Veteran actor Advani Lakshmi Devi, noted film-maker K.V. Raju and renowned poster and cutout artist K. Chinnappa have been chosen for the prestigious Dr. Rajkumar, Puttanna Kanagal and Dr. Vishnuvardhan awards respectively for 2016.
An expert committee headed by veteran actor Jayanthi chose these three personalities for the awards after considering their contribution to Kannada cinema. Each award comprises a purse of ₹2 lakh, a citation, and a gold medal.
Ms. Lakshmi Devi has essayed a variety of roles in her career spanning five decades. Being a product of professional theatre, she began her film career with Rajkumar in Bhakta Vijaya . Besides Kannada, she has acted in Telugu and Tamil films.
Mr. Raju, who is known for tackling contemporary issues in Kannada cinema, has directed 30 films.
He also has the credit of directing Hindi film stars Amitabh Bachchan and Jitendra. Mr. Raju has also written the script and dialogues for many Kannada films.
Mr. Chinnappa has painted over 4,000 film posters in his six-decade-long career.
He has painted images of actors including Rajkumar and Amithab Bachchan and even those of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. He has made posters of Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, and English films.
Muttina Haara , a memoir by film-maker S.V. Rajendra Singh Babu, and Anala , a short-film, have been chosen for the best film literary work and short-film awards respectively.
