H₂O (2002 film)

H₂O was Upendra's return to the big screen after a hiatus of 2 years. Upon its audio release, a record number of audio cassettes and CDs were sold. The film created a new record and went on to do a business of more than ₹1 crore through audio sales. Soundtrack numbers like "I Wanna See My Darling", "Hoove Hoove", "Naa Ninna Bidalare", "Bida Byada", and "Dil Ilde" went on to top the charts.[4]

The film became controversial due to its content as the activists from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu demanded the film to be banned. Upendra was forced to compromise by dubbing Tamil dialogues in the film into Kannada and vice versa, to appease linguistics sentiments on both sides. Scenes containing flags of political parties were deleted, before its re-release.[2]

The film received highly positive reviews upon release. Critics applauded the way Upendra had managed to narrate a sensitive matter like the Kaveri River water dispute in a commercial way.[5]

H₂O completed 50 days of run in 28 theatres across Karnataka and also went on to complete 75 days of run in Bangalore, despite controversies and release in excessive number of theatres playing spoilsport. H₂O was a 'Semi Hit' at the box office.[6][7] Although a commercial success,[8][7] it turned out to be the least running film of Upendra till then in terms of long run by completing only 75 days of run. This was very less compared to his previous films like A (1998), Upendra (1999), Preethse (2000), all of which had completed more than 175 days of run. Unlike other Upendra films of that time, H₂O could not get a long run at the box office mainly due to negative controversies and temporary ban on the film.

However, irrespective of its under-performance, the distributors and exhibitors made huge business from H₂O.[9] Even though the distributors of H₂O earned huge profits and the film's collections were on par with other hit films of that time,[10][11] it was termed as a flop by the media because of the film not reaching expectations. Producer Dhanraj went on a strike against Upendra demanding free call-sheet from him, stating that he had suffered huge losses from the movie.[12]

However, H₂O continues to remain in the 'Hit' status among some section of the media and box office analysts.[10] Rajaram, one of the directors of the film, mentioned in an interview that "H₂O had a successful run at the box office, although the product couldn't reach the mass properly baked, for so many other reasons".[6] In an interview with TV9 in 2011, Upendra denied that H₂O was a failure. According to Upendra, the film got extra ordinary openings and collections at the box office, but could not get a long run beyond 75 days due to excessive release, mass distribution and controversies playing spoilsport. Upendra explained that a major chunk of H₂O's profits went to the distributors and exhibitors instead of the producer due to mass distribution and flawed marketing by the producer.[13]

The core-concept of the movie was re-used in the controversial 2016 Marathi movie Marathi Tigers - which incidentally was a triangular lovestory between a Marathi and a Kannadiga vying for the love of a girl called Seema (which literally means border)- thereby metaphorically referring the border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka.[14]