Interview | Is Yograj Bhat feeling the burden of expectations?

Filmmaker Yograj Bhat. , Photo Credit: Ravichandran N/X

In 2006, Yograj Bhat brought the crowd back to theaters with his refreshing Mungaru man (Ganesh and Pooja Gandhi starring), Which broke several box office records on the way for 1 year run in theaters. Bhat and his friend Suri (World) There were fresh additions to an industry struggling with a creative rote.

Close after two decades, the furnace is working hard to impress the changing audience. His latest, Honorary Kadalu, The current generation is relevant what he says. The film starring Sumuha, Anjali Anish and Rashika Shetty hit the screen on March 28, 2025.

“This is about a young MBBS student who faces pressure to be a parent and society to succeed, so much that he starts hating the system,” he says about the film. The director opens on the challenges of strengthening themselves and maintaining the trust of the audience on them.

Excerpt from conversation:

Is it not unfair that every film is compared to ‘Mungru Purush’?

Whatever I do, it is always compared to Mungaru man. I have also met those who have told me that I have not made a better film than this. So, the audience is difficult, and I am very afraid of them. It is good that they do not take them. If I have a kind attitude towards them, I will lose them permanently. They will start relying on films made in other languages. This is the same to choose the food of the restaurant because you are cooked at home.

Have you found any way to handle expectations?

Imagine a film with an impact of six blockbuster films. This ‘Mungru Purush’ did the industry. If you reach the summit at the beginning of your career, your graph should go beyond that. In a way, it is good to know that people wait for your films. At the same time, I cannot stop making films for fear of expectations. If I had to avoid this landscape, I should give up filmmaking forever and start a restaurant.

Sumukh and Rashika Shetty in ‘Mand Kadalu’. , Photo Credit: DBEATSMUSICWORLD/YouTube

You have been in the industry for two decades. When you see the youth succeed, do you feel the pressure to match them?

People are generous with new people, and this is appropriate. They are accepted with Grace Marx for their efforts. My minute blunders are highlighted and criticized because I am very experienced. When a young filmmaker is successful, I receive phone calls from critics and industry members, who asks me to feel inspired by them. My works are compared to them. He said, I have ralled behind many talented crook directors because I too was a young man with big energy to change the industry once.

You created two back-to-back entertainers (‘Mungaru Purusha’ and ‘Galipata’) without a certain plot structure. Did you perform your best as a writer?

I can never call myself an ideal writer, but I think I have broken poetry/song writing. While writing a song, I wrestle with my thoughts and bring my maximum creativity to produce seven to eight lines. Many things are unheard of in a song, yet people must understand the lines. A song cannot be very academic. I think I have learned to balance these two aspects. However, I am still learning to write the right script. There are hundreds of books on writing the screenplay. When do you introduce a struggle? Should the hero always have a purpose? Why should commercial films have a love story? I keep thinking about these aspects of storytelling. I have been questioned about why I do not stick to the so -called traditional grammar of a film structure. I want to try a film on the unexpected feelings of humans.

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Do you still write on the set? Directors like Wetrimaran in Tamil are favorable for location and actors and write dialogues on the set …

I started writing dialogues on the set after seeing Suri Wild (2009). The film won the State Award for Best Screen. When I saw the film on the editing table, I was surprised to see how effective the dialogues were. I wrote Mungru Purush, Pancharangi, Paramatma, AndDrama on the set. I had an original one-line story for those films. In a way, it is effective because when you are comfortable, you sometimes get your best. I stopped this habit as the team suffered a lot. This is torture to wait for the actors to wait for dialogues as they are ready to apply a scene. I had to respect his time and energy. A slight modification for dialogues is fine, but I have stopped taking the risk of writing the entire film on the set.

Sumukh and Anjali Anish in ‘Mand Kadalu’. , Photo Credit: DBEATSMUSICWORLD/YouTube

Music waves continue to make your songs. Can you ever film without singing?

I keep thinking about a film without a song. However, I have a special relationship with people as a lyricist. They expect greatly from my songs. Leaving music in films would be like cutting a strong link with the audience. Nevertheless, I can use songs as a promotional tool and make a film without any song.

Over the years, Pooni Rajkumar-Abhinit ‘Paramthama’ has been your most talked about film. Was you disappointed when it did not do well in theaters?

I wish it was good when it was released. So many scenes of the film have been shared on social media today. Recently, we visited a medical college to promote Mandalu. After interacting with the students, I was smoking outside the college when I saw a student looked at my back. She looked upset for some reason. When she saw me, she kept smiling as she said that she is ‘Paramathma’. This is the influence of the film. For some, whatever movies I do, Paramathma His favorite will be. Perhaps, when the film was released, people did not have the mindset to take the subject of the film. Some films will eventually find their audience. Paramathma He has achieved.