New wave Kannada films changing the cinema game

Last year, Raam Reddy's Thithi enjoyed the international limelight. It also won numerous awards - including the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada at the 63rd National Film Awards. Celebrities from Francis Ford Coppola, an American film director and Aamir Khan to Anurag Kashyap – raved about and recommended it. 

 

Another big movie by Pawan Kumar- U-Turn, which didn't have any big stars or a large budget, got an international premiere. The film was also shown in Europe and Australia. The movie was also the first Kannada film on Netflix. Pawan's first successful movie Lucia was the first Kannada film to be crowd-funded - which created a new trend in Sandalwood.

 

 

With the same formula, some more films were released and rocked the Kannada Box-office. Movies like Godhi Banna Sadharana Maikattu, Rama Rama Re, Ricky, Karvva and Last Bus, among others. 

 

So we can say, there is a 'new wave' brewing in Kannada cinema. Surfing this new wave are young filmmakers, actors, script writers. Interestingly, most them are without filmi connections. Almost none of them have formal film training. 

 

Some of the frontrunners of this new wave are actor/directors like Rakshit Shetty, Shanvi Shrivastava, Rashmika Mandanna, etc. They have won Kannadigas hearts and have also brought a change in the mindset of the audience.

 

 

And they are taking different paths towards cinema as well. In an interview, director-actor Rakshit Shetty said that he wanted even storytelling to be different. 

 

"I chose to narrate the plot in a non-linear manner. I didn't want to spoon-feed the viewers. I wanted my audience to think and connect the dots in the story," he said, 

On the other hand, director Pawan Kumar feels that mindless commercial films with item songs and regular masala, still do better than the new-age films. Kumar said, "These new-age movies are getting recognition thanks to social media. My target audience was between 18 and 35 because they are very active in social media." 

 

 

He also added, " I've been noticing that many youngsters go by the recommendations from those on social media especially Facebook even though they may not have seen the trailer or poster of the film." 

 

Last not the least; the great news is that now the tables have turned 360 degrees. Other film industries have taken an interest in Kannada movies. Tollywood actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who watched 'U-Turn', wants to remake the film in Telugu and Tamil. 

 

The remake rights of Hemanth Rao's Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu was purchased by Prakash Raj, who wants to make it in other South Indian languages and is even taking it to Bollywood. 

 

D Satyaprakash's Rama Rama Re will be made in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam and the movie Last Bus was bought over by a Telugu producer.