H2O (2002 Indian film)

H2O
Directed by	N Lokanath Rajaram
Produced by	P. Dhanraj
Written by	Upendra
Screenplay by	Upendra
Story by	Upendra
Starring	Upendra Prabhudeva Priyanka Upendra
Music by	Sadhu Kokila
Cinematography	H.C. Venu
Release dates	March 29, 2002 (2002-03-29)[1]
Running time	134 minutes
Country	India
Language	Kannada Tamil Telugu

H₂O is an Indian bilingual film (Kannada and Tamil) released in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in 2002.

Cast

• Upendra
• Prabhudeva
• Priyanka Upendra
• Babu Mohan
• Sadhu Kokila
• Bank Janardhan

Soundtrack

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

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.^[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.^[3]

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.^[4][5] Although a commercial success,^[6][7] 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.^[12] 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".^[13] 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.^[14]

References