H2O (2002 film)

H2O
Film VCD cover
Directed by N. Lokanath
Rajaram
Produced by P. Dhanraj
Written by Upendra
Starring Upendra
Prabhudeva
Priyanka Upendra
Music by Sadhu Kokila
Cinematography H. C. Venugopal
Edited by T. Shashikumar
Production
company
Dhanaraj Films
Release date
  • 29 March 2002 (2002-03-29)
Running time
 134 minutes
Country India
Language Kannada, Tamil
Budget ₹70 million[1]

H2O in Kannada, H2O Kaveri in Tamil is an Indian bilingual film directed by debutants N. Lokanath and Rajaram. The film was produced by Dhanraj under Dhanraj Films. The film's script was written by Upendra who stars in the lead role with Prabhu Deva, Priyanka Trivedi along with Babu Mohan, Sadhu Kokila and Bank Janardhan portraying supporting roles.

The film's plot revolves around the fight between two villages, as an metaphor to the Kaveri Water issue became controversial upon its release and did well at box-office. The film's cinematography and editing was handled by H. C. Venugopal and T. Shashikumar respectively. The film was dubbed in Telugu under the same name.

Cast

Production

The film's script was initially written in 1998 for Dr. Rajkumar and Rajinikanth who both refused to do the film due to the sensitive nature of the film.[2]

Soundtrack

Sadhu Kokila composed the music for the film. The lyrics were written by Upendra.

#TitleSingersLength
1Hoove HooveKavita Krishnamurthy5:50
2Bida Beda Bida BedaHariharan, Upendra5:06
3Kandavideko MamsavidekoShankar Mahadevan5:53
4I Wanna see my darlingRajesh Krishnan, Pratima Rao5:22
5OK OK OKGurukiran5:49
6Dil Ilde LoveUpendra5:43

Reception

H2O was Upendra's return to the big screen after a hiatus of 2 years. Upon its audio release, a record number of audio cassettes and CD's were sold. The film created a new record and went on to do a business of more than ₹1 Crore through audio sales. Soundtrack numbers like "I Wanna see my darling", "Hoove Hoove", "Naa ninna bidalare", "Bida Byada", and "Dil Ilde" went on to top the charts.[3]

Themes

H2o is a triangular lovestory between a Kannadiga and a Tamilian vying for the love of a girl called Kaveri, it is actually a metaphorical reference for the river Cauvery dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Upendra noted that he compared the issue to Siamese twins "tried to communicate that harmonious living is the only suitable solution to the Cauvery dispute, rather than fighting over it."[2]

Release

Controversy

The film became controversial due to its content as the activists from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu demanded the film to be banned. Upendra was forced to compromise by dubbing Tamil dialogues in the film into Kannada and vice versa, to appease linguistics sentiments on both sides. Scenes containing flags of political parties were deleted, before its re-release.[2]

Critical reception

The film received highly positive reviews upon release. Critics applauded the way Upendra had managed to narrate a sensitive matter like the Kaveri River water dispute in a commercial way.[4]

Box-office Performance

H2O completed 50 days of run in 28 theaters across Karnataka and also went on to complete 75 days of run in Bangalore, despite controversies and release in excessive number of theaters playing spoilsport. H2O was a 'Semi Hit' at the box office.[5][6] Although a commercial success,[7][6] it turned out to be the least running film of Upendra till then in terms of long run by completing only 75 days of run. This was very less compared to his previous films like A (1998), Upendra (1999), Preethse (2000), all of which had completed more than 175 days of run. Unlike other Upendra films of that time, H2O could not get a long run at the box office mainly due to negative controversies and temporary ban on the film.

However, irrespective of its under-performance, the distributors and exhibitors made huge business from H2O.[8] Even though the distributors of H2O earned huge profits and the film's collections were on par with other hit films of that time,[9][10] it was termed as a flop by the media because of the film not reaching expectations. Producer Dhanraj went on a strike against Upendra demanding free call-sheet from him, stating that he had suffered huge losses from the movie.[11]

However, H2O continues to remain in the 'Hit' status among some section of the media and box office analysts.[9] Rajaram, one of the directors of the film, mentioned in an interview that "H2O had a successful run at the box office, although the product couldn’t reach the mass properly baked, for so many other reasons".[5] In an interview with TV9 in 2011, Upendra denied that H2O was a failure. According to Upendra, the film got extra ordinary openings and collections at the box office, but could not get a long run beyond 75 days due to excessive release, mass distribution and controversies playing spoilsport. Upendra explained that a major chunk of H2O's profits went to the distributors and exhibitors instead of the producer due to mass distribution and flawed marketing by the producer.[12]

Though the movie is a triangular lovestory between a Kannadiga and a Tamilian vying for the love of a girl called Kaveri, it is actually a metaphorical reference for the river Cauvery dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The core-concept of the movie was re-used in the controversial 2016 Marathi movie Marathi Tigers - which incidentally was a triangular lovestory between a Marathi and a Kannadiga vying for the love of a girl called Seema (which literally means border)- thereby metaphorically referring the border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Riti, M. D. (4 January 2001). "Prabhu Deva in a unique tap dance!". Rediff. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/tale-of-love-and-water/article3959807.ece
  3. ↑ "Witty words for Upendra-Prabhudeva starrer". The Music Magazine. ourkarnataka.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  4. ↑ "H2O". sify movies. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
  5. 1 2 "H2O Director Rajaram Interview".
  6. 1 2 "P Vasu Interview".
  7. ↑ Lakshminarayana, Shruti Indira (7 July 2011). "Two Kannada films will fight it out this weekend". Rediff. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
  8. ↑ "Behind the curtains". The Hindu. 2 September 2004. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
  9. 1 2 "H2O — Kannada film discussion".
  10. ↑ "Title unknown". dhoperchop.com. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
  11. ↑ "H2O travails continue for Dhanraj". The Hindu. 28 May 2002. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
  12. ↑ "Upendra explains that H2O was a decent hit". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
  13. ↑ http://www.zeetalkies.com/reviews/marathi-tigers-movie-review.html
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