Karnataka   

Film industry: not a pretty picture

IT WAS a year of crisis for the Kannada film industry. First was the death of the greatest icon of Kannada cinema Dr. Rajkumar.

Secondly, of the 70 films produced this year with an overall budget of Rs. 150 crore, only five — My Autograph, Sevanthi Sevanthi, Chellata, Honeymoon Express and Jotejoteyali — made any impact at the box office. Of the major films that sank at the box office is M.S.R. Chitralaya's maiden venture Gandugali Kumara Rama that incurred a loss of over Rs. 4.5 crore.

An even bigger crisis hit the industry with serious differences between producers and the federation of Kannada cinema artistes, technicians and workers over issues of wages and workplace condition.

This has brought the industry to a grinding halt, with no new Kannada film launched since August 2006.

The only bright spots of the year were Girish Kasarvalli's Naayi Neralu, Jayamala's children film Tutthuri and Ajay Gowda's Nenapirali. They brought some respite to the crisis-ridden industry. While Naayi Neralu bagged the prestigious Karachi Film Festival award, Tutthuri won the Dhaka film festival award and Nenapirali won five major Filmfare awards.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

"Karnataka should progress with least social friction"
Mahishi is Chief Secretary; Srinivasan DGP
A saffron-tinted year
Pushing boundaries
Ride to school, girl
Mining for political gain?
Waiting for justice
A year etched in gold
Good score on the sporting front
Sons who did not shine
Film industry: not a pretty picture
Foiling terrorist designs
Rajkumar: end of an era
Where is my school?
Egging them on
Watch your head
Epidemic rears its head
Sterling performance
A heady greeting
The year gone by in Karnataka: the best of 2006...

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu