“One’s ultimate ruination is in filmmaking,” claims a possibly apocryphal Tulu saying. If there's one group that would sneer at that contention, it is the handful of Tulu filmmakers who are desperately hoping that their upcoming releases will impress the box office.
The most recent cause for hope is Chaali Polilu, a comedy that completed a 100-day run across cinemas in Mangalore and Udupi on February 7. Chaali Polilu's success has rekindled hopes for a fledgling fraternity that has consistently failed to produce films that can make money or win many awards. In Mangalore and Udupi, where Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam, English and Tamil movies dominate screens, Chaali Polilu has been an overwhelming success, kindling hopes that the Tulu film industry might become a reality. After all, Tulu is spoken alongside Kannada in Udupi and Mangalore in coastal Karnataka. The region has a population of 31 lakh and almost 100% literacy.
After running on 11 screens, including at three multiplexes in Mangalore and Udupi and a weekend show in Mumbai, Chaali Polilu has earned in excess of Rs two crore on an investment of Rs 50 lakh.
Chaali Polilu (Rascals) is about three troublesome boys, Pandu, Manju and Damu, who grow up to be small-time but intelligent crooks. Like all Tulu films, Chaali Polilu is faithful to a formula inspired from Tulu theatre: slapstick comic skits in the first half are followed by song and dance sequences and plot developments in the second.
I met Prakash Pandeshwar the day Chaali Polilu hit the 100-day mark at his office in Mangalore. When he isn’t making films, 50 year-old Pandeshwar is the editor of an incendiary Kannada publication, a real-estate developer and a dealer in information technology. Over a two-hour chat, we discussed everything from the Red digital camera, the challenges in transitioning from theatre to cinema, production design, a shortage of models who can dance in item numbers, real estate in Mangalore and the triple murder case in which he was the lead suspect.
“Rival eveningers tried to portray me as some sort of mafia don,” Pandeshwar said. “They said I was part of 12 murders. The courts held me innocent. I never wanted an image like that.”
Pandeshwar said that he had always dreamt of “acquiring everything, fancy watches, a big house and cars, and being a film star”. His businessman father died when he was eight, leaving the large family in dire financial straits. Pandeshwar stopped his education in the tenth standard and started trading in smuggled goods. Over time, he has emerged as a wealthy businessman with varied interests. Veerendra Shetty Kavoor, the 34 year-old director of Chaali Polilu, previously worked at Pandeshwar’s newspaper Jaya Kirana. In 2012, Kavoor decided to make a comedy-based film. With a cinematographer and an editor brought in from Kerala, Chaali Polilu was completed in a little over two months.
An entertaining film
“Chaali Polilu is not a great film, but it’s an entertaining film,” Pandeshwar said. “I have achieved everything that I wanted to with the film. Now my avenues have opened up. If all goes well, I may launch my son in Malayalam or Kannada films as well.”
The biggest reason for the film's spectacular success is that it stars four of the biggest stars from Tulu theatre: Devdas Kapikad, Naveen Padil, Bhojraj Vamanjoor and Aravinda Bolar. All these performers have their roots in Kapikad’s theatre company Chaparka, which has produced such legendary plays as Bale Cha Parka (Let’s Have Some Tea) and Pudar Deetijji (Yet to Be Named). Kapikad has been, for at least three decades now, a household name in Tuluva households in Udupi, Mangalore, Mumbai and the Gulf countries that are home to large numbers of Tulu-speaking migrants. Productions such as Bale Cha Parka have had 75 shows a year in neighbourhoods such as Borivali and Matunga in Mumbai, where everyone from labourers in Udupi restaurants to Bunt entrepreneurs to underworld dons (erstwhile and current) are loyal patrons of Tulu theatre.
Tulu plays are still quite popular enough among Tuluva expats in West Asian countries. There is a Kapikad fan club in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, for instance. The 53 year-old thespian’s acting skills have not lost on producers of films in other South Indian languages. Kapikad had to recently excuse himself from a Kamal Hassan film being made by a director from Bengaluru because he could not commit bulk dates to the production.
