Man behind Kerala’s first viral videos, hopes to release a dubbed version

The scene is set in a picturesque landscape in Kerala. A young girl pops out of nowhere and gleefully gallops along with even younger backup dancers. Chasing her is hero Santhosh Pandit, looking as stiff as the oversized coat he wears. Sometime during the course of this song — which goes “Night, auspicious night ... from now on, we will have sleepless nights” — Pandit wraps his arms around the heroine’s bosom in a death grip, attempts to moonwalk, and exhibits disjointed limb movements that masquerade as dance steps. The absurdness of the song is heightened by haphazard camera shots, extremely poor editing and accompanying screechy, grating vocals, all by Pandit.

This is no spoof. The YouTube video of the song ‘Rathri Subharathri’ from the film Krishnanum Radhayum has managed to garner 1,50,847 views. A quick scan of the viewers’ comments, however, can make you blush like a schoolgirl. Barring the rare compliment, extremely profane cuss words are hurled at Pandit, a favourite seems to be ‘madman’ and its synonyms.

Another YouTube video where a group of unruly youngsters mercilessly abuse him over a phone call has been viewed 4,44,459 times. A Facebook group called ‘I hate Santhosh Pandit’, with the actor’s face and a Jockey underwear as its display picture, has 5,214 (and counting) ‘likes’.

Yet, at a time when major stars deliver one box office dud after another, Pandit’s Krishnanum Radhayum, made on a shoestring budget of Rs5 lakh and released in 2011, went on to make (by Pandit’s own estimates) more than Rs2 crore at the box office. Pandit funded his debut movie by selling off his property, working with 100 newcomers, and providing accomodation for the movie’s cast and crew at his home. Besides acting and singing in the film, he also handled all major departments like production, direction, editing, script writing, music and lyrics.

The Santhosh Pandit phenomenon hit Kerala sometime last year, when he released the song ‘Rathri Subharathri’ almost four months before the film made it to theatres. The song went viral: its overall awfulness was so talked about that everyone had to watch the film in the theatre. Pandit’s success provoked extreme reactions. While a few ridiculed him and his now-trademark jacket on national television, a few others recognised him as a shrewd marketer, who used the internet to publicise his movie. Now, driven by Krishnanum Radhayum’s success, Pandit plans to fly to Mumbai in search of artists to dub the film in Hindi and release it in northern India next year.

Aiming for Bollywood?
“I don’t take calls from unknown numbers,” explains Pandit, when he finally responds to our six calls and text message. “I get too many calls from people asking me to launch them in my next film.” The shrewdness shines early on: he wants to know whether we watched Krishnanum Radhayum (“Why not? It is on YouTube!”).

“Four or five generations ago, my family lived in Uttar Pradesh, so the language is not a problem for me,” Pandit explains his desire to dub the film in Hindi. “Besides, I have an MA in Hindi.” This sounds dubious, considering Pandit also claims to have a diploma in civil engineering, degrees in English, German and even an LLB.

Although Pandit is reluctant to delve into the details of the dubbing projects, he admits that he nurses the big Bollywood dream and brushes aside our questions on how he hopes to break into the impenetrable film industry. “So what? I didn’t know anything about the Malayalam film industry when I first started here. Now, I get so many calls from people in Maharashtra, asking for Krishnanum Radhayum to be shown there. But first, I have to complete my current projects before I can seriously start planning and talking about dubbing the movie.”

Here to stay
What is most perplexing about Pandit’s success is that he didn’t fade into oblivion, happy with his 15 minutes of fame. He is already working on his second film Superstar Santhosh Pandit, and has serious plans for a third.

“My funda is simple — do not fear the internet,” explains Pandit. “Why do big budget films with big stars flop? It is because songs are released on TV only once the movie is done. That is too late. When I released ‘Rathri Subharathi’ on YouTube while shooting Krishnanum Radhayum, the song created enough curiosity, which persuaded people to watch it in the theatre. I didn't release my songs on TV. Also, I sell the internet rights of all my movies to a company that sells slots for advertising to other companies.” The idea seems to have worked rather well for him. Pandit released Superstar Santhosh Pandit’s songs on YouTube four months back, even though the movie is still being filmed. These videos have already garnered around 1,52,783 views.

For all the ‘I don’t care’ dialogues he boldy fired off on discussion panels hosted by TV channels, Pandit admits that the criticism can get hurtful at times. “What does my wearing a coat have to do with cinema? You can tell me that you do not like my cinema, but not that I cannot make such cinema. I am not making my movies with your money, am I? These TV channels invite me for discussions. But once there, people say I have psychological problems."

The sentimental Pandit, however, disappears quickly. “Have you watched the songs of Superstar Santhosh Pandit?” he asks. “No? Why? Please watch it.”