The year 2015 was one of transformation and revelation for Sandalwood. Moving away from the conventional, there were movies, which succeeded not because the audience could get through them, but rather the films got through to the audience. Pathbreaking scripts, never-before-seen styles of filmmaking, simple but bold subjects, and crisp narratives overshadowed the usual success formula of star value.
Among the 131 films that released this year, one director who turned heads across the globe was Anup Bhandari with his debut Rangitaranga. The film elevated Sandalwood to a much higher pedestal with excellent support from Suri, Shashank, K M Chaitanya’s and B M Giriraj creative themes, Kendasampige, Krishna Leela, Aatagara and Mythri respectively. Director Naresh Kumar was welcomed with open arms for his comedy 1st Rank Raju. Sandalwood had another feather in the cap with Sanchari Vijay winning the National award for his role in Nanu Avanala Avalu. The film was directed by B S Lingadevaru. Ganapa, directed by Prabhu Srinivas, and Bombay Mittai did not have any expectations but had their rewards.
However, the series of box office collection did prove that star value is still not outrightly rejected. What started with Puneeth Rajkumar’s Rana Vikrama, Upendra’s Uppi2, Sudeep’s Ranna, Darshan’s Airavatha, Sriimurali’s Rathaavara and the recent Masterpiece starring Yash, the year ended on a positive note for the actors, their fans and even the producers.
Films with moderate success were Kushi Kushiyagi, Ramleela, Siddharata, Dove among others. While a few films did create some major controversies before its release but were also biggest let downs of the year. They were Upendra starrer Shivam directed by Srinivas Raju, Buguri starring Ganesh and directed by MD Sridhar, Yogaraj Bhat’s Vaastu Prakakara, PC Shekar’s Arjuna, Satish Pradhan’s Abhinetri, Priya Beliappa’s Ring Road Suma, Raate and Rocket among many others.
The year also brought in some new faces — Nirup Bhandari did create a craze with his debut Rangitaranga. Vinay Rajkumar made his entry into tinsel town with Siddhartha and joining him is another young talent Gurunandan with his debut 1st Rank Raju. We also had Anushree and Mayuri making a transistion from the small screen to the silver screen.