Baahubali; The Conclusion (2017) and now 2.0’s success proves that quality films from the South have pan-India appeal. And while the Kannada film industry is not as huge as Tamil or Telugu, director Prasanth Neel’s KGF: Chapter 1 appears to have pan-India appeal.
The film, which stars Yash and Srinidhi Reddy, is also being released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam dubbed versions. KGF is being released the same day as Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero, and the Hindi version is being distributed by Excel Entertainment and AA Films. The film has been launched as a franchise with a second chapter lined up.
Excel Entertainment released the trailer of the Hindi dubbed version. From the look, it does appears to an action drama that is likely to hold appeal for the masses across the country.
Neel has set his film in the 1970s, when the US-USSR Cold War hurt the economies of Third World countries like India.
Whenever there is war, or the threat of it, oil and gold prices tend to shoot up. Neel has based his story on the rise to power of a poor boy Rocky (Yash) who revolts against a powerful enemy who controls the gold mines of Kolar.
Starting off as a boy on the street, Yash goes on to challenge the mighty. He is no leader of a mass rebellion, however. He is a one-man army.
Drama, action, style, power-packed dialogues, romance, KGF has all the elements of the archetypal mass entertainer. Towards the end, Yash reminds you of Tony Montana firing in Scarface (1983). Some of the stuff may appear over-the-top, but that comes with the package.
Srinidhi Shetty plays Rocky’s love interest. In an action film like this, the heroine is always going to struggle.
With Excel Entertainment and AA Films as the distributors, the film has managed to create a buzz in the Hindi market too.
Watch the action-packed trailer of KGF below and let us know if you are looking forward to watching this film in the theatres.