Kannada films performed well in the northern belt this year.
Kannada cinema has not given any pan-India successes, like last year’s Kantara and KGF, in 2023.
The year 2023 was a great one for Kannada cinema. The industry was finally able to compete with its Tamil and Telugu counterparts and churn out large scale pan-India movies. Kannada films even performed well in the northern belt. The year 2022 was even more special for the industry. One of the biggest Indian blockbusters from last year was the Kannada film KGF: Chapter 2. Apart from this, Kantara, 777 Charlie and Vikrant Rona also did very well all over India in 2022. This massive scale success was not carried to this year comparatively. Kannada cinema has not given any pan-India success in 2023. Kabzaa, which starred Upendra, had upped fans’ expectations but the film failed at the box office. There were some films that did reasonably well. Let us take a look at some of them.
Daredevil Musthafa
The film is based on Poornachandra Tejaswi’s short story of the same name from Abachurina Post Office. It starred Shishir Baikady and Aditya Ashree. What the film lacked was big stars, but it compensated with good content. The film did reasonably well, emerging a sleeper hit. The Karnataka government also granted tax exemption to Daredevil Musthafa.
Toby
Raj B Shetty is known to startle viewers with his out-of-the-box and intense films like Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana. He did it once again with Toby this year, where he played a mute character. The film received critical acclaim as well. It also did reasonably well at the box office and was also dubbed in Malayalam.
Garadi
This Yogaraj Bhat-directed film starred Yashash Suriya in the title role and revolved around the traditional sport of wrestling in Mysuru. The movie received mixed reviews and did average business at the box office.
Ghost
Shiva Rajkumar’s Ghost released amidst much anticipation and fanfare. The action heist film was a blockbuster, earning Rs 300 crore worldwide against a mere Rs 15 crore budget. It received positive reviews.
Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side A and B
Rakshit Shetty spearheaded this film, which was released in two parts, labelled Side A and Side B. Newcomers Rukmini Vasanth and Chaitra Achar gained much attention in this film. The film won praise from critics for its grounded performances by the leads, background music, and genuine depiction of love. It was also praised for its visual poetry storytelling. It was a big hit.
Bad Manners
This Duniya Soori-directed film starring Abhishek Ambareesh was also a sleeper hit at the box office.
