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H2O (2002 film)

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H2O
DVD cover
Directed byN. Lokanath
Rajaram
Written byUpendra
Daya (Tamil dialogue)
Produced byP. Dhanraj
StarringUpendra
Prabhudeva
Priyanka Upendra
CinematographyH. C. Venugopal
Edited byT. Shashikumar
Music bySadhu Kokila
Production
company
Dhanaraj Films
Release date
  • 29 March 2002 (2002-03-29)
Running time
134.30 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguagesKannada
Tamil[1]
Budget₹8 crore[2]

H2O is a 2002 Indian Kannada-Tamil bilingual film directed by debutants N. Lokanath and Rajaram. The film's script was written by Upendra, who stars in the lead role with Prabhu Deva and Priyanka Trivedi, along with Babu Mohan, Sadhu Kokila and Bank Janardhan portraying supporting roles. The film was dubbed in Tamil as H2O Kaveri and was produced by Dhanraj under Dhanraj Films.[3]

The film's plot revolves around the fight between two villages, as the Kaveri water issue became controversial upon its release and did well at box office. The film's cinematography and editing were handled by H. C. Venugopal and T. Shashikumar respectively. The film was dubbed in Telugu under the same name, and it was dubbed into Hindi as Dil Ki Dhadkan. The core concept of using the dispute between two states as a metaphorical reference in the story went on to inspire a similar attempt in the 2016 Marathi movie Marathi Tigers.

Plot

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Udayashankar Gowda is a rustic chap from the Honnur village in Karnataka and Vairamuthu is an educated youth from the village Chennur across the river in Tamil Nadu. Kaveri, who was born to a Kannadiga-Tamil couple killed in riots, works as a doctor in both villages. Both Udayashankar and Vairamuthu fall for Kaveri. Who gets her forms the rest of the story.[4][5]

Cast

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Uncredited

Production

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Development

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The film's script was initially written in for Dr. Rajkumar and Rajinikanth,[6] who both refused to do the film due to the sensitive nature of the film.[7] The film was launched on 8 December 2000 on Bangalore Palace grounds.[8] N. S. Shankar who earlier directed Ulta Palta (1997) was originally chosen as director but he walked out of story discussion, he was replaced by debutants Loknath and Rajaram who assisted Upendra.[9] The film's name was initially not revealed before it was revealed to be H2O in 2001.[10]

Casting and filming

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While a majority of the film was shot in Kannada, some scenes were shot in Tamil only.[3] Ganga and Yamuna, siamese twins from Calcutta were brought to act in the film.[11] A song was shot at Sam Sund Dunes, Kuldhara village, Pag Bawri and Gadisar Lake at Jaisalmer while rest of the song including war sequences were shot at Mohan Garh Fort, Pokhran fort at the same place. 200 horses from Mumbai were brought specifically for this sequence.[12] According to film's producer Dhanraj, "exactly 1.80 lakh feet of film is cranked for the 18000 feet. Nearly 36 hours of film has been stored for 2 and half hours".[13] For a song which was shot at Ooty, colorful flowers were spread around the hills with 20 dancers. It was shot for 18 days using ARRI 435 ES camera. The song also featured "14 feet rotating globe underneath a motor and covered the motor with small size globes" in which Upendra danced on.[14]

Soundtrack

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Sadhu Kokila composed the music for the film. The lyrics were written by Upendra. The soundtrack album was released on 27 May 2001 at Kanteerava Studios, Bangalore.[15][16]

# Title Singers Length
1 "Hoove Hoove" Kavita Krishnamurthy 5:50
2 "Bida Beda Bida Beda" Hariharan, Upendra 5:06
3 "Kandavideko Mamsavideko" Shankar Mahadevan 5:53
4 "I Wanna See My Darling" Rajesh Krishnan, Pratima Rao 5:22
5 "OK OK OK" Gurukiran 5:49
6 "Dil Ilde Love" Upendra 5:43

Reception

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H2O was Upendra's return to the big screen after a hiatus of 2 years. Upon its audio release, a record number of audio cassettes and CDs were sold. The film created a new record and went on to do a business of more than ₹1 crore through audio sales. Soundtrack numbers like "I Wanna See My Darling", "Hoove Hoove", "Naa Ninna Bidalare", "Bida Byada", and "Dil Ilde" went on to top the charts.[17]

Themes

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H2o is a triangular love story between a Kannadiga and a Tamilian vying for the love of a girl called "Kaveri", it is actually a metaphorical reference for the river Cauvery dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Upendra noted that he compared the issue to Siamese twins "tried to communicate that harmonious living is the only suitable solution to the Cauvery dispute, rather than fighting over it."[7] The river Kaveri which is a subject matter of dispute between two states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu being used as a metaphorical reference in the movie by naming the heroine as "Kaveri" and making the two lead heroes belonging to these two states went on to inspire the 2016 Marathi movie Marathi Tigers which was a triangular love story between two lead heroes belonging to Maharashtra and Karnataka vying for the love of a girl called "Seema" (literally meaning border) – thereby referring to the border dispute between these two states.[18][19]

Release

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Marketing

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A 100 feet huge cutout was kept at Kapali Theatre, Bangalore.[20]

Controversy

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The film became controversial due to its content as the activists from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu demanded the film to be banned. Upendra was forced to compromise by dubbing Tamil dialogues in the film into Kannada and vice versa, to appease linguistics sentiments on both sides. Scenes containing flags of political parties were deleted before its re-release.[7]

