Sandalwood’s debutant directors

The last decade of Sandalwood has been strewn with one-film-wonders. From new lead actors to directors and producers, nearly half of the films made in the last few years had a newcomer as the producer, director or the lead actor. Most did not survive their first film in the industry. Despite the obvious onslaught, a new crop of directors has managed to create a buzz in their debuts. Santhosh Ananddram: Mr & Mrs Ramachari brings Sandalwood’s dream pair of Yash and Radhika Pandit together. Debutant director Santhosh Anandram is not new to either Yash or producers Jayanna-Bhogendra. He wrote the dialogues for Yash’s previous big hit. Santhosh has made Yash sing a song for the first time in his career and done some imaginative scripting (like Yash playing the original Ramachari Vishnuvardhan’s fan). All this has made Mr & Mrs Ramachari not only one of the most-awaited films, but also put a notice about himself on Sandalwood.

Shiva Thejas: Maley brings together this year’s Filmfare award-winning lead actors Prem and Amulya. Shiva Thejas, a long-time associate of R Chandru, is debuting as director and the former has kept faith by producing the film. Thejas, on his part, has made sure Maley remains on the e most-anticipated list and with his enthusiastic approach, has already bagged another film. Chandru and team have always excelled in n romance, be it Taj Mahal or the recent Charminar also with Prem. Though Chandru’s banner has as flirted with action (Brahma), romance has remained its forte.

Imran Sardaria: Imran Sardaria waited for long before taking up direction. After a couple of mis-steps, Yendendigu has been making the right noises. The Krishna Ajai Rao and Radhika Pandit combination on its own would not have meant much, but the popular choreographer is giving his all for the debut. When the trailer of the film was launched (by design or by leak) last month, it created a sensation. Imran has made the film look like an extravagant Bollywood showpiece romance.

Sanath Kumar: Editor Sanath (of the Sanath-Suresh combination) has turned director with Jackson. He has worked with both newcomers and veterans. Sanath has had to chance to work with everyone from Yograj Bhat to Pavan Wadyer. Duniya Vijay’s tryst and success with new directors seems all set to become a long trend. Vijay’s closest aide Ganesh too has worked with many newcomers, but not always with the same amount of success.

Yogi: Yogi debuts as a director with Kushi Kushiyagi. Those associated with Kushi Kushiyagi seem to believe this would be a big film. They think it would be big for both Ganesh and the new director, Yogi. The release of the film has been delayed as of now. The reason for this isn’t clear yet. But Sandalwood insiders insist this film will have to be taken seriously.