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KM Chaitanya remains one of the most distinctive voices in Kannada cinema, largely because of the lasting impact of his cult crime drama ' Aa Dinagalu .' Not only was the movie well-received, but for several years, he held the epithet of a “trendy underworld director.” Although most filmmakers would have striven to repeat the success of this crime flick, Chaitanya avoided repeating gangster genre traits and rapidly experimented with different narratives. He said that decision stemmed from a desire to avoid repetition and the inevitable comparisons with a film that had already achieved iconic status.

Why the obsession with big films worries KM Chaitanya

Today, as the industry celebrates large-scale spectacles and box-office numbers, Chaitanya offers a measured and practical perspective during his chat with The Variety. He believes the existing system of having several blockbuster hits every year is neither economically viable nor artistically sustainable. According to him, no film industry can consistently produce numerous high-budget blockbusters without facing long-term consequences. For Chaitanya, cinema should not be reduced to scale alone; the strength of storytelling and a balanced production ecosystem keep an industry healthy.

KM Chaitanya on the audience's changing habits and growing costs

The director also pointed to the post-pandemic shift in audience behaviour. The rising price of trips, cinema tickets, and snacks in theatres has turned watching a movie in a cinema into a rare but scheduled event. With the popularity of streaming, there’s increasing pressure on filmmakers to create more “event films” that provide larger-than-life spectacles. However, as per Chaitanya, this particular audience want big spectacles, not necessarily good stories, which squeezes mid-budget and unconventional stories out of existence.

KM Chaitanya returns to the underworld genre

These contemplations appear as KM Chaitanya returns to the underworld genre with ' Balaramana Dinagalu ,' starring Vinod Prabhakar in the lead role. The film, conceived as a fictional story incorporating details from the lives of actual underworld personalities described in many books and articles, is also his small tribute to the genre that helped establish him as a director, but told in his own way. For him, the assignment is not about the scale of the movie but a personal story that is well-narrated. This means that good content indeed beats good scale, which is why cinema has the power to endure.