Sandalwood's sighs' & lows

Though there were some path-breaking ventures and Kannada films like Thithi, attained international fame by bagging several awards globally, 2016 will be unfortunately remembered as one of the lowest in the history of Sandalwood with the tragic death of two actors during a shoot.

Stalwarts like Dr Jayalalithaa (who has acted in five Kannada films), Dr M Balamuralikrishna and noted director Geetha Priya, BK Gangappa, Anand Audio’s Mohan Chabria and a few others also passed away in the year 2016.

Following the tragic incident in which two actors Uday and Anil drowned to their deaths while shooting at the T G Halli reservoir due to complete negligence and absence of safety measures, the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce later unanimously decided to temporarily ban the three members of the Masti Gudi film team, its lead actor Duniya Vijay, director Nagashekar and stunt choreographer Ravi Varma from taking part in any film related work.

Duniya Vijay was yet again embroiled in another incident involving the personal life of a producer’s family. He was accused of beating the father-in-law of a producer following which he had to face investigations.

Further, the industry also witnessed the longest (in terms of continuity) war of words between a renowned actress and a choreographer-turned-director, along with a well known producer. It all started with a message sent by choreographer turned director Imran Sardhariya to renowned actress Malashree, stating that her performance in his recently launched film which was shot for two days after its launch, was ‘not to up to the mark.’ He even cited in the message that they are stopping  the project due to it. The emotionally devastated actress came out in the open against Imran, the director of Uppu Huli Khara, in tears that no one had insulted in her long drawn career, prompting them to stop a project citing her performance as the reason. Finally after several rounds of blame game, the issue was settled and the film continued and is now inching closer to release.

Family values
Noted for his mythological and comedy with social messages, director Purushotham is back with his 16th venture, Nammavaru. This time, it’s going to be a pure family drama highlighting the values of relationship. Ganesh Rao, who has been playing supporting roles, features in his 150th film. The director says that it talks about raising children and how in turn they should treat their parents. Master Chinmay also features along with senior actors in this entertainment for value.

Happy New Year
With just a couple of days left to kickstart 2017, Pannaga Bharana son of noted director TS Nagabharana, is busy wrapping up the shot of his debut multi-starrer directorial venture, Happy New Year. Srushti Patil, daughter of actor turned politician BC Patil makes her debut. The film features a battery of star actors from BC Patil and Diganth to Sruthi Hariharan, Dhananjay and others.

Tiger set to roar
After his previous back to back hits, Kiccha Sudeep is set to roar with his most awaited venture Hebbuli, in which he dons the role of a commander. Amala Paul makes her Kannada debut, while Crazy Star Ravichandran plays Kiccha’s brother in this film directed by Krishna. With the audio of the film being released at a grand function in Davangere recently, the film is set for release in the coming weeks.