Vijay Kiragandur on KGF 3, Salaar and future of Indian cinema: ‘Prabhas starrer may beat box office records of our biggest hits so far’

Unlike a couple of years ago, Hombale Films is no longer a regional upstart with big ambitions. It has emerged as a bonafide brand, which seems to be in touch with the fast-evolving taste of Indian film audiences cutting across the barriers of language and culture. “We scientifically approach each project. We do a lot of research, analysis and survey,” said Chaluve Gowda H S, Vijay Kiragandur’s partner at Hombale Films.

KGF: Chapter 2 was helmed by Prashant Neel.

“We wanted to take the Kannada film industry to the next level. We are successful in doing that. A lot of things have changed since KGF 2,” he added.

Written and directed by Prashanth Neel, KGF 2 took an earth-shattering opening in April across the country. It became the first film in the history of Kannada cinema to collect over Rs 100 crore on its opening day. It earned over Rs 1000 crore in global box office receipts. And it changed the reputation of Kannada cinema for good.

“Since KGF, the footfall for Kannada cinema within Karnataka has gone up. The number of screens in the state has also increased and the interest among audiences across the country to watch Kannada movies has also gone up. For example, in the US, Telugu films historically enjoyed prominence over Kannada movies. Now, we see a growing demand for Kannada movies there,” Vijay Kiragandur remarked.

Kiragandur was taken by surprise when Kantara exploded as one of the biggest pop culture phenomena in 2022 and caught the imagination of people in the country. “We wanted to make a film under Rishab Shetty’s direction. But, we didn’t have a vision of how this film would turn out. After the completion of the movie and when I saw the film, I felt it would create a good impact. But, we never guessed that it would make such an impact,” he revealed.

Besides directing Kantara, Rishab also played the lead in it. It was overshadowed by director Mani Ratnam’s ambitious movie Ponniyin Selvan 1 as they both released on the same day in September. Kantara was made on a minuscule budget compared to PS 1. And yet it went on to match PS 1’s ticket sales across the world. The film sold over 3.5 crore tickets in India alone.

Rishab Shetty in a still from Kantara.

Kantara has earned over Rs 400 crore from its tickets worldwide. And Hombale Films banner is already considering a follow-up film to Kantara. It seems the production house is very enthusiastic about turning its most successful movies into a franchise. “At present, we are open to that idea. We are also open to making sequels for Salaar. We will take the call after we watch the finished film. The same is with KGF 3. After Prashanth is done with Salaar, we will discuss it,” said Kiragandur.

Salaar is Hombale Films’ next big bet. Prashanth Neel is writing and directing the film, which has an all-star cast. “85 per cent shooting is complete and by January, we will complete the remaining shoot. We need six months for the VFX work and on September 28 will release it in cinemas,” the Hombale Films founder promised.

Salaar is Homable Films’ maiden venture in Telugu cinema. It stars Prabhas in the lead and Prithviraj Sukumaran is playing the antagonist. “I saw the rushes. It’s an out-and-out action film. Prabhas and Prithviraj have done a superb job,” he said.

Vijay Kiragandur also reflected on the current predicament of Bollywood as it seems to have fallen out of favour with the theatre-going audience in the Hindi belt. “It’s just a matter of time before things get better in Hindi cinema. We should focus on taking the Indian entertainment industry to the next level and rising above this north-south divide. It’s all Indian movies. Even Salaar, for us, is an Indian movie; not just a Telugu movie,” Kiragandur added.

Prabhas in Prashanth Neel directorial Salaar. (Photo: PR Handout)

Vijay Kiragandur is looking forward to more success the next year as he draws confidence from the fact that his company is working with a diverse set of talents from across the Indian film industry. “We have a superb lineup for 2023. We have two in Kannada, two in Malayalam and one each in Tamil and Telugu (Bagheera, Richard Anthony, Dhoomam, Raghuthatha and Salaar). We believe all five films will become big hits. The entertainment industry will grow in India. I think the entertainment industry will play a big role in India’s economy. It’s also a very good platform to popularise our culture (across the world),” the producer said.

Kiragandur especially is pretty confident of Salaar making a dent at the box office. “I believe this film has the potential to beat the box office records created by our films so far,” he concluded.