MUMBAI: The International Film Festival of India launched a retrospective of Kannada cinema today on completion of 75 years. IFFI programmed a selection of five films covering the seven decades of Kannada cinema.
From its beginning in 1934 to a full grown industry producing more than 150 films this year, the Kannada cinema industry has tread a long path creating impression on the minds of the people of Karnataka.
It is on the verge of celebrating its platinum jubilee, recapturing, reviewing and assessing its 75 years of existence in the service of the people whose cultural aspirations it has all through represented.
Films in the section are Babruvahana (Hunsur Krishnamurthi), Bhoothayyana Magga Aiyyu (Siddalingaiah), Ondaondu Kaladalli (Girish Karnad), Nagamandala (T S Nagabharna) and Dweepa (Girish Kasaravalli), an official statement said.
The early Kannada cinema relied, like their counterparts in other parts of the country, mostly on theatrical productions which themselves were heavily dependent on historical and mythological stories and forms. The social themes were the post independence phenomenon in Indian cultural scene and so are in the Kannada cinema.
The decade of the ‘50s predominantly brought in the modernity and modern social themes into Kannada cinema. The decade of sixties and seventies are considered the golden age of Kannada cinema for its representation of Kannada culture. The seventies was also the period that witnessed the birth of an alternate cinema in Kannada.
The next 20 years saw consolidation of Kannada film industry in terms of business and technology. Number of productions increased and Karnataka emerged as a film production centre with its own infrastructure of studios and labs. The Karnataka government pitched in to bring the entire industry to Karnataka from Chennai through building infrastructure and providing incentives through subsidies and awards under various categories. The 21st century saw emergence of new breed of film makers who could feel the pulse of the new generation of audiences in the changing cultural scenario of Karnataka.
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