Super Star (2002 film)
| Super Star | |
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 DVD Cover |
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| Directed by | Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar |
| Produced by | Hanumantha Inambar |
| Written by | Upendra |
| Screenplay by | Upendra |
| Starring | Upendra Keerthi Reddy |
| Music by | Hamsalekha |
| Cinematography | V R Krishna Kumar |
| Release date(s) | 2002 |
| Running time | 130 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Kannada Telugu |
Super Star (also known as Stupid in Andhra Pradesh) is a 2002 Kannada film written by Upendra and directed by Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar, starring Upendra and Keerthi Reddy. The story line was loosely based on the Nepalese royal massacre involving Dipendra of Nepal, the tragedy that struck the family of the Nepal king. Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar had mentioned in an interview that, although he was credited as the director, he was not given much freedom on the sets and Upendra was the one who directed most of the movie. The film had four climaxes that viewers could select on their own. It was dubbed into Telugu as Stupid, which was surprisingly a lot more successful than the Kannada version.[1] Irrespective of its box office performance, Super Star remains as a classic example of the earlier out-of-the-box Upendra films.
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Plot [edit]
The story line was loosely based on the Nepalese royal massacre involving Dipendra of Nepal. It was based on the tragedy that struck the family of the Nepal king. Ricky (Upendra) is an artiste. He happens to see a girl named Devyani (Keerthi Reddy) in an accident and falls for her. Subsequently, Devayani also falls in love. As she pretends that she does not love him, Ricky goes abroad. As per Ricky's plan, family members force Devayani to go to Hong Kong, where she meets Ricky. When both of them were enjoying the love, Prince Dipendra of Nepal (Upendra again) meets her and says that he loves her. Later, Devayani and Ricky return to India. Dipendra, who was madly in love with Devayani also comes to India and tells Ricky about his love. Dipendra discloses his identity to Ricky that he was the prince of Nepal. He loves her so much that he killed his entire family in the Nepalese royal massacre for her. When Ricky asks Devayani, she accepts that she was from Nepal and Dipendra loved her, although she never loved Dipendra. Ricky makes several attempts to convince Dipendra that his was a one-sided love and lies to Dipendra that Devayani forgot everything about him in a shock. Then Dipendra again enacts many of the love sequences between him and Devayani, so that Devyani gets back her memory. Devayani decides to commit suicide by jumping off a waterfall. Dipendra tries to save her but in the process he slips off the waterfall. Ricky arrives at the spot and Dipendra somehow manages to climb up the cliff.
At this point, four climaxes are shown; the viewers can select any one. In the first climax, Dipendra kills Ricky with his revolver. In the second climax, Dipendra kills Devayani. In the third climax, Dipendra shoots himself with his revolver, having lost his lover to Ricky. In the last climax, Dipendra decides not to kill anyone and leaves for Nepal saying that he would live for his people as a king and does not want Devayani's love as she never loved him. Dipendra spends the rest of his life in Nepal, in Devyani's memory.[1]
Cast [edit]
- Upendra as Dipendra of Nepal / rock star Vicky
- Keerthi Reddy as Devyani Rana
Sound Track [edit]
The music for the movie was composed and by Hamsalekha. The lyrics were penned by Upendra.
| Title | Singers |
|---|---|
| Bhakra bhakra | Hemanth, Shweta Malviya |
| Rajkumar Rajkumar | Hariharan |
| Thagole Thagole | Shankar Mahadevan |
| Antu Antu | Nandhita, Sonu Nigam |
| Thumba Thumba | Hariharan |
| Problem | Hemanth |
| Bittaku Bittaku | Adnan Sami & '''Humming by Shweta Malviya |
Audio Release [edit]
The Soundtrack of Superstar got an amazing response upon its audio release and turned out to be one of the best selling albums of the year. Before release, Superstar had a lot of expectations. Upendra's acting in dual roles and the plot of the movie which was based on the controversy of Dipendra of Nepal had created a lot of curiosity at that time. Upon its audio release, a record number of audio cassettes were sold. Soundtrack numbers like Bhakra Bhakra, Thagole Thagole, Bittaku Bittaku became instant hits within no time. With the amazing success of the film's audio, the expectations on the film were sky high.[2]
Critical Reception [edit]
The reaction from the critics turned out to be mostly negative upon the film's release. While the performances of the lead artistes, unique story line of the film, soundtrack, background music and other technical aspects of the film were praised, the screenplay of the film was the most criticized by the critics as well as the audiences.
Box Office [edit]
Karnataka [edit]
Superstar had an extremely strong opening at the box office across Karnataka similar to the earlier record breaking openers of Upendra and set the box office on fire during its opening weekend. The film continued to storm the box office during its initial weeks, but failed to live up to the expectations and most of the fans were disappointed by the movie. Superstar ended up becoming a below average grosser in Karnataka by running only for 6 weeks in its main centre in Bangalore. The film was sold to distributors at a very high distribution price and got an extraordinary opening in its initial weeks, thus returning investment for the producer. Compared to Upendra's earlier blockbuster movies like A, Upendra, Preethse, H2O, this film was considered as a flop even though it returned investment for the producer. Upendra had stated in an interview with The Hindu in 2005 that there were many false rumours about inflated budgets and his successful films such as H2O, Super Star and Hollywood were termed as flops.[3] However, Superstar has attained cult classic status among Upendra fans in the following years.
Andhra Pradesh [edit]
The Telugu version of Superstar which was released in Andhra Pradesh in 2003 (a year after its original Kannada release) was titled as Stupid - O Pichi Vadi Prema Katha and had a fantastic opening across Andhra Pradesh, owing mainly to Upendra's loyal Telugu fan following which he had gained due to the large success of the Telugu versions of his earlier blockbuster movies like A and Upendra (film) which not only starred him but were also directed by him, and a few straight Telugu movies like Raa and Kanyadaanam which were box office hits. Although Superstar was just an average grosser in Karnataka, Stupid surprisingly turned out to be a hit in Andhra Pradesh by completing 100 days of run and its distributors in Andhra Pradesh earned fair profits from the movie.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ a b "Stupid Movie DVD Online | Telugu Movies | Online Movies". MeeTelugu.com. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
- ^ "Super Star audio songs online | Download Super Star Songs mp3 codes | Super Star music review | Listen to Super Star songs". MusicMazaa.com. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
- ^ "Entertainment Bangalore : Uppi's hardly uppity". The Hindu. 2005-11-11. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
External links [edit]
- ' at the Internet Movie Database
