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Booked: Pavin shows off his tickets |
If you're wondering who won the much hyped Phoonk contest, which dared one to sit through the Ram Gopal Varma horror movie alone and win Rs 5 lakh, the answer is no one yet.
Pavin Ponanna, a Kodava who runs an outdoor advertising business in Bangalore, took up the Phoonk challenge. He had seen it on a Kannada TV channel. He managed to sit through the entire film last night for 9.45 pm show.
He wasn't promised the cash after he walked out smiling as ever.
"But I'm not doing this for the sake of Rs 5 lakh. I was never afraid of watching a film," said Pavin.
"The movie is not scary at all. It was good, entertaining, and except for one scene where Sudeep sees his reflection in a mirror, there's nothing scary about it. Only the background score is a little spooky."
"It was more about the Kodava pride. I wanted to show Kodavas are a brave lot and the movie challenge gave me an opportunity to prove that a mere film cannot scare us," he said.
"We are not superstitious people," he told the MiD DAY reporter. "And we don't care about black magic."
What will Pavin do if he gets the prize money? "I'll give it to charity," he said.
Kodavas Noble and gentle lot
Kodavas - The Kodavas (earlier called Coorgis) are an ethnic group found in Kodagu, merged with Karnataka in 1956 and . They constituted the martial nobility and gentry in the past. Originally thought to have migrated from elsewhere many centuries ago, their racial origin remains shrouded in mystery as they are ethnically and culturally distinct from the other peoples and communities of south India.
They are mainly landlords and cultivators. Kodavas mostly live in Kodagu district, as well as in Bangalore Mysore.
Kodavas believe in rebirth and second birth, and worship their ancestors. They believe a dead person's body and soul should be given a respectful farewell.
Kannada films based on Kodava culture
Muthina Haara (1990)
Mungaru Male (2006)
