Films bring with them an open canvas. They provide an opportunity for filmmakers to highlight social causes, speak of spirited people and inspire its viewers. The director of the film is at the helm of affairs to bring together his vision for the film and the varied talents of his team – the actors, scriptwriters, musicians et al.
One such personality from the Sandalwood industry aka the Kannada film industry is Jogi Prem. Prem was born as Kiran Kumar. He started his career as an Assistant Director, before directing his own film Kariya in 2003. These were followed with two more movies in quick succession, and together they placed him on the mantle of stardom. He is known as the hat-trick director of the Kannada film industry because of his back to back hits.
Although he doesn’t have a laundry list of movies to his credit, it is said that he puts the efforts of two movies into making one. He is also multi-faceted in that he has directed, acted, sung and penned songs for most of his movies.
Here are some of the noteworthy movies that Jogi Prem has directed.
Kariya (2003) holds the title of being Jogi Prem’s premier directorial venture. This movie was well received for its exceptional techniques and cinematography. Some reviews even called Jogi Prem’s direction better than that of many seasoned Hindi film directors. The movie was so successful that it ran for 800 days in theaters. It launched the star of the film, Darshan and made him an overnight sensation.
Excuse Me (2003) also released in 2003. Excuse Me saw cult success as a musical film. The movie plot revolved around a love triangle. The songs in this movie were written and sung by Prem himself. The music director R. P. Patnaik portrayed the drama well and together with Jogi Prem’s direction made the careers of the stars – Ajay and Sunil.
Jogi (2005) was written and directed by Jogi Prem. It saw record box office collection and completed 100 days in more than 61 theaters when it launched. The film was noted for its technicalities, crisp dialogue and lyrics. The movie was such a hit that it got made in Telugu and Tamil as well. Jogi Prem has not only directed this film but also penned the lyrics for all of its songs. He also won the award for Best Screenplay in the 2006 Karnataka State Film Awards.
Jogayya (2010) After the huge success of Jogi, Prem made Jogayya under the banner of his home production. This too was scripted by Prem. The songs of the film were shot very elaborately and one of the songs Odale even is rumoured to have cost Prem a whopping Rs. 2.7 crores. Prem has even rendered his voice to this song along with the famous singer Shreya Ghoshal. Kailash Kher, Shankar Mahadevan and Sonu Nigam were the other star singers Prem roped in for Jogayya’s soundtrack.
The Villain (2018) This month sees the arrival of Jogi Prem’s latest film – The Villain on ZEE5. In this movie, the classic struggle between good and evil is depicted, albeit with a modern twist. The Ram versus Ravana saga is not as black and white as they were made out to be in the legendary tale of yore. Every person has a bit of grey, and the movie leaves the audience questioning who is the real Villain after all. It is this delicate balance and ability to show the divide between good and evil without compartmentalizing them that shows the versatility of director Jogi Prem.
While Jogi Prem has received brickbats and bouquets alike for his films, his attempts at making cinema which stimulates the minds of the audience is noteworthy. His choice of bold and real story lines, combined with the desire to keep the audience entertained has won him many hearts among fans of the Sandalwood industry.
This is a sponsored post, however, all the opinions expressed are my own and written after viewing the film and researching popular opinion about their performance online.
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