Was it too street smart?
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Uppi's Parodi has hit rock bottom, and the Kannada film industry has a project manager who is busy lending a corporate touch
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Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.
BAD DAYS Uppi's uninspiring rhetoric mouthed in a monotone is irritating
"Parodi" is a box-office disaster and it deserves to be. It's the remake of an old hysterical Nana Patekar starrer, "Krantiveer". Scrounging for DVDs of old hits is a malady that seems to afflict everyone. It's thought to be an easy option for the brainless. Instead of labouring over a script send a DVD to the hero and get a go ahead. Here the producers must have convinced Uppi that the closest anybody can get to be as manic as Nana is him. Uppi's performance falls flat. The uninspiring rhetoric is mouthed in a monotone that's irritating. Sai Prakash is the kind of director signed by people like Upendra and Ravichandran because he sits in the sidelines while the heroes call the shots without taking the blame when the film sinks. I hope the failure of this film serves as a bitter lesson for producers trying to take the easy way out. There is plenty of young talent waiting to be tapped.
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It's a popular concept in Bollywood but a first in Kannada cinema. Anish an MBA with an advertising background calls himself a project manager. He handles the media, publicity and also tying up with brand names to promote the film, which in turn will serve as publicity for the film. He's offended when you call him a glorified PRO. "I give a project report and advise the producer about marketing and publicity strategies. If a multinational gives something like 20 lakhs to publicise his product it lessens the burden of the producer budget wise," says Aneesh. He's done a few films and in the pipeline are projects like "Luv Kusha" and "Kshana Kshana". It definitely lends a corporate touch to the Kannada film industry.
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Two hero films suddenly seem to be in vogue. "Luv Kusha" was launched with a song recorded by music director Guru Kiran. The film stars Shivraj Kumar and Upendra and will be directed by Sai Prakash. "It's an original subject," assures the producer as if in self-defence. These two stars come together after "Preethse" which was a hit. There's the remake of "Pithamahan" starring Upendra and Darshan. A little bit of shooting is left. Then there's the local version of "Ishq" which starred Ajay Devgan and Aamir Khan. Darshan and Aditya are the stars. "Kshana Kshana" the do or die comeback vehicle for Sunil Kumar Desai is nearing completion. People who've sneaked a peek at the labs are excited. The stars are Aditya, Vishnu and Prema. Desai falls back on familiar ground, the thriller.
Then there's the Nagathihalli Chandrashekar venture, "Mathadu Mathadu Mallige" starring Vishnu, Suhasini and also Sudeep. The films talks about the ills of globalisation and the withering weather pattern across the world.
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FICCI has decided to honour Kamal Hassan with the title, "Living Legend". The sad thing is that while most newspapers gave very little prominence the hyperactive paparazzi chose to ignore it. I can imagine how they would have trampled upon each other even if the most undeserving of Bollywood personalities had been conferred the same honour. While we choose to ignore our best the art of thrusting greatness upon the most ordinary of talents has to be learnt from the Bombay press.
S. SHIVA KUMAR
sshivu@yahoo.com
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