Opinion | Darshan, A Seller of Violence and Gore, Is Just A Symptom; Rot In Kannada Cinema Runs Deep

Kannada film star Darshan is behind bars. Accused of planning and murdering one of his fans, Renukaswamy, Darshan is now spending days and nights in a lockup.

Life has crashed for him in just one week. Those who have followed his journey as an actor or interacted with him say they are not surprised.

Often termed power and fame drunk, Darshan has been the exact opposite of most Kannada film stars who are humble, accessible and friendly.

Known to be brash and arrogant, he has hit the headlines for one or the other act of violence many times in the past 10-15 years. He had to cool his heels in a jail for almost a month for allegedly beating his now estranged wife Vijayalakshmi.

But Darshan has a huge fan following, perhaps a reflection of the changed culture in Kannada cinema. Most of his fans are from the lower classes of the society who have a grudge against the system, which they feel is unfair to them. Darshan has carefully built a strong persona around him and it has so far served both well.

Before the 1990s, the Kannada cinema was different. Led by the late thespian Rajkumar, it commanded enormous respect. A hero like Rajkumar abhorred violence and was against its glorification in cinema.

The younger generation, which was not content with mild violence in cinema, was looking for something more serious. The economic liberalisation had opened up many new opportunities and they could get the content from anywhere in the World.

A new star called Upendra appeared on the Kannada celluloid promoting only violence and gore. He became a superhit overnight. His movies were different from the stale, dull films of the past and full of violence, gore, immorality, rebellious themes and fantasy. Some of his films earned a huge money in the box office and Upendra was the new sensation.

Darshan is actually a practitioner of that kind of cinema. Selling his struggle and family tragedies to his fans, he earned their sympathy and respect. His fan base grew irrespective of the performance of his movies in the box office. He started boasting that his fan base is bigger than venerable Rajkumar.

But there was a stark contrast. While Rajkumar’s fan base was orderly and mostly civilised, Darshan’s was not.

Those who harboured a grudge against society became his fans and cheered every on and off screen acts of the star who had already gone rogue. When he allegedly battered his wife, they stood by him. When he allegedly abused fellow stars, they cheered him and booed his rivals in the cinema industry.

It gave him the much-needed steroid. Insiders say he continued his reckless life, disregarding any advice to be sober.

The success, money and fans had made him a monster, while, sadly, he thought he was a messiah. His blind Bhakts believed in his greatness.

Amid charges of battering his fan to death with the help of other fans and his mistress, Darshan is now staring at a bleak future. An alleged alcoholic, Darshan is unlikely to come out of this. Even if he manages to hoodwink our much-maligned criminal justice system, life won’t be the same for him.

Something is rotten in Kannada cinema. The rot is too deep and Darshan is just a symptom.

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.