'K.G.F: Chapter 1' turns 2! Here is a rundown of every record it broke and every new standard it set

It is quite rare in the history of cinema that one single film is being spoken about for years together. While the 'Baahubali' series managed to get that kind of attention, it would still be fair to claim that the mania attached with the 'K.G.F' series has been quite unprecedented. Sure, the film was intended to be an epic saga but the makers too would agree right-away that the ongoing craze for the films was never anticipated to reach such incredible heights. As 'Chapter 1' of the series turns 2 years old today, let's recount the astonishing achievements it has managed to gather over time. Plus, with 'K.G.F: Chapter 2' up for release in a couple of months from now, this would be the perfect opportunity to understand why the wait among the fans persists without any qualms.

On the first day of its release, ‘K.G.F: Chapter 1’ collected Rs. 25 crores worldwide and recorded the highest opening figures in the entire history of Kannada Cinema. The film grossed Rs. 5 crores in Bengaluru alone on the first day of its release. Similarly, ‘Chapter 1’ became the first film to cross the 100, 200, and 250 crore marks. To add to this list of staggering successes, the film became the fourth highest-grossing dubbed film (in Hindi) and is only behind the 'Baahubali' series and Rajinikanth’s '2.0' in this regard.

To further emphasize the monetary and cultural success of ‘K.G.F: Chapter 1’, the film broke the box-office records of ‘Baahubali-2’ in Karnataka. Alongside, ‘Chapter 1’ became the first Kannada film to enter the revered 100-crore club and thereby, putting Kannada cinema on the map.

‘K.G.F: Chapter 1’ is also one of the few Indian films that have been dubbed and released in five different Indian languages. With the original one being in Kannada, ‘Chapter 1’ was also released in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and Malayalam. The Hindi dubbed version gave the mighty Shahrukh Khan’s ‘Zero’ a run for its money.

Interestingly, ‘K.G.F: Chapter 1’ is the first-ever Kannada film to find a release in Pakistan. The Hindi dubbed version of the film was released on the 10th of January, 2019 in many multiplexes across the cities of Islamabad and Lahore. The film was released by IMGC Global Entertainment which was also responsible for the Hindi counterpart of ‘2.0’. Incidentally, Pawan Kumar’s ‘Lucia’ was all set to be the first Kannada film to be honored with a theatrical release in Pakistan. However, things did not get materialized at the time and ‘Lucia’s’ journey remained limited to a film festival screening. Regardless of what ultimately fared, it was indeed a matter of pride as Pakistan has generally been conditioned to only watch Bollywood releases. The film was also released in part of Africa, Hong Kong, and several different parts of Eastern Europe such as Cyprus – the very first Kannada film to achieve this feat.

According to Wikipedia, ‘K.G.F: Chapter 1’ was released 1800-2200 screens worldwide and this is the widest release for any Kannada film till date. A lot can be accredited for the sheer scale at which the film has been mounted. For starters, the film was made with a budget of Rs. 80 crores (one of the most expensive Kannada Films) and to ensure that the investments matched the creative efforts, director Prashanth Neel and his team of writers & researchers spent more than 18 months in collecting data regarding the film. The results are, of course, on record for everyone to watch and appreciate. The brilliant climax scene alone consists of a thousand different artists.

Not only did ‘Chapter 1’ serve as a great prologue to an epic story, but the entire conception of it also made sure that audiences world over would be left wanting for more in terms of story, characterization, and scale. Even after 2 years of its release, the film continues to enchant everyone it has come across and sets up the perfect platform for the story to conclude. With ‘K.G.F: Chapter 2’ only a couple of months away from release, the anticipation has soared up to new heights and all the credit goes to how ‘Chapter 1’ has been made.

A couple of years ago, the news of Sanjay Dutt acting in a Kannada movie would have left many in disbelief. However, thanks to the success of ‘Chapter 1’ and its widespread acclaim that the mighty Sanjay Dutt decided to make his Sandalwood debut. Along with him, actress Raveena Tandon too makes a comeback of sorts through her role as Ramika Sen in the upcoming sequel.

Director Prashanth Neel has spoken a number of times about his influences and some of the key moments of the film draw genuine influence from western films and fables. To begin with, the book written by Ananth Nag’s character Anand Ingalagi is titled El Dorado. For those unfamiliar with the context, El Dorado is a Spanish metaphor for a mythical place where precious stones were found in great abundance. While there have been contradictions as to who or what exactly El Dorado is, the metaphor does symbolize wealth and greed. Similarly, the action scenes in the film are inspired by the landmark spaghetti-western films ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’ and ‘For a Few Dollars More’.