It has been a common phenomenon from the era of black and white classics in Sandalwood. Multi-star ventures have always been the star attraction for an audience and the more the number of stars in a film, the bigger the entertainment value. While movies of yesteryear primarily targeted the family audience, scripts were written with multiple lead characters which eventually lent scope to multi-star casting. Now, longer duration films and sensible plots have paved the way.
The trend has time and again re-surfaced and at present, the multi-starrers are raining heavily with a handful having been released recently and a handful in the making. Bengaluru Chronicle reports.
“Within a span of a year or more, there have been several multi-starrer Kannada films which have released. The main reason behind this trend is that the star heroes are willing to work along with other star heroes including senior star actors leaving their stardom behind to play special cameo roles. This is, indeed, a healthy trend in a film industry which thrives on collective effort. A few years ago, there was speculation and gossip about ‘star’ wars in the industry, which did nothing but harm the industry,” says Aravind, a film director.
One of the biggest multi-starrer ventures to go on the floors in the recent years is director Prem’s The Villain where both Century Star Shivarajkumar and Kiccha Sudeep share the screen for the first time. Following several reports alleging that ‘all was not well’ with both the actors, they later came out in the open, refuting every rumour and eventually signed their first film together. Though an earlier film titled Kali was launched with both actors in the lead by director Prem, it was shelved and The Villain was announced. Now, the shooting is nearing completion.
Filmmaker Santosh says that not all such films become reality, as it involves huge budgets. “Despite several actors being willing to work in a film, the huge budget and managing the dates of stars is a challenge. It needs the immense will of a dedicated producer and enough financial backing. For instance, a mythological drama like Munirathna Kurukshetra which is touted to be made on a whopping budget needs a steady flow of finance and an actor’s determination to complete. Moreover, the director has to be prepared for anything.
The 50th film of Challenging Star Darshan — Munirathna Kurukshetra stars Crazy Star Ravichandran, Rebel Star Ambareesh, Action King Arjun Sarja, Sneha, Hariprriya, Julie Lakshmi, Shashikumar, Nikhil Kumar, Sonu Sood, Ravishankar, Remya Nambeesan and several more.
“Senior star actors like Crazy Star Ravichandran and Shivanna are the driving force behind most of the recent multi-starrers. Not many such ventures prove successful at the box office but it helps promote bonding. Most often, it leads to sharing of ideas and creativity. The audience also loves to see their favourites actors share the screen with other star actors,” says film critic Sharan.
The MULTI LIST
The Villain, Munirathna Kurukshetra, Mass Leader, Chowka, Mukunda Murari, Mufti, Maanikya, Mungaru Male 2, Dayavittu Gamanisi, Mugulu Nage, Dodmane Huduga, Tarak, Happy New Year, Chakravarthy, etc.
