A (Kannada film)

A is a 1998 blockbuster Psychological Kannada movie written and directed by Real Star Upendra^[1]. It starred Upendra and Chandni as the lead couple. The film was about an unusual love story between a film director and an actress which was narrated in an extremely different way through multiple flashbacks within flashbacks and reverse screenplay. The film also dealt with various dark truths of film world like casting couch. Due to the reverse screenplay of the film, the audience were forced to see the film multiple number of times to understand the story. The movie generated a lot of attention, which began with its rather unusual name. Then there was the subject matter, which dealt with the love affair between a director and his heroine and the dreaded casting couch^[2]. The movie discovered human emotions through a different dimension and showed how human emotions change with circumstances. The movie earned high praises from bollywood personalities like Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Kapoor^[3].

The movie was dubbed into Telugu and was a huge hit in Andhra Pradesh also and gave Upendra much recognition and fan following in Andhra Pradesh too. The film was remade in Tamil as Adavadi.^[4]

It was the first film of Upendra as a hero, as well as Gurukiran's first film as music director.^[5]

Cast

• Upendra
• Chandini

Reception

The film broke many records upon its release and became a trend setting epic blockbuster by grossing Rs 200 million.^[6] The movie brought in a new wave in Kannada film industry. New way of telling story and new ideologies were the trademarks of this movie. The movie attained cult status and Upendra became the real star of Kannada cinema. Upendra used famous Kannada poet G P Rajarathnam's wellknown poem 'Helkolokonduru' in one of the songs.

It was described by a reviewer as "loud and disjointed, like the ramblings of a delirious mind, but made a lot of sense".^[7] Its design also received some praise.^[8]

It provoked some controversy over anti-women remarks^[7] and was alleged to contain autobiographical elements^[9]

Soundtrack

References