25 years ago, Sandalwood was blown away by a movie, that shattered multiple records at the box-office, while also overwhelming the audience with an absolutely fresh experience at the theaters. Still now, the movie is enjoyed on TV, and the screenplay of ‘Om’ has become a sort of a template for a generation of filmmakers.
A cult-favorite amongst many, ‘Om’ set massive trends in the industry, the ripples of which are still felt. As the epic flick completes 25 glorious years, here is a look at some mind blowing trends set by the masterpiece.
Non-Linear Structured Screenplay
For viewers of Kannada cinema until then, the idea of a hyperlink cinema was very vague. But when Uppi and co. dished out a superb story in this format, the audience could not let go of the taste. So much so that, even now, this type of a screenplay, although it has become commonplace, is still revered by the viewers.
Protagonist with a negative shade
This came as a surprise to the audience, and was a huge reason for the movie to become a massive success. Upendra transitioned his protagonist from the best of a society (a priest) to the worst in a society (a don). This character arc was never seen until then, and inspired many other movies to try out the same.
The whole concept of a re-release
While box-office figures of many movies are keenly followed, it is the number of times that ‘Om’ re-released at the theaters that is kept count by the fans of the movie. The whole re-release idea got a boost through this film.
Emergence of Machete as a symbol
Rowdy & Machetes have a compatible relation in Kannada movies. Almost every underworld movie that released until recently used to explore this relation. The trend, as you know, was set by Uppi and Shivanna.
‘Mehabooba’ – A Song for the ages
Be it the vocals, the sound design or even the picturization, this song was brilliant and set the tone for multiple songs to fall in the same template. Even now, filmmakers stick to one type of stalking in movies, but back then, Upendra had experiment with an absolutely fresh version of the act.
