Director Tharun Sudhir
| Photo Credit: N Ravichandran/The Hindu

Kannada star Darshan began 2023 with a dud, but ended the year with a bang. After featuring in a templated and dull commercial potboiler in Kranti, he sprung back to form in the old-school yet entertaining social drama Kaatera. Released on the last Friday of 2023, the film left the actor’s fans overjoyed, while critics and neutral audiences found Kaatera to be an engaging and “different” Darshan movie. The film’s humungous success has firmly signalled the arrival of a quality commercial filmmaker in Tharun Sudhir.

Tharun’s previous film, Roberrt, also starring Darshan, was a blockbuster. With two hit ventures, the duo has now emerged as a combination to watch out for in the Kannada film industry. While Darshan trusts Tharun’s instincts, the director offers the star enough room to shine with scenes that do justice to his talent.

So, what was missing in Darshan’s previous films? “See, Darshan sir is good at action sequences. He has all the qualities to be a ‘mass’ hero. However, I felt filmmakers, in recent times, fell short in utilising his performing abilities,” says Tharun.

Darshan in ‘Kaatera’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

“To be honest, even in Roberrt, I was nervous to experiment because I was doing a film with a huge star for the first time; yet, I had scenes that brought out the actor in him. People were moved by his portrayal of a person with stammering issues. They praised his chemistry with the child actor in the movie. This response from fans encouraged me to write Kaatera’s script, which is content-oriented and focuses on Darshan’s performing skills.”

Having amassed over Rs 100 crore at the box office, Kaatera is in no mood to stop, reminding people of Darshan’s previous all-time blockbusters such as Sarathi and Krantiveera Sangoli Rayanna. Currently enjoying its third week of its release, the film continues to run to packed house in Karnataka. Exhibitors are celebrating the revival of movie halls in cities as well. Fans and the family crowd are even visiting theatres in tractors and bullock carts in rural areas of the state.

“Darshan sir has got a loyal fan base. Even during his low phases, they have firmly stood by him. But apart from that, general cinema-goers have found the film engaging,” reasons Tharun.

Kaatera is set in the 1970s, and deals with subjects such as land reforms and caste discrimination, as the film blends its message well with entertainment. “We wanted to make an intense film. If you have observed, we have cut down on the melodrama. The film has just three action sequences. We wanted the drama and the dialogues (from Maasthi Upparahalli) to come across as real as possible,” explains Tharun.

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The director also credits his co-writer, Jadesh K Hampi, for contributing to a tight script. “I must thank Jadesh for investing his time and creativity in this project. He is a filmmaker himself, yet he decided to work as a writer for this movie. Kannada cinema needs more such writers, and we must pay them well to encourage them to remain in the profession. The biggest advantage of a writer is that he or she helps the director to plan his or her film better. A writer fastens the filmmaking because the director can focus completely on his role,” he says.

Tharun feels the film’s success shows the power of old-school commercial entertainers. “Of course, you have to direct such stories with a modern touch. Cinema has always proven the adage, ‘old is gold’. We can never ignore our roots, or the traditional form of commercial cinema,” he signs off.