It was indeed a star studded evening in the City on Tuesday, wherein a galaxy of ‘stars’ descended on Mangalore for the Krishna janmashtami celebrations.

Actor Diganth Manchale and Sanjana Gandhi of ‘Mungaru Male’ fame, actor Tarun Chandra, who acted in ‘Hani Hani’ and ‘Geleya’, actress Sitara of ‘Geleya’ and choreographer Harsha were all present before the enthusiastic media at a press conference organised as part of their visit to City.

“It was a challenge to act in the Tulu movie ‘Kadala Mage’, while what I am today is due to ‘Mungaaru Male’, said actor Diganth, who is a BCom graduate and pursuing post graduate education in HR at Mahaveer Jain college.

“For me, roles need to be challenging, be it action or romance. I do not have any particular choice though,” he said adding that his remuneration has increased especially after acting in ‘Mungaaru Male’.

When asked whether he resents his role being too short in the movie, Diganth said, he wanted to act in the movie despite the role being short, while SMS 6260 did not work out well since it was just an experimental movie.

The actor who is aged 23 and has ‘Kareye Kogile’, a musical movie of Krishna Nadig in the pipeline said he has not yet planned to act in Hindi movies. The actor has a special affection towards Mangalore. He said, “Mangalore is one of my favourite places. I used to come here to participate in tournaments. People here are affectionate and polite and I also like the beaches and food here.”

For actress Sanjana Gandhi too, Lady Luck has smiled on her after ‘Mungaaru Male’. She has over nine movies in hand including ‘Kodagana Koli Nungitha’, ‘Hani Hani’ and ‘Krishna’. The actress who is basically from Mumbai, said “Kannada industry has become my first priority and I have decided not to take up projects from outside.

In fact, I have learnt 70 to 80 per cent of Kannada for this sake.” She first stepped into a Tamil movie and later was offered the Kannada movie. Shooting in the rain everyday for ‘Mungaaru Male’ was quite hectic, she added.

Upcoming actress Sitara who has acted in ‘Geleya’ and ‘O Priyathama’ said she prefers comedy and emotional subjects for acting. The actress who is basically from Udupi, was born and brought up in Bangalore. She felt that the atmosphere in Kannada film industry is quite friendly. 

Upcoming actor Tarun Chandra said his movie ‘Hani Hani’ will be released in November or December.

Choreographer cum director Harsha who too was present at the press meet said he takes 3 to 4 days to choreograph for a song. “Retakes do not matter. The frame beauty is taken into consideration and nowadays, all actors are good at dancing. Hence retakes do not become a problem,” he added.  The stars were in City as part of the Janmashtami celebrations organised by Kadri Cricketers, Friends Circle, Kadri and Kadri Youth Friends.