Exclusive! Kranti producer Shylaja Nag: 'Doesn't matter if it's Pathaan or a even Salman Khan film...'

In a recent chat with OTTplay, Shylaja Nag spoke about the magnitude of a Darshan starrer and how exhibitors seek out his films.

Can Darshan's Kranti match the Pathaan mania?

For producers Shylaja Nag and B. Suresha, the opportunity of working with a reigning superstar like Darshan is a bit of a departure. The real-life married couple began its journey more than two decades ago with the latter's directorial Artha (Nag serving as the co-producer along with S V Shivakumar) and forged a full-fledged relationship as producers later in 2008 with Abhaya Simha's national award-winning film Gubbachigalu. With Media House Studio serving as the banner, Shylaja Nag and B. Suresha would go on to back many ventures that essentially belonged to the arthouse or parallel cinema category.

In 2019, however, Media House Studio made a stark change in its agenda by collaborating with someone of the stature of Darshan Thoogudeepa. The film in question is Yajamana, a bona fide mass entertainer that boasted every commercial element that one associates with the unique genre. The producers, though, took things in stride and marched on unapologetically, reaping the benefits that come with a Challenging Star venture and also forging a strong work relationship with the superstar in the same vein. Cut to 2023, Media House Studio is back with yet another, or perhaps even bigger, collaboration with the DBoss himself called Kranti. With V. Harikrishna, another vital cog in this machinery, too, back at the helm, the team is now looking at setting new benchmarks in the Kannada Film Industry.

However, Kranti's road to success might see a blip in the way in the form of a certain Hindi film called Pathaan. Pathaan is pitted against Kranti at the box office and although both films have strikingly dissimilar target audiences, one does wonder if the Shah Rukh Khan starrer can cause any harm to Kranti in Karnataka.

"To be honest, the team doesn't feel any threat at all. Kranti is a full-fledged Kannada film and Karnataka is the main focus area. And I can say it with a lot of confidence that it could be Pathaan or even a Salman Khan film but none of those can match a Darshan film in Karnataka. And even Darshan sir knows that but he is too humble to admit that - every exhibitor would obviously want a Darshan film," said Shylaja Nag in an exclusive chat (dating back to December of 2022) with OTTplay.

But with Pathaan being no ordinary film either, has team Kranti rethought its release strategy? "No, not at all. In fact, I would say that team Pathaan has to change its strategy. I don't mean this in an arrogant way but that is how the industry works," she adds.

Kranti is all set to breach box office records on January 26th and the advance ticket sales of the film, too, suggest something similar. The film has already managed to sell more than 1.5 lakh tickets ahead of the release and collected approx. Rs. 3.75 crores. Pathaan, on the other hand, is off to a thumping start and is said to have grossed more than Rs. 50 crores in advance bookings alone.

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