Films of Karnataka

The Cinema of Karnataka encompasses movies made in the Indian state of Karnataka. Most of the movies are made in the Kannada language, with a handful of them in Konkani or Tulu. While not as large as Bollywood, Kannada films form an important component of the Cinema of India.

The most popular actor in Kannada films was late Dr.Rajkumar or annavru, as he is known to his fans. He had acted in over 200 movies and is a recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

Other actors, actresses, directors and producers in Kannada films include doyens like B.R. Pantulu, G.V. Iyer, Gubbi Veeranna, Balakrishna, Puttanna Kanagal, Sunil kumar desai and over the last few decades Vishnuvardhan, Ambarish,Shivarajkumar, Aarathi, Bharathi, Manjula, Ravichandran, Shankar Nag, Anant Nag, Girish Karnad, Girish Kasaravalli, M.P. Shankar, (Late)Vajramuni, Upendra, and Narasimha raju.

Music directors who have made their mark in Kannada films include M. Ranga Rao, G. K. Venkatesh, the duo Rajan & Nagendra, Sathyam, C. Ashwath, Hamsalekha, and T.G. Lingappa. Lyrics of Kannada film songs have been penned by Chi. Udayashankar, R.N. Jay agopal, Hamsalekha, and Doddarange Gowda among others. Playback singers in Kannada films have mostly been from outside the state like Dr. K.J Yesudas, Dr. P.B. Sreenivos, SP Balasubramanyam, S. Janaki and P. Susheela. Dr.Rajkumar, has however sung hundreds of very melodious songs in those movies where he himself has starred as the hero, starting from the mid 1970's. His voice is described as "Kogilay Khanta" (voice of nightingale) and is as good as any main stream singers voice. Recently, local artists like B.R. Chaya, Rajesh Krishnan and Manjula Gururaj have also made their mark while Udit Narayan, Chitra and Shankar Mahadevan have also started performing for Kannada films.

History of Kannada Cinema

Nineteen thirty-one saw the emergence of talking pictures in the regional languages of South India with the release of Kalidas, primarily in Tamil, and Bhakta Prahlada in Telugu. In 1934, the first talkies in Kannada appeared: Sathi Sulochana, followed by Bhakta Dhruva (aka Dhruva Kumar). The first Malayalam talkie, Balan, came out four years later.

Both Sathi Sulochana and Bhakta Dhruva were major successes. But prospective filmmakers in Karnataka were handicapped by the lack of studios and technical crews. Sathi Sulochana was shot in Kolhapur at the Chatrapathi studio; most filming, sound recording, and post-production was done in Madras (now Chennai). It was difficult, as well, to find financial backing for new film projects in the region; thus, very few movies in Kannada were released during the early years of Indian sound cinema.

The 1950s will be remembered as the decade that introduced the doyen of Kannada cinema - Dr.Rajkumar. Rajkumar, originally known as Mutthuraj was a theatre artist, discovered by HLN Simha. HLN offered him a lead role in the mythological movie, Bedara Kannappa. The movie proved to be a blockbuster and signalled the arrival of a new star. It also launched comedian Narasimharaju and director G.V.Iyer.

Even after the success of Bedara Kannappa, Kannada film industry remained stagnant. Lack of financiers, technicians and studios proved to be a hindrance to film making. Rajkumar, along with Narasimharaju and G.V.Iyer decided to form a partnership and produce movies. The partnership lasted for only a couple of movies. Ranadhira Kanteerava was one such successful joint venture. The majority of the films during this decade were either mythological or historical in nature.

The 1970s and the '80s is heralded as the Golden Age of Kannada cinema. It was also the period that witness the birth of alternate cinema or parallel cinema. Along with Bengali and Malayalam cinemas, Kannada cinema spearheaded the parallel cinema movement in . B V Karanth's Chomana Dudi - an evocative film on caste distinctions, Girish Karnad's Kaadu and Girish Kasaravalli's Ghata shraddha spearheaded the Kannada parallel cinema. Vamshavruksha, Paniyamma, Kadu Kudure, Hamsageethe, Accident, Akramana, Mooru Dhaarigalu, Tabarana Kathe, Bannadha Vesha, were some of the important movies of this decade.

Girish Kasarvalli, a gold medalist from the Pune's FTII, first film Ghata shraddha in 1977, won him the National award for best film. He has won the National award for best film four times including for his latest film Dweepa. His award winning films include Akramana(1979), Mooru Dhaarigalu (1981),Tabarana Kathe (1987), Bannadha Vesha (1989), Mane (1989), Kraurya (1996), Taayi Saaheba (1998) and Dweepa (2002). Girish Karnad's Kaadu (1973), Ondanondu Kaladalli (1978), M.S.Sathyu's Kanneshwara Rama (1977), Chithegu Chinthe (1978), Pattabhi Rama Reddy's Samskara (1970) were some the important movies of this decade.

This decade also witness the rise of Puttanna Kanagal, who is widely acknowledged as the greatest director in Kannada film history. His movies like Bellimoda, Gejje Pooje, Sharapanjara Sakshatkara, Nagara Havu bought new style of film making which acted as a bridge between commercial and parallel cinema. In a bid to popularise film making, the Government of Karnataka in the 1980s granted a 50 percent tax exemption to Kannada films completely made in Karnataka and it increased the subsidy amount to Kannada films.

The 1990s is seen as the nadir of Kannada cinema. Directors failed to replicate the success of the 1970s and '80s. Films were being churned out at a rapid pace, with little emphasis on script and characterization. The parallel cinema movement was all but forgotten. This decade also saw a massive influx of remake movies in Kannada. Every department of film making - direction, acting, and cinematography was sacrificed by unscrupulous producers for quick bucks. Kannada cinema was viewed by outsiders as an industry churning out cheap remakes, with little or no entertainment value. Also, Kannada film industry had to face threats from neighbouring Tamil and Telugu films and a resurgent Hindi cinema industry. Hardly four to five Kannada films managed success at the box office. The reason for this, Kannada film producers allege, that the Karnataka government does not have a clear-cut film policy; it does not provide the necessary infrastructure such as studios, film cities, theatres and residential layouts for artistes for the Kannada filmdom to grow. Well-known actor Anant Nag summed up the situation in a disparaging remark, stating that onion and garlic traders were turning to film production. He wanted to stress that people with little knowledge about cinema are entering the field and perverting it.

The Karnataka Film Exhibitors Federation reveals that two years ago, cinema halls used to witness about 50 to 55 per cent attendance and now it has dropped to 28-30 per cent. Rampant piracy, boom in satellite television can also be attributed to the decline of Kannada films.

The year 2005 witnessed stupendous box office success for Kannada film industry. Starting with Shivarajkumar starrer Jogi, which grossed Rs. 35 crore at the box office, films like Anna Tangi, Namma Basava, Amruthadhare, Deadly Soma, Nenapirali performed well at the box office. An estimated four of every five released had succeeded at the box office. But the beginning of the year 2006 has proven to be a disaster for Kannada film industry as promising flicks like Shree, Mathā, Shubam failed miserably at the box office. Sadly, this proved to be the trend rather than an exception. On September 29th of 2006, a sombre meeting of Kannada cinema producers was convened in Bangalore . It was decided that production of new Kannada films was to be suspended for one year, starting September 30. This decision took note of the failure of 49 of the 50 movies produced this year.

Courtesy:- Wikipedia