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28 Years of Upendra's Om: How Sri Vajreshwari Combines expertly strengthened the film's legacy

28 Years of Upendra's Om: How Sri Vajreshwari Combines expertly strengthened the film's legacy
28 Years of Upendra's Om: How Sri Vajreshwari Combines expertly strengthened the film's legacy
NTR, ANR and Rajkumar during the muhurtha of 'Om'

Last Updated: 01.57 PM, May 19, 2023

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When Upendra took on the mighty task of realizing his dream of making Kannada cinema's first gangster flick, little did he and the entire team know that they had an all-time cult classic in hand. Little did he know that Om, which was only his third directorial, would get its name etched in the Limca Book of Records for the number of re-releases in theatres (close to 650) and be a permanent member of Kannada cinema's rich legacy. And little did he know that even 28 years after its first release, fans and film lovers would urge passionately urge him to reunite with Shiva Rajkumar for a possible sequel.

Shiva Rajkumar, too, has acknowledged countless times the impact that Om has had on his image as an actor and the fact his career saw a paradigm shift because of its success. "I don't think another film like Om can ever be made again - Upendra has written and executed it already and none of us will be able to recreate that magic," he said in a recent public gathering. And another factor of pride for Shivanna is the fact that the film was produced by his late mother Parvathamma Rajkumar under their legendary home banner of Sri Vajreshwari Combines.

"Annavru and the team of Sri Vajreshwari Combines knew very well the charm of watching a film on the big screen, which they wouldn't find on the small screen. So, they ensured that the film wasn't readily available outside - either on satellite or in CD/cassette form - because Om had the capacity of earning them close to Rs. 20 lakhs every year, even well after its main theatrical run. This is 1998-1999 I am talking about. In fact, it was Raghanna (Raghavendra Rajkumar) who told me that when film distributors approached Sri Vajreshwari Combines asking for Om, the production house would package the film along with another new release of theirs. Which meant that distributors would pick a smaller film with less hype for the first two weeks and they would eventually get to release Om during the third week. It was a simple case of demand & supply and the makers ensured that they film was limited to big-screen viewing for the longest time".

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