too had its own troubles. Pooja Gandhi’s Abhinetri has been facing legal hassles with one author claiming that the film is based on her book. Pradeep Varma, who conceptualised Gulaabi Street, could not take the dream forward because of issues with his producers. He is now looking for an investor.
Off screen, Ragini Dwivedi’s wardrobe malfunction at the SIIMA (South Indian International Movie Awards) in Dubai is still going viral on the Internet.
Looking forward
The audience is waiting films like Shivarajkumar’s Aryan, Puneeth Rajkumar’s Power *** and Darshan’s Ambareesha. This apart, films that have been creating a buzz are Abhinetri, Nanda Kishore’s Adhyaksha starring Sharan, Suni’s Bahuparak starring Kitty and Meghana Raj, Uppi’s Supperro Ranga, Manjina Hani by Ravichandran and Raghuram’s Fair & Lovely. H D Gangaraju, president of Karnataka Film of Chamber of Commerce, says, “As per reports, only the producers of the film Gajakesari have earned profit and around five to six films have got their investments back. Sadly, 80 per cent of the films were below average and did not meet the audience's expectations. The second half looks brighter with some big films scheduled for release. We hope to have more hits.”