'Kantara' production firm closely linked to Karnataka BJP minister: Report

C N Ashwath Narayan has served as guarantor for Hombale Films and its sister firms, which have producer Vijay Kiragandur as a director

The hit Kannada film Kantara may have been widely praised by Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal, but a deep dive into the film's production house reveals a closer link with the BJP.

The film has been produced by a company that is closely linked to BJP leader and Karnataka minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, and while the minister says the producer, Vijay Kiragandur is his cousin, records accessed by The Indian Express show that the link between Narayan, production house Hombale Films and the producer go deeper than family ties.

The records show that Narayan, Karnataka’s Minister for Higher Education, Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science, was a bank guarantor for loans obtained by Hombale for two real estate business ventures, and has invested in ventures run by Kiragandur.

According to the report, Hombale Films (started in 2017) and two sister firms, Hombale Infrastructure Projects and Hombale Constructions and Estates, have Vijay Kiragandur and Chaluve Gowda as its directors. Gowda is also one of the producers of Kantara.

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The records showed that Hombale Infrastructure, which came into existence during the BJP’s first full tenure in Karnataka between 2008-2013, saw earnings jump from Rs 64 lakh in 2011-2012 to Rs 42 crore in 2012-13, Rs 49 crore in 2013-14 and Rs 92 crore from 2014-15, and none afterwards.

The report said that Narayan was guarantor for a bank loan of Rs 15 crore by Hombale Infrastructure in 2012 from Vijaya Bank. According to a loan sanction memo, his relationship to the borrower is disclosed as “cousin brother''. The minister is also listed in records as guarantor for enhancement of a bank guarantee from Rs 95 crore to Rs 175 crore with Vijaya Bank for a loan taken by Hombale Constructions in 2018.

The earnings of all these firms show that Hombale Films and Hombale Constructions have had a successful run in recent years while no earnings have been reported by Hombale Infrastructure in the last five years, the report said.

According to filings by Hombale Films, the company had an income of Rs 36.43 lakh in 2017-18, and showed a surge to Rs 58 crore in 2018-19 followed by a dip to Rs 1.21 crore in 2019-20 and Rs 2.59 crore in 2020-21. The records also showed that the production house’s liabilities soared from Rs 37.94 lakh in 2017-2018 to Rs 225 crore in 2020-2021 with nearly Rs 188 crore shown as loans.