All is not right with this film

If one goes by the claims on the

Kannada

film

Lodde

, the proverb that says failure is an orphan doesn't seem to hold true.The film starring

Komal

Kumar released in July 2015 and has been largely forgotten after it failed to make the necessary impact at the box office. But reviving its memory is the the 'co-producer' of the film who now claims ownership rights to the film's commercial exploitation.

TR Yogesh is the perfect example of what happens when lure of films trumps objectivity. Yogesh is a betel leaf trader from Hassan. He turned 'co-producer' for the film produced by TK Manjunath. 'I invested most of the money for the film.My total investment was Rs 2.24 crore,' he says.What he has to show for that is an agreement from the producer which makes Yogesh the virtual owner of the film.

The list of 'ownership' areas runs into three pages. It not only gives Yogesh distribution rights in theatres but also nearly 200 different 'rights' from 'pay per view' to 'mobile ga ming'. But unfortunately for Yogesh, he has no idea what most of them even mean.

Though he had the rights to the film, Yogesh does not even know how many theatres the film released in and how much money it collected at the box office. 'I am told by the distributor that the film had a deficit at the theatres and there would be no money coming from it. I have rights to hundreds of different things but do not know what to do with them. I was happy when I was a betel leaves trader.Just one film turned my life upside down. Some people even asked for the satellite telecast rights of the film but I do not know whom to trust. Both Manjunath (the official producer) and Suresh (director) are not responding to me,' he says.

Though he invested over Rs 2crore in the film, Yogesh got to watch the film only after it released. Apart from the agreement copy, Yogesh also has the harddisc of the film to show for his investment. While everyone else associated with the film have abandoned it, Yogesh is now claiming ownership over it.