Audio of Upendra film ‘A’ sold 15 lakh cassettes, says Lahari Velu

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By Shashiprasad S M

January 18, 2023

While the Kannada film industry is back in the limelight with films like KGF and Kantara, cult classic A, released 25 years ago, redefined filmmaking.

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G Thulasiram Laharivelu aka Lahari Velu, spoke exclusively to South First on how the audio cassette of the film sold like hot cakes, and much more.

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The entire process of making A was no less than a herculean task, from the budget to casting. For many, A was their debut as technicians and artists.

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A introduced Chandini as the heroine, Guru Kiran as a composer, and HC Venugopal as a cinematographer and even Jagganath and Manjunath as producers.

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The film ran for months. The dubbed Telugu version clocked 100 days at the box office. The craze was such that it created ripples in Japan as well.

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It was reported that since the movie ran houseful for weeks, the producers of other movies staged protests, some even going to court.

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After none were ready to buy the audio rights of the movie, Upendra and the producers finally approached Lahari Music.

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“The quality of the tape cassette they gave me was pathetic. It was way below the quality of the pirated cassettes sold on the streets back then,” said Lahari Velu.

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“After listening to it on more than one occasion, I kind of started liking it a lot. I said I liked the tunes of the songs, but the quality of the music was not that great.”

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“I, however, said that three songs — Mari Kannu, Helkoke Onduru, and Sum Sumne — would be a huge hit, and the other two would go along with the storyline.”

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For 50 days, they gave away 25 free cassettes for every 100 cassettes purchased. It now holds the fifth highest record of cassettes sold under the label at 15 lakh cassettes.

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