JOIN USEntertainment, a sure hit at Dasara
I f Dasara still draws crowds keeping the tempo high, the reasons are many. From 250-kg golden throne that is put on display at the Palace to 750-kg golden howdah carried by elephant Balarama during ‘jamboo savari’, yuva dasara to ahara mela (food festival) there are melange of exclusive attractions, unveiled only during navaratri.
Now, with the addition of yuva sambhrama, entertainment has got a bit high, a sure hit among youths- both for talents and fun loving audience. How can one forget film festival, that brings a mix of old and new flicks, majority of them are in Kannada, to the film buffs during the festival.
According to Dasara Film Festival Sub-committee, on an average 3,000 people watched the films per day, screened during the period for a week, including three theatres- Lido, Lakshmi and Gokul and also mobile screens.
Houseful
Among a total of 71 Kannada films screened during the period, Puneeth Rajkumar starrer- Jackie was screened to houseful audience. Owing to lack of seats, the fans of the actor didn’t mind watching their screen god, squatting on the ground. Similarly, Shivarajkjumar starrer- Om was screened to a packed house.
A couple of movies featuring Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan were also screened, and there was 50 per cent occupancy in cinema halls, needless to say both the actors still draw crowds.
Audience
If taken to account a total number of audience, nearly 21,000 have found time for entertainment in theatres. Kanasembo Kudureyaneri- a Kannada feature film directed by renowned director Girish Kasaravalli that won Swarn Kamal, a national award was also screened and the response was overwhelming. Matadaana, another acclaimed movie directed by T N Seetharam also saw a good rush.
The other crowd pullers included Ganesh starrer ‘Maleyali Jotheyali’, and ‘Lifeu Ishtene’. Initially, Lifeu Ishtene wasn’t in the list of movies, but was included at the nth minute and was screened in Lido theatre to houseful audience again.
It’s an achievement of sort for the sub-committee as the movie is seeing a regular run in another theatre.
Yuva Dasara
Yuva Dasara that brought renowned singers like Hariharan of ‘Colonial cousins’ fame, Vasundara Das, Kavita Krishnamurthy, music directors duo Vishal- Shekar, Udit Narayan and our own Kannada playback singers Nandita and Hemanth was a hit again.
Hariharan who opened the musical nite with a bang, sang his hit numbers in Kannada too to keep the local mood, clearly followed by other singers too. Vasundara Das, who has her roots in Mysore as it is her grandparents place, instantly connected with the audience singing a medley of songs ranging from Kannada to Hindi.
The saving grace was barring Vishal Shekar duo, the imported singers had a share of songs in Kannada too and they recreated the same, albeit with few mistakes that can be ignored, taking the mood of the crowd into consideration.
Yuva Sambhrama
Yuva Sambhrama that was a perfect prelude to Yuva Dasara with students of over 90 colleges showcasing their talent in various art forms brought alive folk, western, modern and also mythological forms alive. Cultural programmes organised in palace precincts drew connoisseurs of music in hordes.