Gurudev Hoysala on OTT: Audiences can’t stop gushing over Dhananjaya and Naveen Shankar

Last month, when Daali Dhananjaya’s cop caper Gurudev Hoysala released in theatres, it was much appreciated by audiences who made the trip to movie halls after all. While OTT platforms seemed godsent during the pandemic, they’ve also ensured that there is a large segment of audience that, no matter the feedback, will wait for films to start streaming to then catch it. This is why there’s always an increased buzz surrounding major titles when they make their digital debut.

Gurudev Hoysala came to Amazon Prime Video yesterday, and, as expected, there were many who were waiting for it anxiously. The wait, it seems, was worth it, with many taking to social media to write words of appreciation for the team. “Best commercial film”, “Very decent. Surprised Kannada film talking about caste”, “Beautiful mass entertainer”, “Naveen is lit”, “Dhananjaya is awesome”, “Dhananjaya is like Vijay Sethupati”, “Daali has done the best as usual”, “BGM, story, screenplay fantastic”, “Natarakshasa doesn’t disappoint”, were some of the many glowing reviews coming in after the OTT release. In fact, some netizens even went to the extent of saying that Challenging Star Darshan ought to take a leaf out of Dhananjaya’s book as far as script selection goes.

However, many of Dhananjaya’s fans from across the border were disappointed that the film came on Amazon Prime with Kannada audio only. Several fans were seen tweeting to the streamer wondering why Telugu audio was not available, although the poster for the film on the platform says that it will be available in both Kannada and Telugu.

Gurudev Hoysala was Dhananjaya’s landmark 25th film and saw him return to the hardcore commercial genre. The film marked his second collaboration with makers KRG Studios, with whom he is slated to do a gangster film set in north Karntaka, Uttarakaanda, soon.