“Our Tuluva brethren have toiled hard to establish themselves in Bangalore, Mumbai and Gulf countries,” Kakipad said. “It feels incredible to receive such love and admiration in Muscat or Dubai, to listen to our people tell me that they forget the alienation in a faraway land when they watch or listen to our plays through cassettes or CDs.”
The popularity of the four biggies (Kapikad, Padil, Vamanjoor and Bolar) prompted director Saikrishna Kudla to cast the same team in the latest Tulu potboiler Soombe – a meta-comedy about making a Tulu film ‒ which hit the theatres three weeks ago.
The arrival of two films within a two-month gap is a flood compared to the steady trickle that constitutes Tulu cinema. Since the first Tulu film Enna Thangadi (My Sister) was completed in 1971, only 54 films have been released. The number of registered titles that never see the light of the day is embarrassingly high. Among the main culprits for the failure of most movies are pedestrian story-telling and production values. The exceptions include 2007’s Koti Chennaiya, an exploration of the region’s celebrated folk heroes Koti and Chennaiya, and 2011’s Oriyaddori Asal, an adaptation of a stage comedy.
Last year proved to be epochal for the scene, with seven decently performing releases (Pakkilu Mooji, Barke, Nerel, Narayana Guruswamy, Rang, Chaali Polilu and Madime). However, there is no case to be unduly optimistic: anti-dowry drama Madime was released at the same time as Chaali Polilu, but it didn’t set any cash registers ringing.
Tulu cinema includes such risk-taking adventurers as Richard Castalino, a restaurant owner who decided to try filmmaking on a whim in 1974 with Nyaayagaad Enna Baduku (My Life Dedicated to Justice). The gamble paid off. His 1993 movie Bangaar Patler earned him not just commercial success, but also a National Film Award for the Best Tulu Film.
Bangaar Patler also set the bar high in terms of production values. Castalino went on to produce and direct six Tulu films and a documentary, apart from directing a film each in Kannada, Konkani and Kodava. He also produced music for several Tulu films.
Castalino is now 71. He retains his sharp sense of humour despite a bypass surgery. “Our actors want every shot in close-up, they are worried their neighbours won’t recognise them,” he said. “My work begins at that level.”
Murder and the movies seem to go well together in the Tulu filmmaking scene. Castalino says he supposed to be a music producer for a film in Mysore, but ended up funding it after its original financier was murdered. “That’s how it all began,” Castalino said.
Tulu films have the potential to “entertain people, have notable artistic value and still make money if the investment is just around Rs 25 lakhs-Rs 30 lakh”, he added. “I made a children’s festival within Rs 7 lakhs,” Castalino said. “It’s possible. Let me get back my health. My latest movie is still in production.” Another risk-taker who considerably expanded the scope of Tulu cinema is KN Taylor, who died on March 17. Taylor produced five films at a time when breaking even was considered a dream.
The absence of a robust marketing set up and “the shortage of daring producers like Richard Castalino and KN Taylor” is responsible for the state of Tulu cinema, said Tamma Laxmana, a 63 year-old theatre personality who worked as the production designer on Nyaayagaad Enna Baduku and is also the unofficial historian of the film industry. “The audience in Udupi and Mangalore are educated people and are open-minded about films,” added Laxmana, who has handled production design for 25 Tulu, Kannada, Konkani and Kodava films in the last 20 years. “We see Tamil and Malayali films even if we do not understand the language. However, one has to ensure quality. Chaali Polilu provided the comedy and it’s a success.”
A remarkable change in the past year has been the willingness of Bangalore-based Kannada film producers to invest in Tulu films. The ease in wrapping up a movie with a couple of months and the untapped market for releases present lucrative opportunities, say insiders. But more than Bangalore money, directors hope that Tuluva biggies from Mumbai, such as actor Suneil Shetty, will invest in Tulu films and prove that there's no truth to the proverb about the relation between filmmaking and ruination.
