Kempe Gowda Road (K.G. Road), the epicentre of Kannada cinema, has began losing its sheen with the shutting down of theatres one after the other.
Film-makers are always keen on releasing their film in one of the theatres on K.G. Road. After the closure of Majestic, Kalpana, Triveni and Sagar cinema halls, now it’s the turn of Nartaki and Sapna.
Ending a glorious chapter in the history of Kannada films, curtains in both the theatres will come down shortly.
According to N.R. Kumaraswamy, legal adviser to Prakash Shinde, who is the lease holder of the two theatres, notices have already been issued to workers assuring them of settling their claims as the 35-year lease of the two theatres will end on March 31.
Confirming the closure of the landmark single screens, S. Ramakrishna of Cinema Workers Union said as many as 25 workers who had served these two theatres for more than two decades approached the union to take up their case with regard to settlement.
Transfer of lease
Meanwhile, according to sources in the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, the lease will be transferred to a Ajay Kumar on March 31 and he would run the two theatres for three months before handing over the land to its original owners.
The building complex comprising of Santosh, Nartaki and Sapna theatres is the hallmark of K.G. Road since last four decades.
Nartaki started with the release of Bidugade (1973) starring Rajkumar. “Many of Rajkumar films were released in Nartaki and the Raj family was keen on it,” said K.V. Chandrashekar, president of the Karnataka Exhibitors’ Association.
Till date, Nartaki was the first preference of big stars while Sapna is the choice of films made on shoestring budgets.
