Ekka on OTT: What went wrong with Yuva Rajkumar’s film with Rohit Padaki?

When Yuva Rajkumar debuted with Yuva in 2024, the film was panned for being formulaic and offering the actor nothing much to chew on. Santhosh Ananddram’s film showcased his dance and fight skills well, but also highlighted how ill-equipped Yuva was in emotion-driven scenes. Would there be a marked difference in his sophomore film? That was the question on everyone’s mind when he announced his collaboration with Rohit Padaki, a filmmaker who was only 3 films old then, and did not boast a great box office track record.

Rohit’s last, Rathnan Prapancha, was a direct-to-OTT release, which had received mixed reviews, but showed sparks of promise, especially in the north Karnataka portions. The makers had entrusted him with making a two-part multi-starrer gangster drama, Uttarakaanda, so, the expectation was that he had an ace tucked in his sleeve with Ekka. The film, everyone thought, would not only give Yuva’s fledgling career a boost, but also end the drought that Sandalwood was in.

In their pre-release interviews, both Rohit and Yuva seemed supremely confident about the product they’d put together, but when the film came out, it did not have the euphoric victory that was expected. No doubt, Ekka had a decent opening, grossing around Rs 5 crore in its first 4 days, which came from hardcore Doddmane fans, who see Yuva as the actor to fill the void left by his late uncle, Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar.

The downward spiral that Ekka was on by the end of the first week itself continued throughout its theatrical run, which is estimated to have ended with a gross of a little over Rs 11 crore only. That Su From So came only a week later and literally bulldozed Ekka did not help its cause either. So, what went wrong for the film?

Ekka was not Jackie 2.0

For starters, audiences had been made to believe that Ekka had Jackie vibes, which turned out to be immensely misleading. Yuva kitted out in an outfit reminiscent of a scene from Jackie was only a gimmick meant to grab eyeballs and had no bearing on the story whatsoever. The bigger problem, though, was that Ekka offered nothing new by way of story. An innocent man pushed into a life of violence has been done to death across industries and Rohit leaned on that trope yet again. Old wine in a new bottle, it was hoped, but this time, the bottle failed to bedazzle.

Also read: Ekka movie review: Yuva Rajkumar’s film is old wine in a new bottle and has literally no spark

While the story was familiar and predictable, it also lacked a strong emotional core, which made it impossible to feel for or relate to the main characters. The narrative felt like an ECG that had flatlined, with no highs or lows to talk of. Most audiences were let down by the poor writing and execution of the second half, especially since the first showed promise. Yuva’s acting continued to be a major dampener, even though, audiences felt there was a marked improvement from his debut film.

Even though there were actors like Atul Kulkarni, Shruthi Krishna, Adityaa, Poorna Mysore, among others, under-developed characterisation meant that all of them remained under-utilized. Where the film scored was in the technical department, with Satya Hegde’s cinematography and Charan Raj’s score two main pillars of Ekka, without which, it would not have managed the one-time watchable tag it eventually got.

Also read: Ekka on OTT: Here’s how much Yuva Rajkumar’s sophomore film made during its theatrical run 

The film is now set to come to OTT, 4 months after its theatrical release, a rather long gap considering the cast and crew involved with the making of the film have had projects that did not do even a fraction of the business that Ekka did and still got OTT deals much earlier. Ekka is now headed to Sun NXT (via OTTplay Premium too) on November 13.

FAQs

Q. When is Ekka expected to be on OTT?

A. As per confirmed reports, Ekka, which released in theatres on July 18, will be on OTT as of November 13. It will stream on Sun NXT, which is available via OTTplay Premium as well.

Q. Who is on the cast of Ekka?

A. Ekka is led by Yuva Rajkumar, and is joined by Sanjana Anand, Sampadaa Hulivana, Harini Sreekanth, Shruthi Krishna, Dr Suri, Puneet Rudranag, Poorna Mysore, Atul Kulkarni, Arun Sagar, Rahul Dev Shetty and Adityaa, among others.