Man with the Midas touch

He is known as the man with the Midas touch in the Kannada film industry, for everything he touched turned into gold! After a much appreciated debut, he stormed ahead to the forefront with his second movie turning out to be a huge blockbuster and five consecutive movies becoming successful hits! Such was the dream run that the Kannada film industry christened him the 'Golden Star', a rare honor for an outsider. Aravind G Shivkamal traces Ganesh's meteoric rise to fame!

It has been more than four years since Golden Star Ganesh turned a full-time hero, these days he not only produces films, but also directs them. The actor came up the hard way - acting in school dramas, winning regional theatre awards, and knocking the doors of innumerable producers with interesting scripts. Ganesh is among the handful of people who have tasted success without any godfather in the film industry. He literally started his career from scratch, hitch-hiking trucks to reach Bangalore in search of livelihood and acting on the small screen to realize his dream of stardom.

As a regular on the school theatre circuit, his exemplary dialogue delivery impressed local TV bosses and he landed himself a show titled 'Comedy Time'. The show became a runaway hit and his innovative approach in engaging with the callers earned him the moniker 'Comedy Time' Ganesh. Once he left the channel, the show producers couldn't find a worthy replacement and eventually, they had to re-brand the show. Such was his charisma and exuberance on-screen!

His inimitable style on 'Comedy Time' led him to several minor and character roles in Kannada films.

Producers gave him opportunities owing to his immense success on the small screen. Slowly but thoroughly bitten by the filmy bug, Ganesh was successful in bagging his first lead role in a Kannada film - Chellata. The movie, with shades of comedy, was an average hit but it did announce the arrival of Ganesh on the big screen finally. The buzz in the industry was that 'another TV actor' had been promoted. No one even thought in their wildest dreams that they would have to scurry for his call-sheet in the days to come.

Call it a combination of factors or luck, director Yogaraj Bhat, whose previous two films were failures, had an interesting project on hand. Though he had narrated the story to leading actors, he did not find any takers. Ganesh, who happened to hear the story, planned to take it forward and convinced E Krishnappa, a politician and real estate developer, to listen to the story. That project eventually became Mungaru Male, the highest grossing Kannada film of all time.

The success of Mungaru Male changed forever the fate of three people – Ganesh, Yogaraj Bhat and the film's female lead Pooja Gandhi. The movie's success opened the floodgates for Ganesh and Pooja while producers queued up before Yogaraj's office.

Ganesh's next five films – Hudugaata, Cheluvina Chittara, Krishna, Gaalipata and Aramane were hugely successful. In a span of two years, he worked with leading directors like S Narayan, MD Sridhar and D Rajendra Babu. He had a second outing with Yogaraj Bhat through Gaalipata and was literally flying high till 2009. Post Aramane, Ganesh suffered a series of failures with his films Bombaat, Sangama and Circus tanking his good fortunes at the BO. He maintained a low profile for a few months. Meanwhile, on the personal front, he tied the knot with his girlfriend Shilpa and expanded the family.

It was now time for Ganesh to rework his strategy. He decided to produce a film casting himself in the lead. The challenge of directing Ganesh fell on Preetham Gubbi, who wrote the story for Mungaru Male. The venture turned out to be successful with Ganesh's maiden home production Maleyali Jotheyali becoming a hit in 2009. The movie recreated the demand for the Golden Star. But success once again eluded him with his next two films – Ullasa Utsaha and Eno Onethara, failing to make an impression on his fans.

In the meantime, Ganesh started his second home venture titled Kool. He roped in M Mahesh, who had directed Eno Onethara, for the new project. Ace cinematographer Rathnavelu, who had earlier worked with Ganesh in Gaalipata was also part of the project. Ten days into shooting Kool, serious differences cropped up between Shilpa Ganesh, the film producer and M Mahesh. The latter chose to walk out of the project jeopardizing its future. With no other option, Ganesh stepped into the director's shoes to complete the film. The development took the Kannada film industry by surprise.

Currently, Kool is in its postproduction and will be released in a couple of months. He has two other projects on hand – Maduve Mane and another untitled film. During the controversy, Ganesh kept aloof with his producer-wife Shilpa taking over the reins of damage control. As if one controversy wasn't enough, the producers of Eno Onethara accused Ganesh of staying away from the film's promotions, a charge vehemently denied by the actor. Earlier, his wedding had also become a controversial issue with leading Kannada newspapers running damaging stories. Despite all this, Ganesh has never lost his cool. He attributes his patience to his simple upbringing and values. He continues to sport a friendly smile always and interacts with fans on the sets. Hope Kool changes Ganesh's fortunes once again. May he regain his Midas touch!