1st December 2000 is an important date in the history of Sandalwood. Apart from being the start of one of the most productive months for Sandalwood filmmakers in the new century, this date also saw the release of the all-time blockbuster Yajamana. Starring Vishnuvardhan and a slew of other talented actors, this classic was directed by Radha Bharathi and R Sheshadri.
The impact that this flick makes on television even now is profound and if we take the stat-books for an analysis, Yajamana is also considered as one of the most successful Kannada movies at the box-office.
It is interesting to look back at such blockbusters and get to know a few unknown aspects that went behind the making of such humongous hits. To serve the same purpose, here we are, listing down 5 few surprising and shocking secrets of the 2000-hit Yajamana.
Yajamana was born on a front-row seat at a theatre in Chennai!
The makers of Yajamana, while watching the Tamil movie Vanathai Pola at a theatre in Chennai decided that they have to bring this movie to Sandalwood at any cost. And the rest is history. The movie became successful in many ways that were never imagined before.
HD Kumaraswamy offered a blank cheque to procure the rights of Yajamana
Former CM HDK offered a blank cheque to the makers of Tamil movie Vanathai Pola to secure it’s remake rights. However, producer Rahman eventually grabbed it based on an earlier commitment.
The makers took 102 days to complete a song shoot
Dr. Rajkumar was kidnapped while a song of Yajamana was being shot in Nepal. The makers had to abandon the shoot and due to the temporary halt of film activities in Sandalwood, the makers had to resume the song-shoot after a whopping gap of 102 days!
Anand Audio earned back 113 times their investment with Yajamana
Having purchased the audio rights for Rs.9 Lakhs, Anand Audio made Rs. 8 Crores with the subsequent success of the audio. It was a good profit for a company which was at its nascent stage then.
The entire kith & kin of Dr. Rajkumar watched this movie in a private screening
Dr. Rajkumar requested the producers of Yajamana for a private screening of the movie. Held at Badami House, around 50 members of the thespian’s family attended the event.
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