Hombale Films' maiden production venture 'Ninnindale', starring Puneeth Rajkumar, turns 9

It was exactly nine years ago that Hombale Films, one of the country's leading production houses today, made its first strides towards glory. The Vijay Kirangandur-led banner ventured into the Kannada Film Industry with the Powerstar Puneeth Rajkumar starrer Ninnindale, which released on 16th January, 2014.

Written and directed by the popular Telugu filmmaker Jayanth C. Paranji, Ninnindale also starred Erica Fernandes who made her Kannada debut with the film. Jayanth Paranji, who was raised in Bengaluru in the Gandhinagar neighbourhood, had originally planned the idea behind Ninnindale to be a Hindi film but he eventually chose to make it in Kannada upon Puneeth Rajkumar's coaxing. In an interview dating back a couple of years, Paranji shared that although he hadn't watched many of Puneeth's films, he would go on to direct the film only because of the regard and respect he had for the Dr. Rajkumar family.

For Hombale Films and Vijay Kiragandur, Ninnandale marked the beginning of a remarkable run and although the film wasn't a major commercial success, the ambition and the rigour to try something new were quite apparent. Reportedly, Ninnindale was one of the first Kannada films to be shot for a stretch of 30 days in the U.S. and for Puneeth Rajkumar, the film was a stark departure from the usual commercial, hero-centric routine. However, by their own admission, Hombale Films did not walk away with a box office hit with Ninnandale but the production house utilized the experience to produce the Yash-starrer Masterpiece soon after. And since then, there's been no turning back for them as they would soon go on to deliver gigantic successes like KGF 2 and Kantara.

For the fans, Ninnindale captured the very essence of Puneeth Rajkumar who exuded his quintessential charm in the film. As the adventure junkie NRI Vicky Venkatesh, the Powerstar managed to not only deliver perfect thrills to his fans but also tugged at their heartstrings during the more tender and emotional moments. Popular Telugu music composer Mani Sharma scored the music of Ninnindale.

Hombale Films and Puneeth Rajkumar would reunite about three years later to deliver a blockbuster success in the form of Raajakumara. The Santhosh Ananddram directorial emerged as the highest-grossing Kannada film of all time during its theatrical run until it was surpassed by Hombale's own KGF: Chapter 1 the following year.