Celebrating a milestone

Suchitra Film Society celebrated 80 years of Kannada cinema recently. 

It consisted of the inauguration of a photo and stamp exhibition, which by themselves were a walk down the memory lane for the Kannada film enthusiasts.  

The event also had talks by eminent personalities such as TVR Tagore, the trustee of Suchitra Film Society; Srinivasachary, principal secretary of the government of Karnataka; actress and wife of late Vishnuvardhan, Bharathi Vishnuvardhan, film critic Meenakshi Shedde; NR Vishukumar, director of information department and others.

Bharathi Vishnuvardhan called it an “honourable experience” to be at the event marking 80 years of Kannada cinema. 

She also felicitated Shri Shivram and expressed her wish to have a good programme at the venue every year in remembrance of her late husband, Vishnuvardhan. 

According to Srinivasachary, “Films are the simplest way of living among people of all castes and religions. 

They are not meant only for entertainment.” He even pointed out the numerous changes in the Kannada film industry over the last 15-20 years.

There was a keynote address by curator and film critic Meenakshi Shedde on the topic ‘From the Centre to the Margins — Now and Ahead for Regional Cinema’. 

She also had an interactive session with the audience about her experiences of watching Kannada cinema. 

She has taken Kannada films to the Dubai and Berlin Film Festivals. 

A small discussion on ‘Kannada Cinema Now — Concept, Context and Content’ was held by moderator TS Nagabharna, producer KCN Kumar who spoke on the finance aspect and film-maker Sumana Kittur spoke of the challenges of film-making. 

Technology, finance and markets were covered by Pawan Kumar, film director/actor and screenwriter. 

   This was followed by an interaction with the audience.  The future — form, finance, marketing and distribution — were debated upon with the moderator being Prakash Belawadi, a theatre, film, television and media personality. 

His debut film feature ‘Stumble’ won the National Award in 2003 for the best film in the regional language (English).  

This was followed by a talk on literature in cinema by KM Chaitanya, film director, documentary maker and theatre person.