Earlier celebrating Kannada in films was restricted to a song, few dialogues or a scene. Not any more. Now celebrating the language seems to be a quintessential part of our films.
Just when Kannadigas, were up against the alleged attempt of the Union Government to impose Hindi, Geetha, a period romantic action entertainer which used the Gokak Chaluvali or Gokak agitation — the biggest language movement in Karnataka as its backdrop was released last month.
Geetha received a positive response from the audience and critics. The film, directed by Vijaya Nagendra had Ganesh in the lead role of Kannada activist-Shankar. In fact, Geetha is the first film, which used a pro-Kannada movement as its backdrop.
The other film is Kaalidasa Kannada Meshtru, starring Jaggesh and directed by lyricist- writer-filmmaker Kaviraj, which is about a conflict in the family of a Kannada teacher who wants to admit his son in a Kannada medium school.
Both Jaggesh and Kaviraj have actively participated in pro-Kannada movements. In fact, Kaviraj launched the Kannada Maatadi (Speak Kannada) movement, through his platform Kankana. “I breathe Kannada. It is time to protect the language, especially in Bengaluru, where Kannada is dying. It is hard to find people who speak Kannada in Bengaluru. Kaalidasa Kannada Meshtru is an attempt to protect and promote Kannada,” says Kaviraj.
The film focuses on the problems and challenges faced by Jaggesh as a Kannada teacher both at home and society. The film also talks about the importance of Kannada and poets such as Pampa, Ranna, Janna and Kuvempu. “It is not a serious film to project Kannada pride. The plight of Jaggesh has been told in a humorous manner, without out making language an emotional issue,” explains Kaviraj.
Is it an attempt to change the mind set of people about the language? And Kaviraj responds, “No. I don’t think a film will change the mind-set of Kannadigas, who are taking recourse to English for various reasons. But, I am sure this film will make people think about the importance of Kannada and its culture for a while.”
Kannad Gottilla is another film, which is attracting the attention of Kannada audience because of the title. “Kannada language is the protagonist of our film, while Haripriya the heroine,” says Mayur Raghavendra, the director of the film. Kumara Kanteerava, says he decided to produce the film out of his “sheer love for the Kannada language”.
Haripriya, who hit headlines for writing an open letter to her fans in Kannada, says, “I loved the subject, because of its concern for Kannada.” Her writing an open letter to her fans in Kannada gained importance, when Rashmika Mandanna, was embroiled in controversy for having reportedly said ‘Kannada is a difficult language’, and that she is not fluent in it. She also went on to claim that she was not fluent in English either. These remarks irked Kannada audience and actors. Some Kannada organisations even took the issue up with the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC).
Jaggesh was very upset with Rashmika’s statement. In his tweet, the actor said, ‘I have many friends, who succeeded in other language films after gaining a foothold in Kannada cinema. They have great regard for Kannada cinema and language. They are proud too. It is unfortunate that, present generation does not have the kind of culture.”
The stars have also opposed imposition of Hindi. Prominent film personalities like Shivarajkumar, Upendra, Ramesh Arvind, Ganesh, Jayatheertha, Haripriya, Sonu Gowda, Rockline Venkatesh, Chetan Ahimsa, SA Chinne Gowda and others are resisting the push for Hindi now.
Other film personalities such as Nagatihalli Chandrashekar, Rishab Shetty and Sanchari Vijay have expressed their support for the movement demanding employment for Kannadigas.
