<p>Asserting firmly that theatre is the bedrock of quality cinema, actor-politician Prakash Raj said on Saturday that he is set to start an institution to nurture performing arts.</p>.<p>The institution, which he described as an incubator, will be called Nirdigantha and will come up on his farm in Mysuru, he shared during a panel discussion at <em>Deccan Herald’</em>s Bengaluru 2040 Summit. Nirdigantha means endless horizons and comes from an expression used by Kuvempu.</p>.<p>“The plan is to produce 20 plays in the next two years,” he announced.</p>.<p>Breaking down their strategy, he shared, “We will curate theatre groups from 32 districts (in Karnataka) and we will ask them to give us (the list of) plays they intend to perform. We will produce them. We will hold state and national level theatre festivals and also conduct workshops in schools across Karnataka.”</p>.<p>He was part of the panel discussion ‘Bengaluru: India’s next big entertainment hub’, alongside well-known playback singer Vijay Prakash and National Award-winning actor Sruthi Hariharan.</p>.<p>Kannada cinema’s unprecedented success in 2022, courtesy of films such as <em>KGF: Chapter 2</em>, <em>Kantara</em> , and <em>777 Charlie</em>, was the starting point of discussion. But Prakash Raj warned the fans and the industry to not get carried away already.</p>.<p>“We (the Kannada film industry) haven’t made strong films for a long time. One successful year is nothing to boast about and the films that did well didn’t represent Kannada cinema or Karnataka entirely. It’s high time the industry sees cinema as an art form and creates an ecosystem to produce quality content,” he explained.</p>.<p>Responding to Prakash Raj’s claim that Malayalam cinema has the best writers in India, Sruthi said that quality writing comes from “being honest to the medium”.</p>.<p>The actor also turned the spotlight on women’s empowerment and their inclusion and safety in all sectors. “Women must claim more spaces. Sometimes, we are our own enemies because we let doubts creep in before we decide to do anything,” she said.</p>.<p>Vijay Prakash rued about the lack of a state-of-the-art venue for great musicians and dancers to perform. “Artistes have to go through different departments before performing one show and that’s a challenge,” he added.</p>.<p>Fittingly, the discussion ended with hope and great energy as Vijay Prakash got the packed hall singing his Oscar-winning song <em>Jai Ho</em>.</p>
<p>Asserting firmly that theatre is the bedrock of quality cinema, actor-politician Prakash Raj said on Saturday that he is set to start an institution to nurture performing arts.</p>.<p>The institution, which he described as an incubator, will be called Nirdigantha and will come up on his farm in Mysuru, he shared during a panel discussion at <em>Deccan Herald’</em>s Bengaluru 2040 Summit. Nirdigantha means endless horizons and comes from an expression used by Kuvempu.</p>.<p>“The plan is to produce 20 plays in the next two years,” he announced.</p>.<p>Breaking down their strategy, he shared, “We will curate theatre groups from 32 districts (in Karnataka) and we will ask them to give us (the list of) plays they intend to perform. We will produce them. We will hold state and national level theatre festivals and also conduct workshops in schools across Karnataka.”</p>.<p>He was part of the panel discussion ‘Bengaluru: India’s next big entertainment hub’, alongside well-known playback singer Vijay Prakash and National Award-winning actor Sruthi Hariharan.</p>.<p>Kannada cinema’s unprecedented success in 2022, courtesy of films such as <em>KGF: Chapter 2</em>, <em>Kantara</em> , and <em>777 Charlie</em>, was the starting point of discussion. But Prakash Raj warned the fans and the industry to not get carried away already.</p>.<p>“We (the Kannada film industry) haven’t made strong films for a long time. One successful year is nothing to boast about and the films that did well didn’t represent Kannada cinema or Karnataka entirely. It’s high time the industry sees cinema as an art form and creates an ecosystem to produce quality content,” he explained.</p>.<p>Responding to Prakash Raj’s claim that Malayalam cinema has the best writers in India, Sruthi said that quality writing comes from “being honest to the medium”.</p>.<p>The actor also turned the spotlight on women’s empowerment and their inclusion and safety in all sectors. “Women must claim more spaces. Sometimes, we are our own enemies because we let doubts creep in before we decide to do anything,” she said.</p>.<p>Vijay Prakash rued about the lack of a state-of-the-art venue for great musicians and dancers to perform. “Artistes have to go through different departments before performing one show and that’s a challenge,” he added.</p>.<p>Fittingly, the discussion ended with hope and great energy as Vijay Prakash got the packed hall singing his Oscar-winning song <em>Jai Ho</em>.</p>