The most recent cause for hope is Chaali Polilu, a comedy that completed a 100-day run across cinemas in Mangalore and Udupi on February 7. Chaali Polilu's success has rekindled hopes for a fledgling fraternity that has consistently failed to produce films that can make money or win many awards. In Mangalore and Udupi, where Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam, English and Tamil movies dominate screens, Chaali Polilu has been an overwhelming success, kindling hopes that the Tulu film industry might become a reality. After all, Tulu is spoken alongside Kannada in Udupi and Mangalore in coastal Karnataka. The region has a population of 31 lakh and almost 100% literacy.
After running on 11 screens, including at three multiplexes in Mangalore and Udupi and a weekend show in Mumbai, Chaali Polilu has earned in excess of Rs two crore on an investment of Rs 50 lakh.
Chaali Polilu (Rascals) is about three troublesome boys, Pandu, Manju and Damu, who grow up to be small-time but intelligent crooks. Like all Tulu films, Chaali Polilu is faithful to a formula inspired from Tulu theatre: slapstick comic skits in the first half are followed by song and dance sequences and plot developments in the second.
I met Prakash Pandeshwar the day Chaali Polilu hit the 100-day mark at his office in Mangalore. When he isn’t making films, 50 year-old Pandeshwar is the editor of an incendiary Kannada publication, a real-estate developer and a dealer in information technology. Over a two-hour chat, we discussed everything from the Red digital camera, the challenges in transitioning from theatre to cinema, production design, a shortage of models who can dance in item numbers, real estate in Mangalore and the triple murder case in which he was the lead suspect.
“Rival eveningers tried to portray me as some sort of mafia don,” Pandeshwar said. “They said I was part of 12 murders. The courts held me innocent. I never wanted an image like that.”
Pandeshwar said that he had always dreamt of “acquiring everything, fancy watches, a big house and cars, and being a film star”. His businessman father died when he was eight, leaving the large family in dire financial straits. Pandeshwar stopped his education in the tenth standard and started trading in smuggled goods. Over time, he has emerged as a wealthy businessman with varied interests. Veerendra Shetty Kavoor, the 34 year-old director of Chaali Polilu, previously worked at Pandeshwar’s newspaper Jaya Kirana. In 2012, Kavoor decided to make a comedy-based film. With a cinematographer and an editor brought in from Kerala, Chaali Polilu was completed in a little over two months.
An entertaining film
“Chaali Polilu is not a great film, but it’s an entertaining film,” Pandeshwar said. “I have achieved everything that I wanted to with the film. Now my avenues have opened up. If all goes well, I may launch my son in Malayalam or Kannada films as well.”
The biggest reason for the film's spectacular success is that it stars four of the biggest stars from Tulu theatre: Devdas Kapikad, Naveen Padil, Bhojraj Vamanjoor and Aravinda Bolar. All these performers have their roots in Kapikad’s theatre company Chaparka, which has produced such legendary plays as Bale Cha Parka (Let’s Have Some Tea) and Pudar Deetijji (Yet to Be Named). Kapikad has been, for at least three decades now, a household name in Tuluva households in Udupi, Mangalore, Mumbai and the Gulf countries that are home to large numbers of Tulu-speaking migrants. Productions such as Bale Cha Parka have had 75 shows a year in neighbourhoods such as Borivali and Matunga in Mumbai, where everyone from labourers in Udupi restaurants to Bunt entrepreneurs to underworld dons (erstwhile and current) are loyal patrons of Tulu theatre.
Tulu plays are still quite popular enough among Tuluva expats in West Asian countries. There is a Kapikad fan club in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, for instance. The 53 year-old thespian’s acting skills have not lost on producers of films in other South Indian languages. Kapikad had to recently excuse himself from a Kamal Hassan film being made by a director from Bengaluru because he could not commit bulk dates to the production.
