Film stars, technicians, producers, and artistes participated in a rally organised by Kannada Okkoota, an umbrella organisation of Kannada outfits, on Thursday to protest against release of films dubbed into Kannada.
The rally, which began at Mysore Bank Circle, passed through Gandhinagar and converged at Freedom Park. Traffic movement in and around the central business district was disrupted for a few hours because of the rally.
Release of a Tamil film dubbed into Kannada last week in some parts of the State has triggered protests. The release followed the clearance given by the Competition Commission of India following a petition by a pro-dubbing lobby. Those who participated in the rally included Darshan, Jaggesh, Prajwal Devaraj, Devaraj, Rangayana Raghu, Ravishankar, Sriraksha, Srujan Lokesh, and Nagathihalli Chandrashekar.
Kannada Okkoota leader Vatal Nagaraj, who led the rally, appealed to the people to reject dubbed films. “The ongoing fight against dubbing will continue till the promoters of dubbing put an end to their attempt,” he said.
Mr. Jaggesh said he was ready to go to any extent to protect the cause of Kannada and would not be cowed down by any pressure.
Music composer and actor V. Manohar said allowing dubbing would impact the life of artistes, technicians and workers, and it should not be allowed at the cost of their livelihood. Dubbing was also detrimental to the culture of the land, he argued.
