Mysore Dasara Film sub-committee has planned mobile theatres with hi-tech DVD screens for the benefit of film buffs, with the film festival beginning on September 30 and ending on October 6. The mobile theatres will be stationed in select 15 locations — either at parks, ground or in front of a temple or any place found suitable for the audience to watch their favourite star on screen without any hassles, announced chairman of the sub-committee and film director S V Rajendra Singh Babu here on Friday.

However, the mobile theatres will start screening daily during the period from 6 pm onwards. The highlight here is, Mysoreans will have the privilege of getting a slice of the future. According to Babu, the current screens will be a passe with DVD screens set to replace the same in the coming days.

On the festival, he said three theatres — Lakshmi, Lido and Gokul — will be screening 71 Kannada films, besides 14 others featured in panorama and seven documentaries. Arrangements are also made to screen the films at the auditorium attached to Scouts and Guides ground. Among the Kannada films, 14 each star thespian Dr Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan. It would be a tribute to the great actors, he said. Prominent among them include, ‘Babruvahana’, ‘Bhakta Kumbara’, ‘Bangarada Manushya’ of Raj, and ‘Nagarahaavu’, ‘Bandhana’, ‘Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu’ to name a few all time hits. There is also a treat for youngsters with Puneeth starrer ‘Appu’, ‘Akash’, ‘Abhi’, ‘Arsu’, ‘Raj’ and ‘Jackie’, Sudeep’s ‘Just Math Mathalli’, Vijay’s ‘Duniya’, Ganesh’s ‘Maleyali Jotheyali’ and Yogaraj Bhat’s ‘Manasaare’ to be screened. Ticket for balcony is fixed at Rs 10 and ground floor Rs five.

Swarna Kamal winners ‘Antaheen’, a Bengali and ‘Kutty Shrank’, ‘Kanchivaram’ and ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’, Malayalam are the movies selected in panorama section. In what would help Mysoreans get to know more about the most celebrated king Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, a documentary on the erstwhile ruler directed by P V Nanjararj Urs will be screened, besides Satyajit Ray’s ‘Rabindranath Tagore’ among others.
Replying to media queries, Babu said nine big releases in the offing has had an impact on the festival with only three theatres available for screening. He owed it to the inevitability on the part of exhibitors too owing to previous commitments. Moreover, unlike previous years the festival will open two days after the festivities, to comply with the tradition of changing the films in theatres on Friday (Sept 30), he added.

Minister for rural development and panchayat raj Jagadish Shettar, actor Ambareesh will inaugurate the film festival on September 30 at 12.15 pm at Kalamandira here.

Film City for Mysore
Film city for Mysore will not only remain a call, for the sub-committee, has organised a seminar on October 4 at Mahajana College in the city will set the ball rolling. Babu said Mysore has remained a hub of exotic locations with close to 280 such shooting spots within a radius of 15 km around the city, for the past several decades. It’s a rarity again when compared to Hollywood too, he claimed further. Keeping the same in mind, the seminar highlights the significance. Medical education and district in-charge minister S A Ramdas, film journalist Gangadhar Mudaliar and Film Directors Association president M S Ramesh will attend the seminar.