“Our Tuluva brethren have toiled hard to establish themselves in Bangalore, Mumbai and Gulf countries,” Kakipad said. “It feels incredible to receive such love and admiration in Muscat or Dubai, to listen to our people tell me that they forget the alienation in a faraway land when they watch or listen to our plays through cassettes or CDs.”
The popularity of the four biggies (Kapikad, Padil, Vamanjoor and Bolar) prompted director Saikrishna Kudla to cast the same team in the latest Tulu potboiler Soombe – a meta-comedy about making a Tulu film ‒ which hit the theatres three weeks ago.
The arrival of two films within a two-month gap is a flood compared to the steady trickle that constitutes Tulu cinema. Since the first Tulu film Enna Thangadi (My Sister) was completed in 1971, only 54 films have been released. The number of registered titles that never see the light of the day is embarrassingly high. Among the main culprits for the failure of most movies are pedestrian story-telling and production values. The exceptions include 2007’s Koti Chennaiya, an exploration of the region’s celebrated folk heroes Koti and Chennaiya, and 2011’s Oriyaddori Asal, an adaptation of a stage comedy.
Last year proved to be epochal for the scene, with seven decently performing releases (Pakkilu Mooji, Barke, Nerel, Narayana Guruswamy, Rang, Chaali Polilu and Madime). However, there is no case to be unduly optimistic: anti-dowry drama Madime was released at the same time as Chaali Polilu, but it didn’t set any cash registers ringing.
Tulu cinema includes such risk-taking adventurers as Richard Castalino, a restaurant owner who decided to try filmmaking on a whim in 1974 with Nyaayagaad Enna Baduku (My Life Dedicated to Justice). The gamble paid off. His 1993 movie Bangaar Patler earned him not just commercial success, but also a National Film Award for the Best Tulu Film.
Bangaar Patler also set the bar high in terms of production values. Castalino went on to produce and direct six Tulu films and a documentary, apart from directing a film each in Kannada, Konkani and Kodava. He also produced music for several Tulu films.
Castalino is now 71. He retains his sharp sense of humour despite a bypass surgery. “Our actors want every shot in close-up, they are worried their neighbours won’t recognise them,” he said. “My work begins at that level.”
Murder and the movies seem to go well together in the Tulu filmmaking scene. Castalino says he supposed to be a music producer for a film in Mysore, but ended up funding it after its original financier was murdered. “That’s how it all began,” Castalino said.
Tulu films have the potential to “entertain people, have notable artistic value and still make money if the investment is just around Rs 25 lakhs-Rs 30 lakh”, he added. “I made a children’s festival within Rs 7 lakhs,” Castalino said. “It’s possible. Let me get back my health. My latest movie is still in production.” Another risk-taker who considerably expanded the scope of Tulu cinema is KN Taylor, who died on March 17. Taylor produced five films at a time when breaking even was considered a dream.
The absence of a robust marketing set up and “the shortage of daring producers like Richard Castalino and KN Taylor” is responsible for the state of Tulu cinema, said Tamma Laxmana, a 63 year-old theatre personality who worked as the production designer on Nyaayagaad Enna Baduku and is also the unofficial historian of the film industry. “The audience in Udupi and Mangalore are educated people and are open-minded about films,” added Laxmana, who has handled production design for 25 Tulu, Kannada, Konkani and Kodava films in the last 20 years. “We see Tamil and Malayali films even if we do not understand the language. However, one has to ensure quality. Chaali Polilu provided the comedy and it’s a success.”
A remarkable change in the past year has been the willingness of Bangalore-based Kannada film producers to invest in Tulu films. The ease in wrapping up a movie with a couple of months and the untapped market for releases present lucrative opportunities, say insiders. But more than Bangalore money, directors hope that Tuluva biggies from Mumbai, such as actor Suneil Shetty, will invest in Tulu films and prove that there's no truth to the proverb about the relation between filmmaking and ruination.
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