Click to play videoBanagalore: The Kannada film industry has seen quite a bit of experimentation and new talent emerge in recent years, but somehow, it has had to rely on art cinema for its share of awards.
Actor Vishnuvardhan has played a hero in almost 200 films and has long been the Kannada film industry's Aapthamithra or 'best friend'.
For decades now, Vishnuvardhan and the late actor Raj Kumar have been ruling the Kannada film world.
"Acceptance for a Kannada artist takes time, It can even take10 years to convince the people and get a hold in the industry," says Vishnuvardhan.
A delayed acceptance in the Kannada industry is perhaps the reason why Kannada film industry was dominated by a handful of actors, till films like Amrutadhare and Mungaru Male hit the silver screen three years back.
New faces like Darshan, Dhyan, Ganesh and Vijay changed the way audience perceived Kannada cinema. In fact, the film Mungaru Male made a profit of Rs 70 crore, which is the highest ever for any Kannada film.
It's not just actors, but Kannada cinema is also trying out new themes, picturisation and story-lines.
Kannada filmmakers today, even want to take their films abroad. A recent example of which is the film Neene Neene that was simultaneously released in Australia and US along with its home territory.
"If we extended our market overseas, they will give money. Then we can extend our production cost and we can give technically good films," says filmmaker Shivadhwaj.
Kannada cinema may be going international , but when it comes to awards, the industry has had to rely only on its art cinema. And It's only veterans like Kasaravalli and Nagabharana who have won the National Award.
"In popular cinema, what happens is, if one film clicks, then 10 films are made in the same styles or genre. People perceive that this is the success formula which never happens in any work of art," says filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli.
"The excellence of experiment has to be recognised for the golden lotus", says filmmaker T S Nagabharana.
They say Kannda cinema is like the mango season, if you see great yield in one year, the next year, you see a slump.
However, the flood of fresh faces that has been seen over the last few months may break that pattern.
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