Critical reception

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The film received positive reviews upon release. Critics applauded the way Upendra had managed to narrate a sensitive matter like the Kaveri River water dispute in a commercial way.[4][5] Sify wrote "On the whole Upendra and Co. have dished out a decent entertainer with a clear message that politicians are responsible for all troubles in our society".[4] Indiainfo wrote "Though it is based on 'Cauvery water issue' where the two villages are the two states and represented by the two heroes. Cauvery is the core issue between them. Infact the subject is good but the treatment is superficial".[5]

Box-office performance

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H2O completed 50 days of run in 28 theatres across Karnataka and also went on to complete 75 days of run in Bangalore, despite controversies and release in excessive number of theatres playing spoilsport. H2O was a 'Semi Hit' at the box office.[21][22] Although a commercial success,[23][22] it turned out to be the least running film of Upendra till then in terms of long run by completing only 75 days of run. This was very less compared to his previous films like A (1998), Upendra (1999), Preethse (2000), all of which had completed more than 175 days of run. Unlike other Upendra films of that time, H2O could not get a long run at the box office mainly due to negative controversies and temporary ban on the film.

However, irrespective of its under-performance, the distributors and exhibitors made huge business from H2O.[24] Even though the distributors of H2O earned huge profits and the film's collections were on par with other hit films of that time,[25][26] it was termed as a flop by the media because of the film not reaching expectations. Producer Dhanraj went on a strike against Upendra demanding free call-sheet from him, stating that he had suffered huge losses from the movie.[27]

However, H2O continues to remain in the 'Hit' status among some section of the media and box office analysts.[25] Rajaram, one of the directors of the film, mentioned in an interview that "H2O had a successful run at the box office, although the product couldn't reach the mass properly baked, for so many other reasons".[21] In an interview with TV9 in 2011, Upendra denied that H2O was a failure. According to Upendra, the film got extra ordinary openings and collections at the box office, but could not get a long run beyond 75 days due to excessive release, mass distribution and controversies playing spoilsport. Upendra explained that a major chunk of H2O's profits went to the distributors and exhibitors instead of the producer due to mass distribution and flawed marketing by the producer.[28]

References

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  1. ^ Riti, M. D. (4 January 2001). "Prabhu Deva in a unique tap dance!". Rediff. Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Bridge over troubled waters". Rediff.com. 14 March 2002. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Kaveri". chennaionline.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2005. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "H2O". sify movies. Archived from the original on 21 January 2005. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  5. ^ a b c "Indiainfo: Kannada: Movie Review – H2O". indiainfo.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2002.
  6. ^ "ಓಂ ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಕಥೆ ಕೇಳಿ ಅಣ್ಣಾವ್ರು ಫಸ್ಟ್ ಸಿಟ್ಟಿಂಗ್ ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಓಕೆ ಮಾಡಿಬಿಟ್ರು.. | Upendra |Hifi Harate |Podcast". YouTube. 11 May 2022.
  7. ^ a b c Khajane, Muralidhara (3 October 2012). "Tale of love and water". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 September 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  8. ^ "UPENDRA AND PRABHUDEVA STARRER LAUNCHED". Chitraloka. Archived from the original on 2 August 2001. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  9. ^ "IT IS RAZZLE DAZZLE NIGHT ON DECEMBER 8 AT 8 PM". Chitraloka. Archived from the original on 2 August 2001. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  10. ^ "UPENDRA ANSWERS QUESTIONS FROM FANS ACROSS THE WORLD: UPPIGINTHA RUCHI BERE ILLA". Chitraloka.com. 9 June 2001. Archived from the original on 9 June 2001.
  11. ^ "Indiainfo: Kannada: Interview: Rajaram". India Info. Archived from the original on 4 August 2002. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  12. ^ "DHANARAJ'S UNTITLED 'UPPI' FILM DIRECTOR'S EXPERIENCE". Chitraloka. Archived from the original on 2 November 2001. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  13. ^ "I Spent money like a water". Chitraloka. 5 October 2001. Archived from the original on 8 December 2001. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  14. ^ "RISKY SHOTS AND DARING STUNTS". Chitraloka. Archived from the original on 2 August 2001. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  15. ^ "H2O audio release". Screen. Archived from the original on 11 July 2001. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  16. ^ "H2O AUDIO RELEASED". Chitraloka. Archived from the original on 9 June 2001. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Witty words for Upendra-Prabhudeva starrer". The Music Magazine. ourkarnataka.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  18. ^ "Film Review: Marathi Tigers". 5 February 2016.
  19. ^ "Marathi Tigers Movie Review Zee Talkies latest Movie Reviews online at ZeeTalkies.com". zeetalkies.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  20. ^ "H2O HYPE AND HOOPLA". Chitraloka. Archived from the original on 2 August 2001. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  21. ^ a b "H2O Director Rajaram Interview". Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  22. ^ a b "P Vasu Interview". Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  23. ^ Lakshminarayana, Shruti Indira (7 July 2011). "Two Kannada films will fight it out this weekend". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  24. ^ "Behind the curtains". The Hindu. 2 September 2004. Archived from the original on 12 November 2004. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  25. ^ a b "H2O – Kannada film discussion". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  26. ^ "Title unknown". dhoperchop.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  27. ^ "H2O travails continue for Dhanraj". The Hindu. 28 May 2002. Archived from the original on 5 July 2004. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  28. ^ Upendra explains that H2O was a decent hit. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2012 – via YouTube.
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