Ekka, 45, KD, Kantara Chapter 1 and The Devil: Will these films end the Kannada film industry’s current drought?

As of June 6, 2025, 114 Kannada original films have released in Karnataka this year, of which only one, the horror comedy Choo Mantar is reported to have recovered its investment from the theatrical business. That is an alarming statistic for an industry that churns out 200-300 films a year. The prognosis for the next few weeks does not look very exciting either.

There are films with seemingly interestingly premises, like, for instance, Edagaiye Apaghatakke Karana, Kapata Nataka Suthradari or X&Y, among others, but will audiences make that trip to the theatres to see, say, Diganth, newbie Dhiraj, or award-winning filmmaker-turned-actor D Satya Prakash (Rame Rama Re fame) in action, or will they wait till a star hero’s film hits screens?

In the first 5 months of the year, there were films like, for instance, Nimma Vasthugalige Neeve Javaabdaararu, Nodidavaru Enantare, Anamadheya Ashok Kumar, Agnyathavasi , which opened to fairly positive feedback from critics and audiences, but did not build enough momentum at the box office. Ajai Rao’s Yuddhakaanda Chapter 2, fared slightly better, but the actor-producer is yet to confirm if he’s achieved break even.

Of the 72 films that came out in the first three months of the year, only 11 have found streaming homes. And from the subsequent 37 until May 30, 5 more are available on OTT. That’s close to 100 films with barely any theatrical business and no promise of post-theatricals either.

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July 18 is when Yuva Rajkumar’s sophomore film, Ekka, will be in theatres. The Rohit Padaki film has some buzz going for it, and while Doddmane fans will likely throng theatres in the initial days, other audeinces are expected to wait for word-of-mouth feedback in the first week before venturing out. Yuva had shown promise in his debut film, but the consensus was that he’d need more experience as far as emotional drama goes.

Based on the material that’s out in the public domain so far, Ekka is likely more action than drama, which works well for the young actor, who can pack a mean punch. But will that be enough to draw crowds to theatres?

The next ‘big’ film is composer Arjun Janya’s directorial debut, 45. He’s got Shivarajkumar, Upendra and Raj B Shetty on board, and the making looks lavish, but his subject is philosophical, dealing with death, the soul, rebirth, etc., as outlined in Sanatana Dharma. The only other major release with a confirmed date is Rishab Shetty’s Kantara: Chapter 1. This will, no doubt, have a bumper opening, but sustaining that and recreating or bettering the records set by Kantara will, yet again, depend on word of mouth.

Dhruva Sarja’s KD The Devil and Darshan’s The Devil are also 2025 releases, but there’s no time frame yet as to when to expect them in theatres. They will likely target the end of the year, closer to Dasara and later. Can Darshan end 2025 on a high like he did in 2023 with Kaatera ? The question, though, of course, is which film will herald the return of audiences to theatres?

Last year, Duniya Vijay’s Bheema did the trick, which was followed by Golden Star Ganesh’s Krishnam Pranaya Sakhi and later Kiccha Sudeep’s Max. While these films gave the industry reason to cheer, it was still too little and too late. And 2025 seems to be going in the same direction or worse.