Heavy turnouts supporting Kannada films

Recent budget by Karnataka Government was a major axe on Kannada filmdom says the industry professionals. And in this regard most of the eminent personalities of Kannada film industry took out a rally from Ravindra Kala Kshetra at 10.45 a.m. this morning (Monday, August 9) through Hudson Circle, Mysore Bank Circle and ended at Janata Bazaar (K.G. Road). Thespian Dr. Rajkumar joined the procession at Janatha Bazaar. Kannada film producers and directors association that was supported by Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha and other associations organized this protest.

More than 2 lakh supporters clogged the whole stretch of road. The contention of filmmakers is that Kannada films are struggling for survival. So sops and incentives given to non-Kannada films should be reduced supporting the betterment of Kannada films. Here is a snapshot of their demands:

- Other language films should be released in Karnataka after their release in other part or their respective states.

- Reconsideration of the government's decision to reduce entertainment tax on other language films from 70 per cent to 40 per cent.

- Rs. 7.5 lakh subsidy to all Kannada films

- All theaters should screen Kannada films at least for a total of 12 weeks in a year

Deputy Chief Minister Sri Siddaramaiah who arrived around 2 p.m. received the memorandum from Dr. Rajkumar. He promised to look into the matter and form a committee to evaluate the situation and take suitable measures for the betterment of Kannada film industry.

Shivarajkumar, Puneeth Rajkumar, Ravichandran, Jaggesh, Sudeep, Murali, Aditya, Vijay Raghavendra, Kashinath etc were among the stars who took part in the protest while Jayanthi, Prema, Anu Prabhakar, Vijayalakshmi Singh, Padmavasanti, Ramya, Bhavana, Radhika etc were among the heroines. Other leaders from the industry like S.V.Rajendra Singh Babu, Basanth Kumar Patil, Kanakapura Srinivas, Jai Jagadish, Joe Simon, Ramesh Yadav, Rockline Venkatesh, J.G. Krishna, Ramu, Hamsalekha were part of the troupe.

Absence of actor Vishnuvardhan, Upendra, Ambarish, Ramesh Aravind etc was very evident.

According to Dy. CM Siddaramaiah, government will try to take necessary decisions within the next 3 days. So lets wait to see the favorable reaction by the government to support and save Kannada film industry.