59 artistes, technicians feted with State film awards

With the city witnessing the conglomeration of cine actors at one place after a gap of two decades, cine lovers on Saturday turned up in large numbers at the ground opposite the Maharaja’s College.

The State film awards for the year 2012-13 and 2013-14 were distributed at the gala ceremony at the ground, setting the mood for the day.

Light drizzling ahead of the programme elevated the mood of the evening, with the audience being entertained to a mix of cultural programmes and the events associated with the Kannada filmdom.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Revenue and District in-charge Minister V Srinivas Prasad, Information and Public Relations Minister R Roshan Baig, PWD Minister Dr H C Mahadevappa, Kannada and Culture Minister Umashree distributed the awards.
Actor Darshan was conferred ‘Best Actor’ award for the year 2012, while Nirmala Chennappa was awarded ‘Best Actress’.

M Bhaktavatsala, a prominent exhibitor, producer and distributor who was conferred Rajkumar Award for the same year (2012), appealed to the industry to restore the glory of the yesteryears. “Though the government is doing its bit by encouraging the industry, not many good films are being made. Majority of them are copying others.

Actor Rajesh was conferred ‘Vishnuardhan Award’, and director Chi Dattaraj, ‘Puttanna Kanagal Award’. Actor Srinath was conferred ‘Dr Rajkumar Award’ for lifetime achievement for the year 2013. Nikhil Manjoo and Nivedita were conferred ‘Best Actor’ and ‘Actress’ awards, while distributor and producer K V Gupta and P H Vishwanath were conferred the awards in the order, for the same year. All time hit songs like ‘Kannadada makkalella ondagi banni...’, ‘Karunada vyramudi Kanteerava...’, ‘Apaara Keerthi padedu...’, came alive, with artistes drawn from various dance troupes performing.

Film City

After presenting the awards, Siddaramaiah announced that the long pending Film City will be set up in Mysuru soon.

He said, the Film City will come up on 100 acres of land at Himmavu village in his constituency (Varuna). “The district administration has identified the land and the work will is expected to be taken up soon,” he said.

He promised cooperation to the filmdom by considering the demands of the industry.