Mungaru Male

• • Director Yograj Bhat, who had earlier dabbled in advertising and corporate films, began working on the script of Mungaru Male. He read the script to Puneeth Rajkumar and Ramya who rejected it.

• • Ganesh introduced Yograj Bhat to producer E. Krishnappa, who agreed to finance the film. Bhat cast a relatively unknown actress, Pooja Gandhi, for the lead female role in the film.

• • Approximately 80% of the scenes were filmed in the rain.

• • Shooting locations included major parts in Sakaleshpura, Madikeri, Jog Falls Sagara, and Gadag. Krishna, the cameraman, was a part-time photographer prior to the film.

• • The success of Mungaru Male turned Ganesh and Pooja Gandhi into the most sought-after actors in Kannada cinema. Ganesh had back-to-back commercial successes in Cheluvina Chittara (2007), Hudugaata (2007) and Krishna (2007). Ganesh and Bhat delivered two consecutive films that emerged as commercial successes, the other being Gaalipata (2008).

• • The film also proved to be a launchpad for the career of actress Pooja Gandhi. And Gandhi also delivered back-to-back commercial superhit films such as Milana (2007), Krishna (2007), Taj Mahal (2008) and Budhivanta (2008).

• • It was the first film in India (for any language) to be screened continuously for over one year in a multiplex, and holds the record for the longest-running film at a multiplex in addition to having one of the highest recorded box-office collections in Kannada cinema.

• • According to the Bangalore Mirror, it was the first Kannada film to cross the ₹50 crore box office collection mark.

• • It was the first film to run over 865 days in the history of Karnataka. and collected an estimated ₹50 – 75 crore (₹500–750 million).

• • The Income Tax department alleged that the movie had collected ₹67.5 crore (US$8.5 million) and demanded tax on that amount.

• • It ran for a record 460 days at the PVR Multiplex. It also holds a national record in Indian Cinema for running for more than one year in PVR.

• • Producer E Krishnappa and distributor Jayanna were raided by the Income Tax department multiple times, who claimed that the film had collected ₹67.5 crore and demanded tax for that amount. After Mungaru Male, two of Ganesh’s next films also became super hits.

• • Yograj Bhat wrote about the making of Mungaru Male in the book Haage Summane, which was released on day of the silver jubilee celebration for the movie.

• • The movie was remade in Telugu in 2008 as Vaana, in Bengali in 2008 as Premer Kahini , in Odia in 2009 as Romeo – The Lover Boy, and in Marathi in 2017 as Premay Namaha.

• • Mungaru Male sequel was announced in July 2014 that Shashank would be directing the sequel of the film, titled Mungaru Male 2. Ganesh reprised his role in the film, produced by J. Gangadhar under the banner of E. K. Pictures. The sequel was released in 2016.

Mungaru Male Movie Tracklist

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	“Onde Ondu Saari”	Kaviraj	Kunal Ganjawala, Priya Himesh	4:32
2.	“Mungaru Maleye”	Yogaraj Bhat	Sonu Nigam	4:49
3.	“Kunidu Kunidu Baare”	Jayant Kaikini	Udit Narayan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Stephen	4:30
4.	“Anisuthide”	Jayant Kaikini	Sonu Nigam	4:36
5.	“Suvvi Suvvali”	Hrudaya Shiva	Hemanth Kumar	4:38
6.	“Ivanu Geleyanalla”	Hrudaya Shiva	Shreya Ghoshal	3:47
7.	“Araluthiru Jeevada Geleya”	Jayant Kaikini	Shreya Ghoshal	4:38
Total length:				31:30

Awards and nominations

The film was awarded the Best Kannada Film award for the year 2006–07 by the Government of Karnataka (seven awards in total from the Government of Karnataka). It won three Filmfare awards: best music, best direction and best film. However, it did not win a single national award from the Government of India.

Ceremony	Category	Nominee	Result
Karnataka State Award	Best Film	Mungaru Male	Won
	Best Director	Yogaraj Bhat	Won
	Best Dialogue Writer	Yogaraj Bhat	Won
	Best Cinematographer	S. Krishna	Won
	Best Music Director	Mano Murthy	Won
	Best Sound Recording	Tukaram	Won
	Best Lyrisist	Jayanth Kaikini	Won
54th Filmfare Awards South	Best Director	Yogaraj Bhat	Nominated
	Best film	Mungaru Male	Won
	Best Playback Singer – Male	Sonu Nigam	Nominated
	Best Actor	Ganesh	Nominated
	Best Debut Actress	Pooja Gandhi	Nominated
	Best Playback Singer – Female	Shreya Ghoshal	Nominated