As
Prem's landmark film '
Jogi
' marks 16 years of its release today, memories come gushing back for all the many million fans who regard the film as one of Kannada Cinema's greatest exploits. The film completed 100 days in close to 61 theatres across the state and broke several box-office records at the time of its release, rendering itself a legacy that stands unshakable even today.
For obvious reasons, the film's success went on to warrant remakes in other languages and director Prem was approached to helm the other version too but he would decline for sentimental reasons. Speaking to an online daily during the 15th anniversary of the film's release, Prem professed the core reasons behind the making of this film and also spoke about how he felt unable to remake the film in other languages, because he couldn't imagine anyone else but
Shiva Rajkumar essay the lead role. Despite being approached by the likes of Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, and others to remake the film, Prem had to politely decline the offer to reveal that he would never be able to make the film the same way again.
"Jogi is not just a film but a lifetime experience for me. And I can't imagine anyone apart from Shivanna playing the main role because he had more than just a character for me during the making and I couldn't any other actor essay that role. He is and was the soul of the film," said Prem in the aforementioned interview.
However, 'Jogi' was eventually remade in Telugu as 'Yogi' starring
Prabhas and Nayantara and in Tamil as 'Parattai Engira Azhagu Sundaram' with Dhanush and Meera Jasmine, but without Prem's involvement. The other versions did fare well in their own rights but were unable to come close to the cultural success that 'Jogi' earned in its lifetime, which only further enunciates Prem's stance of not remaking it.
'Jogi' also starred
Arundhathi Nag
and Jennifer Kotwal while Gurukiran composed the film's blockbuster soundtrack.
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