Gloom has descended on the Kannada film industry with the announcement of 59th National Film Awards with filmmakers who aspired for the prestigious awards drawing a blank.
Though five Kannada films — Kurmavatara by Girish Kasaravalli, Bhagirathi by Baragur Ramachandrappa, Kamsale Kaisale by T.S. Nagabharana, Kruti by Ramadas Naidu and Prasad by Manjo Sati — were in competition, only Kurmavatara bagged the Best Regional Film Award this time. It is based on a novel by Kum. Veerabhadrappa.
“While Hejjegalu , Bettada Jeeva and Puttakkana Highway bagged awards in various categories, N. Manu Chakravarti won the Best Critic Award the last time. But it was only Kurmavatara that succeeded in getting the Best Regional Film Award,” said the former president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce Basanth Kumar Patil.
The past
The film industry bagged four awards at the 57th National Film Awards — two Rajat Kamals and two Swarna Kamals. Kasaravalli's Kanasemba Kudurayaneri bagged two awards. Putani Party by P.N. Ramachandra also received an award — Best Children's Film — and K. Puttaswamy's Cinemaa Yaana got the Best Book on Cinema Award.
Besides these awards, Arundhati Nag, wife of late Shankar Nag, bagged the best supporting actress award for her performance in the Hindi film Paa .
Kurmavatara delineates the plight of an ordinary man caught in the overwhelming shadow of Mahatma Gandhi. It is significant that many of Kasaravalli's films in the past have been influenced by Gandhian principles.
Responding to the award, Mr. Kasaravalli said that he was happy as the film industry has the tradition of bagging national awards every year and it was his Kurmavatara this time.
Mr. Patil said that he was disappointed because he had expected “better treatment” at the awards for “this kind of film”. However, he would respect the jury's verdict, he said and added that a Swarna Kamal for Byari came as a recognition to the film industry.
