Duniya Suri is undoubtedly one of the most talented filmmakers here. He’s one of the few technicians who treats cinema like a visual medium and takes care of the aesthetics on-screen. “Duniya”, a run of the mill tale struck a chord thanks to his interesting characterisation and narrative. Today the film has a cult following and it’s proven in the fact that when fans meet him they don’t mention his second film, “Inthi Ninna Preethiya” but rave about “Duniya”. His second film too had a promising premise and the first half was riveting. It was all downhill in the second when the hero who loses the girl he loves starts worshipping Bacchus and never recovers. It was self indulgent with Suri borrowing generously from his personal experiences. The film was a disaster but the industry bigwigs did not lose hope. Rockline Venkatesh’s faith in Suri’s abilities is unshakable. “I’ve seen plenty of newcomers but this guy has the ability to take Kannada cinema places,” says Rockline Venkatesh, who’d signed Suri immediately after watching “Duniya”. Rockline’s muhurath’s are never a grand affair so Suri has quietly started the shooting the film titled “Junglee”. The chirpy Aindrita is the heroine. The ubiquitous but gifted Rangayana Raghu of course plays a key character. Vijay whose career nosedived after “Duniya” thanks to indiscreet choice of films desperately needs a hit too.
“Kuselan” is a con job and as predicted is a box-office disaster. Fans and distributors alike are livid with the director for marketing the film as a full-fledged Rajnikant starrer. The superstar right from the beginning had been reiterating that his was just a guest appearance but nobody was in the mood to listen. Distributors in Tamil Nadu have banned Kavithalaya pictures, the producers, till they are compensated. They have urged Rajni to intervene and arrive at a settlement. I call it a con job because the film with a budget of less than ten crore rupees was sold for a whopping sixty crore. The main culprit is the director P. Vasu who shouted himself hoarse claiming the film would have all the ingredients of a usual Rajni film. Theatres wore a deserted look on the second day. Fans were disappointed with Rajni contradicting himself about his political ambitions. Rajni requested the director to cut the offending portions but it was too late. Now the ball is in the superstar’s court. Large hearted that he is he’ll probably forego his remuneration in a bid to compensate the aggrieved.
On the other hand, the distributors ought to be taught a lesson by making them realise that it’s their greed that’s led to their downfall. The unrepentant director Vasu still lives in a world of his own with statements claiming that “Kuselan” should have been called ’Kuberan’ but distributors I’m sure would love to rechristen him “Kamsan”.
S. SHIVA KUMAR
sshivu@yahoo.com
