Kannada Kalling!

With over 170 films from at least 61 countries being screened both in Bengaluru and Mysuru at the ongoing week-long eighth Bengaluru International Film Festival, 16 Kannada films which are competing at different levels have been the best picks for the week by the audience at the fest. With long queues waiting in line for more than an hour, some of the recent best Kannada films are making their presence felt at the fest. Bengaluru Chronicle reports on the successful Kannada film trend.

The film festival which opened with the inaugural screening of Thithi, a Kannada feature film directed by Raam Reddy has received great appreciation by both critics and movie buffs.

“It is good that Kannada films are in great demand at the fest. Not a single screen showcasing any Kannada movie has been empty since Day One of the event. The numbers watching Kannada movies at the fest is tremendous. We always wanted to encourage more and more Kannada movies to be screened at events like this. We also want more directors to make such films so that they can be screened at such a high level,” said SV Rajendra Singh Babu, the head of Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy.

The director of Actor Dayal Padmanabhan, who screened his movie at the festival shared that it was amazing to see people queuing up to watch the films. “Someone who saw the posters of the movie Actor was amazed and wondered whether it was a Hollywood movie!” said KFCC president Sa Ra Govindu.

“I have come to watch Thithi and my favourite classic film Bhoothayyana Maga Ayyu at the film fest. It is good that some of the new talented directors are thinking differently by not sticking to stereotype commercial masalas,” says Aparna, a film student. Apart from the films competing, several classic movies movies such as Mannina Maga, Malaya Marutha, Mahakavi Kalidasa, Anna Thangi and a few others are also being screened at the festival.