“Love Mocktail”, which came out earlier this year, was released to comparatively less fanfare as the lead actors Krishna (popularly known as Darling Krishna) and Milana Nagaraj, were not so popular. Add to that, their last few films failed at the box office.
The trailer for the film was released by Sudeep and had some good moments, however, all of this failed to generate hype for the movie, resulting in the film opening with poor numbers at the box office.
Even though the film received good reviews, non of this translated into an increase in footfall.
By the second Friday, after the film was released, only Sharada theatre in Bengaluru was screening the film! Movie buffs who watched the film were disappointed with the response the film was getting and decided to take matters into their own hands.
When people say word of mouth is the biggest form of publicity for any film, they are not joking. The movie buffs took to social media and began promoting the film on their own. Stars like actor Sudeep and Raghu Dixit, who also composed the music for the film, also requested the people to watch the film.
All this seemed to work as, during the second week, the film started running to houseful theatres on even the weekdays. By third week, the film got so many shows and all were running to a packed theatres- single screen and multiplexes.
Bharath, a techie from Basaveshwarnagar, told Newskarnataka.com, “I watched the film in Veerabadreshwar in the second week. Such was the popularity of the film, that it ran there for weeks, which is a rarity nowadays. The theatre management had released Vijay Devarakonda’s ‘World Famous Lover” at around the same time. However, due to pressure from the fans and poor response to the Telugu film, they gave more shows to ‘Love Mocktail’. I watched the film thrice in the same theatre.”
The biggest takeaway from the film was that it is a very simple story. The film also doesn’t have many characters. We never even saw the character, Aadi’s parents in the film! It is clear that the film was made with dedication and extreme planning.
Dialogues and screenplay were the biggest plus points for the film. People were whistling and clapping for the dialogues, which usually happens for films that feature big stars. There was never a dull moment and even in the last few minutes, where people were expecting a tragic ending, it was not dragged much. All of these factors made the film a hit with the audiences.
Krishna, who made his debut as a director with this film, wanted success badly. The same was the case for his co-star Milana Nagraj, whose character Nidhi was loved by all, and who also produced the film. The two are a couple in real life.
Music composer Raghu Dixit is known for his independent songs. However, in Sandalwood, he has not been able to get the same fame. The team consisted of frustrated individuals who wanted to prove a point. And what a way they proved it.
The film rose like a phoenix from the ashes of obscurity.
There were many reasons why the film had a poor opening. The situation is very bad for small budget films right now, as the audience thinks twice before coming to theatres due to high ticket prices. With films coming on digital platforms within a month or two, people are shying away from coming to theatres.
If the film’s team had marketed the product more, it would have got more audience in the first week itself. However, like they say, all’s well that ends well.
The film was released on Amazon Prime, even though it was still running successfully in theatres. Krishna revealed that he decided to sell the digital rights a week after the release, as the film was out from most of the theatres. He had not imagined that it would do so well from the third week.
With Amazon Prime, the film got more fame. Not only Kannadigas, but non-Kannadigas have also loved the film. Now with the lockdown in force in the country, people have all the time to catch up on films on the various digital platforms.
Hard work and dedication mixed with good luck worked in the film’s favour. The makers have not announced the film’s collections yet, however, sources close to the team have revealed that the film made huge profits as it was made on a shoe-string budget. With satellite rights and digital rights adding the cherry to the cake, Krishna and Milana are a happy couple indeed.
The biggest lesson which the audience should learn from this film is that we must support good films. Kannada audiences are known as the most intelligent when it comes to film viewers, as we always support good films. A film featuring a new star can beat the collections of a film featuring a popular star. This is a rarity in other film industries, which are star-driven. However, this keeps happening in Sandalwood.
“Love Mocktail” was lucky enough to find an audience from the third week. But that will not be the case with all good Kannada films. With so many releases in all languages, theatres and multiplexes have plenty of options. If films do not do well in the first weekend, they are removed from the first Monday itself. This is the situation right now and it is high time that the audience supports good Kannada films right from the first weekend.
Jack Manju, who distributed the film, would have gained more money if the film had collected as expected in the first two weeks. As multiplexes give more share for the first two weeks to distributors, “Love Mocktail” failed in this aspect. From the third week, multiplexes made more money than the distributors.
Krishna surely needs to take a bow for his dedication. Milana Nagaraj also deserves applause for standing like a rock beside Krishna. The film has surely revived the careers of these two and it is now up to them to continue the same in the future. They have also inspired many, who will be encouraged to do a good content-realistic film. Meanwhile for those, who have still not watched the film, please do watch it on Amazon Prime right now.
