“Santhu Straight Forward” is releasing this week and it is undoubtedly the biggest film of the year. The film which stars lovebirds Yash and Radhika Pandit has generated huge hype. The film which falls under romcom genre is making all the right news now in Gandhinagar. Releasing in large number of screens, even after clash with “Mukunda Murari”, the film is expected to do record breaking opening.
Even before becoming stars, Yash and Radhika Pandit had worked together in a popular serial “Nanda Gokula”. They were good friends since then. “Santhu Straight Forward” is Yash and Radhika Pandit’s fourth film together. Here is a flashback journey of their first three films:
“Moggina Manasu”: This was the debut film of Radhika Pandit. She was the main female lead in the film. Yash played her lover in the film and was not seen in a full fledged hero role. This was also a huge break for Yash, as in the past he had a small role in “Jambada Hudugi”.
The film was directed by Shashank. The female-centric film got great response upon release. It was a time in Sandalwood, wherein love stories and rowdyism based films were ruling the roost. However this film, which was very different became a big hit. The songs in the film were a rage. Radhika Pandit became a household name after this film. She also won the Filmfare Best Actress Award. She was approached by top film makers to star in their films. However, Radhika was very cautious and wanted to act only in films, where she is not a glam doll, who will not have anything to do in the film. This dedication of her resulted in reaching this position.
Yash on the other hand did not gain as much as Radhika did with this film. He was recognised by the industry. He also won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award. But he had to struggle a lot, to reach the top position which he is in now.
“Drama”: The lovebirds were then cast in “Drama” in 2012 by popular director Yograj Bhat. This film can be termed as the most commercial film by Bhat, who is known for his love stories and philosophical films. This film was also very important for Yograj Bhat, as his last much hyped film “Parmathma” starring Puneeth Rajkumar was a flop venture.
Yash had become a bankable star when he was cast in “Drama”. He had given hits like “Kirataka”, “Jaanu” and “Modala Sala”. However, he had still not reached the top league of actors.
Radhika was ruling Sandalwood that time. With Ramya hardly doing films, she had no competition. She had also given many hit films by this time.
The pairing had created good buzz for the film. They were rumoured to be a couple that time, which added to the buzz of the film. Upon release, the film met with good response. The unique screenplay of Yograj Bhat did the trick again. The film was a super-hit. All the people associated with the film were happy from producer Jayanna to director Yograj Bhat. It also became the highest grosser in Yash’s career then.
“Mr & Mrs Ramachari”: The whole of Karnataka knows about this film. The film was being made by debutante director Santosh. The pairing of Yash and Radhika as title characters gained immense buzz. Jayanna was again producing the film.
Yash had already joined the top league of actors that time. He had given back-to-back super-hit films in form of “Googly”, “Rajahuli” and “Gajakesari’. Yash playing Vishnuvardhan fan, with a tattoo on his chest was loved by all.
Radhika Pandit was still the numero uno actress when she signed the film. Her pairing with Yash led to more rumours about their love life. But both the stars did not speak anything about their love life.
The film released during Christmas period. It had to face stiff competition in multiplexes as Aamir Khan’s “PK” was doing record breaking business in Karnataka. However, this film proved that a good Kannada film can beat any language film. “Mr & Mrs Ramachari” broke all existing box office records in it’s first week. It continued it golden run in succeeding weeks and became an industry hit in no time. It is still an industry hit and it’s been nearly two years, no film has come close to the lifetime collections of this film.
Yash proved that his name with good script can create wonders. The film did record breaking business in every place it released for a Kannada film. It reportedly did a business of around 50 crores gross, proving that there is a huge market for Kannada films.
It’s been two years since the release. Yash and Radhika are carrying huge responsibilities on their shoulders with “Santhu Straight Forward”. Their previous three films have done better business than previous films. So trade analysts are expecting the history to repeat. But it is not going to be easy. The film is clashing with a biggie “Mukunda Murari”. It is also said to be inspired by Tamil film “Vaalu”, which has led to some negative remarks by few. The music of their first three films were excellent. However, the music of “Santhu Straight Forward” is not so great compared to the three films. All these factors may impact the box office collections of the film.
However, the positive factors of the film is expected to take over the negative factors in the film. The film will surely take a grand opening. However, it will be the content which will play an important factor. If the film is well packaged with proper mixture of ingredients, there will be no doubt that it will be chasing an Industry Hit title.
