Academy president B V Rajaram said lifetime achievement award will be conferred on Shobha Venkatesh, president of Vijayanagara Bimba, and the Master Hirannaiah Cultured Comedian Award on Tavarekere Nagaraj.
Fifteen theatre activists chosen for the annual awards are:
Javaregouda (Chamarajanagar), B Bhaskar (Gadag), B Parashuram (Davangere), Tukaram Enekallu (Dakshina Kannada), M M Krishnamurthy (Shimoga), Manjunath D S (Bangalore), Vasantkrishna (Mysore), D S Chougale (Belgaum), Amarapriya Hiremath (Yadgir), Vajrakumar Kivude (Gulbarga), Sringeri Ramanna (Dharwad), Gururaj Marpalli (Udupi), G N Veerupakshappa (Chitradurga), Hulagappa Kattimani (Mysore) and Ramachandra Hegde (Sirsi). N Basavaraj’s biography, authored by Basavaraj Bengeri, has been selected for the Book Award.