Kannada films set new record: 99 films in 6 months!

The emerging figures are of any indication, then Sandalwood is shrugging off its tag of being a 'small industry' compared to the illustrious ones in

Kollywood

and Tollywood. The

Kannada

industry may still not match up the neighboring biggies, but the new figures are highly encouraging. Sample this: A record 99 films '93 Kannada and six Tulu movies ' have already been released this year. In just six months, a whopping Rs 500 crore has been invested in Sandalwood. According to industry sources, the annual turnover, which is in Rs 250-300 crore range, is expected to increase manifold.

With six months still remaining, 2016 is turning out to be the biggest in terms of both investment and turnover. On Friday, four more Kannada films are scheduled for release ( Home Stay, Jigarthanda, Lakshmana, Rakta Sashana) and Homestay will have the honour of being the 100th release. Says film publicist Sudhindra Venkatesh said, "The numbers both in terms of films released and investment broke all records. Today, even a film with newcomers costs a minimum of Rs 3.5 crore. Films of top stars have budgets around Rs 18-20 crore. So on an average, we can safely say that the total investment so far this year is around Rs 500 crore, if not more."

Jayanna, one of the biggest distributors and producers in the industry, says, "There is no doubt that around Rs 500 crore has been invested in the industry so far. The revenue will be around half of that -- at around Rs 250 crore. But that is a normal thing in the film industry where half the films would not even recover the money spent on posters. Five per cent of the films recover their cost and another five per cent make profits."
THE TIDE IS TURNING

The last two months have been particularly good for Kannada films, with four films by newcomers or relative newcomers going strong at the box-office. "Kharva, Godhi Banna Saadarana Maikattu, Thithi and U-Turn, which did not feature big stars or with newcomers, have turned out to be hits. In Kannada, it used to be said that no film without a star would earn money. And a new star emerged only once in five years. But these four films have proved that good films with newcomers can do wonders. This trend was first seen in Tamil Nadu. It is good to see it catching up in Karnataka. Among the big stars, Shiva Rajkumar's

Shivalinga

has turned out to be the biggest hit. The investment on films is set to rise further. Sudeep's

Hebbuli

and Yash's KGF which went on the floors recently are both touted as having the biggest ever budget for a Kannada film. Either way, both of them will add substantially to the investment in Kannada films, adds Jayanna.

Jayanna says the cost of making films are growing substantially. "Films made on shoe-string budget, that is below Rs 2 crore, have also done well. But overall, the cost of making films is going up. By the end of this year, it needs to have at least Rs 25 crore to make a film with big stars," says he.

Only around 10 out of the 99 films may have made money, but Jayanna says many more could cross the margin only if their satellite rights are sold. "The TV telecast market for Kannada films are at an all-time low. Many more than those 10 films would have recovered their investments if their satellite telecast rights were picked up by TV channels," he says.