Kannada star Upendra returned to direction after 8 years with his recent release, UI. The actor began as a filmmaker in the early 90s before beginning his acting career a decade later. But over the last few years, direction took a backseat. Now that he is back in the director’s chair, the acclaimed star talks to HT about his new film, the trend of pan-India films, and why formula will never win. (Also read: Upendra to share the screen with Rajinikanth in Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Coolie? Here’s what we know)
Upendra on UI
A hallmark of Upendra’s films has been that they have ignited debates. Some have called his climaxes confusing; others have termed them ‘thought-provoking’. Upendra laughs at the ‘confusion’ he has caused. “I always try to explain everything with dialogue, visuals, and everything. I really don’t want to confuse. But maybe because the subjects are such that the more I try to explain, the more they get confused,” he says, adding with a laugh, “I think deep inside, we are all confused. None of us have the clarity in life that we want.”
UI, his latest film, is a dystopian drama set in the near future. The film takes jibes at everything from casteism to obsession with cricket and cinema in modern India. Talking about using real-life parallels to tell the story of an autocratic society, he says, “Sometimes you need to exaggerate a little to put forward your point and to make people understand more seriously. It’s like satire. I feel that dystopia has to be a little comical, only then can it be a satire. One can relate to it better if there is humour.”
Upendra on pan-India cinema
UI was released in Kannada as well as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam, in what was dubbed a pan-India release. Talking about the process, he says, “It is like making five films at the same time, because you have to understand what works in each language, and what clicks in each culture. Some things that work in Kannada may not work in other languages. Pan-India is not so easy to make successfully.”
However, Upendra does not believe the pan-India formula is a recipe for guaranteed success. Elaborating on the choice of some filmmakers to cast actors from across India to make any film pan-India, he says, “It can help reach the audience. Yes, it is easy to reach a certain audience from that state or language. The audience shows more interest that way. But it boils down to the story. The market is only for stories, nothing else. Everything else is decoration.”
But in the end, the actor-filmmaker is happy that the trend has done one good thing – slowed down remakes. “Everyone already watches every film in their language. So it (the trend of remakes) is already ending. People are no longer doing Hindi remakes and Tamil remakes that often. There are a few here and there, maybe. But what people are remaking is the trend, and that is pan-India.”
UI was released in cinemas on December 20 and became the highest-grossing Kannada film of 2024 in just over ten days. The film has earned over ₹40 crore worldwide in under two weeks, and has earned unanimous praise from critics as well.