Dheekshith Shetty in ‘Blink’.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Impressed after watching Blink, Kannada director Suni recently told reporters, “Had this been a Malayalam film, more people would have watched it.” It was evident that Suni got a bit carried away after watching the well-made sci-fi Kannada film from debutant Srinidhi Bengaluru. However, his statement wasn’t entirely without context.

Between February and March, the Malayalam industry produced three blockbusters. The romantic comedy Premalu, the horror drama Bramayugam starring Mammootty, and the survival drama Manjummel Boys broke records. Of these, Manjummel Boys made the maximum impact at the box office, racing to ₹ 200 crore mark by performing brilliantly in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka apart from its home turf. Such was the dominance of these movies that fans online called the phenomenon Premayugam Boys, the Indian version of Hollywood’s famous Barbenheimer, involving Barbie and Oppenheimer.

In this kind of tough competitive market, sci-fi Kannada film from debutant Srinidhi Bengaluru Blink released on the Mahashivaratri Friday on March 8 alongside two big Kannada films: Karataka Damanaka, headlined by Shivarajkumar and Prabhu Deva, and Ranganayaka, featuring the hit actor-director duo Jaggesh and Guruprasad. 

Director Srinidhi Bengaluru on the sets of ‘Blink’.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

With a time-travel concept enhanced by tight writing and fine performances from Dheekshith Shetty, Chaitra J Achar, and Gopalkrishna Deshpande, Blink emerged as the unlikely winner at the Kannada box office. Starting as the clear underdog with just 17 shows across Karnataka in the first week, the movie was propelled by consistent positive word-of-mouth. In its third week, Blink secured 87 shows, a commendable feat for a film made by unheralded names.

“We made Blink knowing very well that it was an experimental movie. The common opinion from people around us was that the film would not appeal to the masses and would impress the multiplex crowd”, says Mr. Srinidhi, who hails from a theatre group called Aneka, where he met the film’s producer Ravichandra AJ, another theatre enthusiast.

It helped Blink’s case that Karataka Damanaka and Ranganayaka turned out to be forgettable affairs. The Kannada audiences, who encouraged several well-made thrillers, turned to Blink. They weren’t disappointed. “Slowly, all kinds of audiences began watching our movie; we began to witness 90 % occupancy from the first Monday in all screens,” says Mr. Srinidhi. 

Blink begins with a note that the film is an homage to American films Predestination and Primer, the legendary play Oedipus Rex, and the Kannada classic Ranganayaki. With a small budget, the team pulled off a film that did justice to its genre without compromising on the writing and production.

The film’s ending has become a big talking point. “Many people confessed that they didn’t understand the climax, yet it was fun for them to watch Blink. Some discussed whether we had left any logical loopholes. The Kannada film industry hadn’t greatly explored the sci-fi genre, and we were happy with how people decoded several of the Easter eggs hidden in the movie,” says Srinidhi.

Producer Ravichandra AJ, a data engineer, banked on clever promotional strategies. Instead of treading the usual path of several promotional interviews, he believed in seizing the strong buzz immediately after the release.

“We ensured at least 30 videos of the audience response were out on our different social media sites everyday. We saw fans recommending the film to people on X and Instagram. After the first weekend, we shared a form on social media, asking people to mention the city they wish to see the movie. We got around 25000 responses. Based on the data, we emailed multiplexes, asking them to provide more shows. They responded positively because the film had maintained its good buzz,” explains Mr. Ravichandra.

A still from ‘Blink’.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Srinidhi says the Kannada audience is ready for fresh attempts. “The industry needs to believe that people want to watch such movies. If you look at the Malayalam industry, they have already made four films in 2024 that are worthy of discussion. Our (Kannada) films should be discussed and decoded as well. When we interacted with people outside theatres showing Blink, many said they had watched a Kannada film after 4-5 years. We are in danger of losing our audiences,” says Srinidhi.

Ravichandra, a native of Kalaburagi, is a proud producer of a daring film. “When we approached several producers and distributors, they said this film won’t survive. But we persisted in making a film never attempted in our industry. We are glad we pulled it off.”