Up to date on: Aug 21, 2025 12:17 pm IST
This gangster drama, launched in 1995, developed such a cult following that followers ensured its re-release a report 550 occasions.
It’s the season of re-releases. The pattern, which took off in 2023, has been ongoing for a while now, with many classics from the previous, and up to date misunderstood flops, discovering new life in theatres of late. A number of of those movies had been re-releasing for a 3rd or fourth time in theatres. Others like Sholay and Mughal-e-Azam have seen over a dozen re-releases through the years. However none of them compares with this one Kannada gangster drama, which holds the all-time report with a staggering 550 re-releases through the years.
The movie that re-released 550 occasions
In 1995, director Upendra got here out along with his gangster drama, Om, starring Shiva Rajkumar and Prema within the lead. Notable for shining a lightweight on Bangalore’s underworld, the movie was a large field workplace success, not simply recovering its ₹75-lakh finances, however incomes a revenue a number of occasions over. It developed such a cult following that at any time when it was taken off theatres, followers demanded or not it’s introduced again, and it noticed a spate of re-releases each two weeks. The Limca Guide of Information notes that the movie has re-released a staggering 550 occasions within the final 30 years, a report. This contains 30 re-releases in a single theatre – Bengaluru’s Kapali Cinema.
Om’s legacy in Kannada cinema
Om emerged as not simply essentially the most profitable, however essentially the most influential Kannada movie of its time. It ushered in an period of sensible gangster movies within the business. It turned Shiva Rajkumar, already a profitable star, into the primary hero within the business within the late 90s, giving him a cult following that he nonetheless enjoys. Om additionally proved to be a milestone for Upendra. The director grew to become a longtime title with the movie, which was solely his third movie. He ultimately made a profitable transition to appearing just a few years later, establishing himself as one of the vital revered actors and filmmakers within the business.
Om has been remade – each formally and unofficially – in a variety of languages, together with as Arjun Pandit in Hindi, as Omkaram in Telugu, and as Panja in Bengali (in Bangladesh).
