One of the most awaited movies of the year, Yash-starrer KGF, hit movie halls, across the globe, on 21 December. Competing with Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero and Dhanush’s Maari 2 in Tamil Nadu, movie-goers can look forward to a movie bonanza this weekend.
KGF sets the record for several firsts. It is the first Kannada movie to be released in five languages at the same time – Malayalam, Telegu, Tamil, Hindi and Kannada. Made at a whopping budget of Rs 80 crore, it could be well on its way to becoming one of the biggest Kannada films ever made.
Single screen cinema halls and multiplexes alike, were booked out in anticipation of the film. It also marks protagonist Yash’s first movie after a gap of two years. And he has come back with a bang.
With stunning visuals and larger-than-life sets narrating a hero’s tale, KGF has drawn understandable comparison with Baahubali. But Yash explains how KGF is in a league of its own.
Q: Do you think this is going to be the biggest Kannada film ever made?
Let’s hope it will be the biggest Kannada film, in terms of collection, in terms of business. Yes, we can say that because of the budget and the kind of visuals we have achieved. But, I just hope, that we get bigger and bigger as time goes by. But as of now, yes, we can say that it is biggest till date.
Q: The set and scale of the movie looks massive. How much effort went into it?
That’s a big story. But I think it’s all about the technicians’ excellence. It starts from the director, the director is a wonderful guy, he has such massive vision and his making style is unique, its more international. So, it’s a complete mass entertainer. Cinema, I believe, it has its own language and that language is very, very strong in this film.
“We wanted to achieve something very big and show what we are capable of. It’s a visual treat.”Yash
Q: The film has been compared to Baahubali a lot. Did the success of Baahubali inspire you to go for such a large-scale project?
Yeah. Did it encourage us? Yes but definitely its not a by-product of Baahubali’s success. We had this kind of plan. We wanted to make a big film for our industry, take it outside and present it in our own language. But Baahubali changed a lot of things for Indian cinema. Rajamouli, I think, he changed the whole Indian film industry. I have to give that credit to him. After watching Baahubali’s complete model, we thought, yes it is a wonderful model, we have to dub in max languages and present in their respective language. KGF is KGF, its different in its own way, so I don’t think we should compare both the films.
Q: Why do you think Kannada movies are yet to achieve that level of national success or be appreciated nationally?
No, that’s because we haven’t gone and tried anything like that. When people say Kannada industry is a small industry, I always used to be really angry. No industry is big or small, the people who work there make it big or small.
Kannada industry has huge potential, there are wonderful technicians, wonderful actors. Even in our past, there were a lot of wonderful directors who have done world-class work. Its just about going there and trying new things, coping up with the present trends. We had to do it. And we have done it now. Lets hope it turns out to be good.
Q: You’ve also got the support of Bollywood bigwigs like Farhan Akhtar, who has partnered for the movie. This must be a huge confidence boost for you.
Yeah, I think its very important to have a right association when you’re going pan-India. So, Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani and Excel entertainment is one such team. They are very well known producers there and they are very established there.
“It all also happened because of Rajmouli sir. So, he had put a word to everybody. He also contributed a lot, he also helped us. Its all about good film and good craft. He really appreciated our work and that also kind of helped. If you really want to achieve something, everything will fall into place. We had to go out and show the rest of the world what the Kannada film industry is capable of.Yash
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