Mungaru Male gave me everything: Ganesh

Ganesh is a busy man, shooting back-to-back films and even for a popular TV show. The Golden Star credits everything that he is today to the success of his 2006 film Mungaru Male; in fact, he earned the sobriquet after the film. The

blockbuster

was a game-changer for the Kannada film industry in many ways — from the amount of money it made and to it being remade into several languages. Looking back at the 12 years since the film released, Ganesh says, “Mungaru Male is magical. Everyone in the country took note of the film in the first week of its release. Social media was non-existent back in 2006, and we didn’t have any big publicity planned for the film. It was only the content that reached the people. So, more than us, it was the film that did the talking,” says Ganesh, adding, “The film gave me everything.

Mungaru Male

is the base for everything that I am today.”

Made on a budget of Rs 2 crore, the film went on to make Rs 50 crore in 300 days (the first Kannada film to do so). It ran in the theatres for 865 days and made Rs 75 crore in total. It was the first Indian film to run for over a year in a multiplex. Recalling this, distributor Jayanna says, “If you compare these figures with what a recent Kannada release has made, it may not seem much, but back in 2006, it was a big deal. Such is the impact of the film that Mungaru Male is counted among the 10-15 landmark Kannada films ever made. It was a game changer in Sandalwood.”