H2O (2002 film)
| H2O | |
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Film VCD cover
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| Directed by | N. Lokanath Rajaram |
| Produced by | P. Dhanraj |
| Written by | Upendra |
| Starring |
Upendra Prabhudeva Priyanka Upendra |
| Music by | Sadhu Kokila |
| Cinematography | H. C. Venu |
| Edited by | T. Shashikumar |
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Production
company |
Dhanaraj Films
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Release date
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Running time
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134 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Kannada |
| Budget | ₹70 million |
H2O in Kannada, H2O Kaveri in Tamil is an Indian bilingual film directed by debutants N. Lokanath and Rajaram. The film was produced by Dhanraj under Dhanraj Films. The film's script was written by Upendra who stars in the lead role with Prabhu Deva, Priyanka Trivedi along with Babu Mohan, Sadhu Kokila and Bank Janardhan portraying supporting roles.
The film's plot revolves around the fight between two villages, as an metaphor to the Kaveri Water issue became controversial upon its release and did well at box-office. The film's cinematography and editing was handled by Venu and T. Shashikumar respectively. The film was dubbed in Telugu under the same name.
Sadhu Kokila composed the music for the film. The lyrics were written by Upendra.
H2O was Upendra's return to the big screen after a hiatus of 2 years. Upon its audio release, a record number of audio cassettes and CD's were sold. The film created a new record and went on to do a business of more than ₹1 Crore through audio sales. Soundtrack numbers like "I Wanna see my darling", "Hoove Hoove", "Naa ninna bidalare", "Bida Byada", and "Dil Ilde" went on to top the charts.
The film received highly positive reviews upon release. Critics applauded the way Upendra had managed to narrate a sensitive matter like the Kaveri River water dispute in a commercial way.
H2O completed 50 days of run in 28 theaters across Karnataka and also went on to complete 75 days of run in Bangalore, despite controversies and release in excessive number of theaters playing spoilsport. H2O was a 'Semi Hit' at the box office. Although a commercial success, it turned out to be the least running film of Upendra till then in terms of long run by completing only 75 days of run. This was very less compared to his previous films like A (1998), Upendra (1999), Preethse (2000), all of which had completed more than 175 days of run. Unlike other Upendra films of that time, H2O could not get a long run at the box office mainly due to negative controversies and temporary ban on the film.
However, irrespective of its under-performance, the distributors and exhibitors made huge business from H2O. Even though the distributors of H2O earned huge profits and the film's collections were on par with other hit films of that time, it was termed as a flop by the media because of the film not reaching expectations. Producer Dhanraj went on a strike against Upendra demanding free call-sheet from him, stating that he had suffered huge losses from the movie.
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