Truly hatke

It is always the unusual that captivates. To entice an audience, this holds true in all forms of entertainment. Movie makers are proving to be no less than artists as they ceaselessly experiment on new ways to enthrall an audience. Yet, at times, they also tend to get stuck to fixed formulas as they guarantee success and commercial returns. However, there has always been experiments that thrive for a hatke experience, irrespective of the end result. Some have succeeded and some just made it to the record books for being unique and unusual. Recently, a silent movie Mercury starring a dancing sensation made a lot of noise, and now the renowned filmmaker Sunil Kumar Desai is drawing attention for his upcoming mystery thriller Udgarsha which has dialogues for only 20 minutes, even though the movie runs for more than two hours. It’s movie stills are also a topic of discussion in tinsel town. Bengaluru Chronicle reports on such  recent, hatke experiments.

“The classic silent film Pushpaka Vimana is among the most versatile and ageless example of a daring experiment that is still remembered for its making and impeccable performances, led by the multiple award-winning actor Kamal Hassan. Though, many films started the silent feature era and were shorter, eventually they switched back to talkies and full length films. Yet, when a silent film like Pushpaka, is made in an era where talkies rule the roost, it is in itself unique. It is an art, and there are endless and infinite ways to entice the audience. The best way is to do unusual, and be successful at it,” says film critic Subramanya.

Renowned film maker Sunil Kumar Desai is known for his daring ventures, and now returns with another one that limits dialogues Udgarsha. “The film runs to over two plus hours, and the dialogues are limited to just 20 minutes. The story is set in an apartment on new year’s eve. A 10 minute incident is made into a 2.30 hour movie, a first in the history of Kannada movies” says director Desai. He has even released a poster for Udgarsha that is garnering a great deal of attention.

The movie posters shows only hands, legs, the shadow of characters in the movie including close up shots of eyes with fearful expressions. The director in his precious venture Nishkarsha had shot the entire film within the premises of a high rise building, and for Tarka, it all happened in a house.

Some examples of such films in Kannada in the recent past have even made it to record books. “The film Actor starring Naveen Krishna involved only two characters, shot at a location for over 100 minutes. Whereas, Daksha directed by S Narayana was shot in a single take. While such films make news, most are rejected by the audience for their lack lustre end product,” explains director Shankar.

There are numerous films with multiple  directors, composers, actors, technical equipments, stunts that have tried to be different.

Actor Harish Raj created a record by portraying 16 different characters in the movie Shree Satyanarayana. Even Kiccha Sudeep is involved in one such unusual saga with the Police Story 3 which was shot within 12 hours involving 10 cameramen. The success percentage might be negative but such daring and unusual acts keep coming back in search of new ways to reach the audience.