Chapter 1 ..  Kannada Film Industry during Yash entry & raise to his stardom before KGF

85 years old Kannada Film Industry when around 10 years back was celebrating its platinum jubilee celebrations under one stage in the year 2009 it never dreamt of reaching 100 crore club or the man who makes this feat achievable will be the then just entered film industry with 2 films old which was female centric [ Jambada Hudugi & Mogina Manasu which also fetched him best supporting actor film fare award ] struggling but ambitious actor Naveen Kumar aka “Yash” with no godfather or filmy background  but came with theater & television background & family was humble middle class.

By this time Kannada Film Industry saw all struggling, high , low , pre and post madras [ Chennai ] phase and lost many stalwarts of the industry including thespian Dr Rajkumar, Shankarnag , Puttana Kanagal etc but what remained constant or challenge to the industry was stiff competitions from other languages films releasing in Karnataka which was no other industry faced.

And already Kannada film industry witnessed game changer film of 2006 -2007 blockbuster “ Mungaru Male & Milana “ which had broken many records as one is longest running film in Multiplex after industry shifted from single theaters to Multiplexes era.

Though these films drew lot of attentions from non kannadigas and other film industries and Indian Diaspora leaving aboard as a ray of hope but post this lot of mediocre or below average films dominated in Kannada industry with rush of lot of new comers only to get instant fame and money with no proper guidance or trainings affected the path.

Year 2008-2009 was very game changer not only in Indian Film scenario but on Global Entertainment Industry

Kannada actor Sudeep made his Hindi debut with Ram Gopal Varma Phoonk followed by Raan in which shared screen space with Amitabh Bachan.

Since first 100 crore club of Indian film industry was officially declared as Aamir Khans “ Ghajini” released in Christmas 2008.

“Slumdog Millionarie” sweeping all major awards across globe and India got  Academy, BAFTA etc for A.R.Rahaman & Resul Pookuty.

Christmas 2009 Hollywood film “Avatar 3D” which holds still highest grossing film worldwide suddenly changed the paradigm shift for demand of larger than life films and digital demand and Global Film Industry was set as Pre & post “Avatar”.

This disruptive digital technology tempted many to enter to entertainment industries and audience was also access to all kinds of world cinema at finger tips on their smart phones & digital platforms and many rose to themselves from audience to critics.

Now coming back to Kannada films “ Yash” on the other hand slowly cementing his career from film to film but undercurrent laying new foundation to take kannada films to global level.

What was unique about him was his dedication to work & was never in hurry to sign films and did not show any insecurities in his career by doing only one film at time and increasing his stardom from film to film so far in span of his 10 + years film career done around 20 films including around two guest roles with most maximum success ratio and though done only two remake films  from tamil of year 2011 “ Kirathaka” and 2013 “ Rajahulli” but need to admit these two films also made huge impact in rising his stardom especially to grow fans base and made to follow his signature dialogue from Mandya Dialect of “ Anna Thama” [ elder & younger brother ] as trademark by all.

All the big stars and hit films was still within Karnataka release except very few releasing outside state and country in negligible manner and still continuing with huge competitions & domination from all other languages in the state. And now with all Multiplexes & Digital service providers like QUBE & UFO in the state dominating & operations mainly from North India it was pathetic conditions & step motherly treatment for Kannada films with in state was widening.

On the other hand all super star of Hindi film industry like Aamir , Salman, Shah rukh khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn & film maker Rohit Shetty etc from film to film delivering 100 crore plus and created a benchmark in film fraternity ,trade pundits and audience started gauging film success from traditional all kinds of  jubilees , 100 days to 100 crore , week end & 1 week collections , domestic and overseas break ups.

This slowly transformed to South Indian film Industry and other regional films and Telugu Film stars like Mahesh babu , Allu Arjun,Ram Charan , Jr NTR , film maker SS Rajamouli  also started delivering 100 cr films and Super stars like Rajnikanth , Kamal Hassan ,Vijay , Ajith and film makers like Shankar , AR Murgadas , KS Ravikumar in Tamil Industry.

During 2011 & 2012 with Introduction of Celebrity Cricket League [ CCL ] and South Indian International Movie Awards [ SIIMA ] which brought all 4 South Indian & Hindi film together as annual event made lot of knowing each other and their works ,bonding and supporting each other industries which growing over the years.

Year 2012 Sudeep as antagonist starrer “Eega” in Telugu with SS Rajamouli Direction made him national sensation and got him respect from other film industries

But still for Kannada film industry this feat was out of reach but suddenly in year 2013 a disruptive film “ Lucia” again made revolution in Kannada film industry. One of first officially crowd funded film directed by Pawan Kumar on moderate budget of INR 50 Lakhs initially planned to have direct home & DVD release but with premier and winning best audience choice award at London Indian Film festival had a Distributor Jayana of Jayana combines backed and had theatrical release which initially had audience mainly from working class sector from IT BT sector , college students and social media played vital role in production, marketing , distribution and success of the film.

This film was also released in other state metro cities and many parts of world mainly in USA and Europe region with English subtitles and professional marketing and tasted its success and became a case study film across Indian Film Industry and many Business and Management institutes which opened door to many content driven films with new comers minimal budgets mainly from IT BT and NRI backgrounds.

Year 2014 Kannada film industry in beginning saw a entry of Hombale films with producer Vijay Kigandur film with Puneeth Rajkumar’s “ Ninindale” which failed to meet the expectations of box office and fans later month surprise blockbuster from first time director “ Prashanth Neel with Actor Srimurali “ Ugram” who was before that had a series of unsuccessful films and year end Christmas saw another blockbuster from another first time director Santosh Anandraman with Rocking Star Yash who was already delivering consecutive hits followed with “ Mr & Mrs Ramachari” which in year 2015 continued its dream run to end up as all time highest grossing film of Kannada film Industry and swept all major awards in that year.

So now common connecting points in year 2014 which lead to birth of KGF can be seen…

First time Producer Vijay Kigandur & Directors Santosh Anandraman & Prashanth neel blockbuster entry and Yash becoming National & NRI Diaspora Sensation by staring in all time highest grossing film of Kannada film industry “ Mr & Mrs Ramachari”….

….next inception, execution and global phenomenon of “ KGF” in chapter 2 soon

Ajay.K.R