When Yash starrer KGF was released in December 2018 and became a pan-Indian success, it firmly put Kannada star Yash in the spotlight. In 2022, when KGF: Chapter 2 saw an even bigger success, it not just put Yash in the limelight but the Kannada film industry itself, thanks to Hombale Films. And the rest, as they say, is history.
The Hombale film Universe
Earlier, the production house announced that it will invest Rs 3000 crore over the next five years in the film industry. In an exclusive chat with IndiaToday, Hombale Films founder Vijay Kiragandur talked about why their films will be different from other Universe like Yash Raj spy universe and Lokesh Kanagaraj universe.
As the world gets more and more excited about the Yash Raj spy universe and the Lokesh Kanagaraj universe in the south, will Hombale films want to create a similar universe of sorts with Salaar or any film in the future?
“I think it’s a good concept but we’re not planning anything as of now. It should happen naturally. It also depends on many factors, like whether the actors are available at the time and willing to do the role. In the future, we could create a universe,” said Vijay Kiragandur while speaking to India Today.
Giving more details about picking a script for Hombale Films’ banner Vijay thinks it is very important to pick up the proper story. He adds, “We listen to a lot of scripts and there are a set of people who listen to a script several times. We then sit and discuss whether it’s commercially possible and so on. We look at scripts that offer something new that the audience has not seen before. One is the event films – these are larger-than-life movies where the making is very important. If it is not an event film, then the script/ storyline should be really good. People should feel connected to the story.”
Marketing strategies
Speaking about the marketing strategies for Hombale films’ upcoming movies, the 46-year-old producer said, “We can’t expect people to come and watch our films unless we market them well and the content is good. That’s what’s required and I think that’s what worked for us with KGF. We spent a lot of time and effort in taking KGF Chapter 1 to the pan-India level and it worked for KGF Chapter 2. It’s not that the Kannada or South film industry was not making good films – it’s just that they were not marketed well. When we have a good product and do good marketing, then we will achieve success.”
Also, Vijay thinks that the next 5 years for Hombale Films will be crucial. “We plan to release one larger-than-life event movie and several movies which are story-based. Last year, we had KGF and Kantara, and this year, we have Salaar, Dhoomam, Raghu Thatha, and Bagheera (written by Prashanth Neel) and we are launching Yuva Rajkumar’s film next month. We plan to start making OTT web series next year and are in talks with Disney+Hotstar and Netflix. We are looking at pan-Indian content for our web series,” he adds.
