Academy proposes 300 theatres

The Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy has submitted a proposal to the government seeking subsidies for construction of 300 theatres across the State.

Academy chairman Rajendra Singh Babu said on Friday that one of the conditions for the people who come forward to build theatres under the scheme would be to make it mandatory for them to screen Kannada films throughout the year. The proposal has been submitted to the government ahead of the State budget.

He said Kannada films were not being screened in 50 centres in the border districts in the State, where only Tamil and Telugu films were screened. Of the 700-odd theatres in the State, Kannada films were screened in 100-150 theatres, while the remaining screened other language films.

The situation is compounded by the fact that there are less number of theatres in the State compared with Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh, which have more than 2,500 theatres. New theatres could be made profitable as audiences were turning away from poorly maintained cinemas.

On the proposed Film City in Mysuru, he said works were on to identify land for the project. He said the Academy was planning todigitise old Kannada films and store them in the Academy library in Bengaluru.

Considering the poor state of contemporary Kannada cinema, Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, Karnataka Madhyama Academy, Kanteerava Studios and Department of Information and Public Relations would jointly organise a day-long seminar on the theme ‘Kannada Chitraranga Matthu Kadambari,’ on February 11 at the University of Mysore.