Cinema of Karnataka
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The Cinema of Karnataka, sometimes colloquially referred to as Sandalwood[1][2] 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. Kannada films form an important component of the Cinema of India.
The most popular actor in Kannada films was late Dr.Rajkumar. He has acted in over 200 movies and is a recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. The speciality of RajKumar was his spectacle of voice with most versatile acting capabilities. His era was thronged with some of the superb comedian actors, music composers , directors , lyricists , script writers and cinematographers who collectively brought what is recorded as the golden era of Kannada Cinema.
Other actors, actresses, directors and producers in Kannada films include dozens like B.R. Pantulu, G.V.Iyer, Gubbi Veeranna, Balakrishna, Puttanna Kanagal, Sunil kumar desai and over the last few decades Vishnuvardhan, Ambarish, Shivarajkumar,Jayamala, Aarathi, Bharathi, Manjula, Ravichandran, Shankar Nag, Anant Nag, Girish Karnad, Girish Kasaravalli, M.P. Shankar, Vajramuni and Upendra. The most famous comedians in Kannada cinema have been Narasimharaju and Dwarakesh.
Music directors who have made their mark in Kannada films include R. Ratna, M. Venkata swamy, M. Ranga Rao, G. K. Venkatesh, Vijayabhaskar, the duo Rajan-Nagendra, Upendra Kumar, Sathyam, C. Aswath, Hamsalekha,Gurukiran and T.G. Lingappa. Lyrics of Kannada film songs have been penned by Chi. Udayashankar, R.N. Jayagopal, Hamsalekha, and Doddarange Gowda among others. Playback singers in Kannada films include Dr. K.J Yesudas, P.B. Sreenivas, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Rajesh Krishnan, Udit Narayan,Sonu Nigam,Kunal Ganjawala,Shreya Ghosal,Sunidhi Chauhan, B.R. Chaya, Pallavi, Nandita, 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.
There have been sad patches of Kannada Cinema- that is losing the most talented stars at their prime. Kalpana and Manjula of former years and Shankar Nag , Suneel , Nivedita Jain , ShashiKumar(survived) of the latter, disappearing at their prime and Aarathi and Sudha Rani fading out due to their personal life. And the recent one with actress Soundarya dying in a tragic plane accident.
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[edit] History of Kannada cinema
1931 saw the emergence of talking pictures in the regional languages of South India with the release of Kalidas. In 1934, the first talky in Kannada, Sati Sulochana,[3] followed by Bhakta Dhruva (aka Dhruva Kumar).
Both Sati Sulochana and Bhakta Dhruva were major successes. But prospective filmmakers in Karnataka were handicapped by the lack of studios and technical crews. Sati 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.
[edit] The 1950s and '60s
The 1950s will be remembered as the decade that introduced the doyen of Kannada cinema - Dr.Rajkumar. Rajkumar, originally known as Mutturaju was a theater 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 signaled 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.
[edit] The 1970s and '80s
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. Kannada cinema spearheaded the parallel cinema movement in India along with Bengali and Malayalam cinemas. 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, Prema Karanth's Phaniyamma, Kadu Kudure, Hamsageethe, Accident, Akramana, Mooru Dhaarigalu, Tabarana Kathe, Bannadha Vesha, were some of the important movies of this decade.
Girish Kasaravalli, 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.
[edit] Popular Artists from other Industries
- Prithviraj Kapoor - In the movie Sakshatkara
- Anil Kapoor - Debut movie as actor - Pallavi Anupallavi
- Mani Ratnam - Debut movie as director - Pallavi Anupallavi
- Rajinikanth - Debut movie as actor - Katha Sangama
- Kamal Hasan - In and out in movies like Rama Bhama Shyama
- Amitabh Bachchan - Amruthadhare
Almost all singers have given playback and female actors have acted in the movies from other industries.
[edit] Popular Actors who emigrated
- Arjun Sarja
- Prakash Rai
- Prabhu Deva and his brother - Sons of Mugur Sundar.
- Soundarya
- Atul Kulkarni
[edit] Present
The year 2005 witnessed stupendous box office success for Kannada film industry. Starting with Shivarajkumar starrer Jogi, which grossed Rs. 55 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.In early 2005 a huge hit boosted Kannada film Industry Jogi starring Shivraj kumar. The profits soared and there was happy mood in the Industry. There were many flicks which were moderate hits. Then came in last quarter of 2006 the huge blockbuster movie Mungaru Male, which shattered all records of the kannada film industry and grossed more than 25 crores, and is released even in many other countries like USA,UK,Australia.The other huge hit of 2007 is Duniya which is still doing good at the Box Office.In 2008 Kannada film industry saw many firsts.More and more films started to release out side the state and out side India.[4]The budget for Kannada films is now between 5-10 crores as against just 1-2 crore 3 years ago.
[edit] Cinematographers
Important Cinematographers of Kannada Cinema
B V Madhusudhan-"Daari tapida maga"
D.V.Raja Ram-"Bandhana"
B.C.GowriShankar-"Om"
S.Ramachandra-"Rishya Shringa","Ghatashradha".
G.S.Bhaskar - "Bannada vesha" , "Nagamandala",
Ramachandra Halkere - "Thaisaheba" ,"Dweepa".
G S V Seetharam of "Ekaangi" , "Aham Premaasmi"
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Sandalwood's Gain. Deccan Herald. January 23, 2006
- ^ Young talent applauded. Deccan Herald. December 28, 2003
- ^ "First film to talk in Kannada" article in The Hindu
- ^ "Bangalore: No Production of Kannada Films for One Year". DaijiWorld. 30 Sep. 2006
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