5 Factors Which Made 'A' a classic trend in the Kannada Cinema

Upendra's every directorial film is eagerly awaited by the Kannada industry as he comes up with a different style of making and has a knack for surprising everyone with his thoughts and ideas. Be it any film from 'Tharle Nan Maga' to 'Uppi2' he has sent the audience into frenzy mode after watching the film as his films are not spoon-feeding to the audience need to watch the film with rapt attention giving work to their brains and such film in Upendra's cinematic career was 'A' released in 1998 January and completes 25 years.

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With 'A', the Kannada cinema saw the birth of Upendra, the actor too so its also 25 years of actor Upendra who went on to do diverse and versatile roles in Kannada cinema.Apart from writing and directing 'A', the film was a debut as an actor also for Upendra, who tasted huge success as an actor and went on to become one of the leading stars of the industry to date. The audience immensely loved Upendra's eccentric body language laced with natural acting and spewing bold dialogues on society and humanity.

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The film 'A' is a love story between a director and an actress narrated through multiple flashbacks within flashbacks and reverse screenplay. Upendra showed the dark truths of cinema such as the casting couch and the screenplay was appreciated to a huge extent by moviegoers and critics back in the day. In 'A', Upendra dealt with a unique concept of telling 'A' story in the reverse screenplay which confused the audience very much, making them watch the film again and again. The tagline of the film 'Only For The Intellectuals' trick triggered the egos of the audience who saw the film as a challenge; they will understand the film on first watch but were left confused somewhere in the story.

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The dialogues of 'A' went on to become a huge hit with the audience and made the audience come back to the theatres on repeat viewing. The dialogues hitting out at the society, film industry, and dark truths of the world and humanity were written so boldly questioning the norms and mindsets of the people and world. The obsessive love story between a drunkard director and an arrogant heroine touched the hearts of the audience to empathize with the feelings of the protagonist Surya played by Upendra.

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The music of 'A' was composed by Guru Kiran, making his debut in the film and went on to become one of the leading composers of Kannada cinema. The songs of the film helped hugely as a calling card to the audience to make them come to theatres. 'Marikannu', 'Sum Sumne' and 'Chandini' were the biggest hits of the album. The team struggled to get audio companies to come forward to release the songs but after a long battle, the music was sold to a paltry sum and went on to create historic sales in the audio market those days.

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Right from the cast to the crew including the makers except for Upendra, everyone made their debut in 'A' giving everyone a big identity after the film went on to become a classic. From making the film to releasing the film, it was only hurdles and battles to finish the film and release. During the making of the film, the team faced problems to make the film on a shoestring budget and Upendra as a hero was a gamble to prove his mettle as an actor too. The crew had to bring out their creative talents in all the departments to give their best and bring on Upendra's vision perfectly on the screen. Before the release, the distributors and celebrities who saw the film, everyone gave up saying the film won't work and chided Upendra for making a confusing film. Later after the film was released, the film shut everyone's mouth who had given up on the film before the release.

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