With the Hindu month of Ashada, considered ‘inauspicious’, fast approaching, Kannada film producers are in a hurry to launch their films. By this weekend, the Kannada film industry will see the launch of over 30 films. While over 10 films were launched in the last one week, another 20 are set to go on the floor on Friday.
Describing the trend as “unprecedented”, Thomas D’Souza, president, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, said there was every possibility of the number of films being released this year crossing last year’s 120 mark.
Sudheendra Venkatesh, a publicist, said he had not seen film launches in such a huge number in his three-decade career in the Kannada film industry. “I have seen a maximum of 10 films going on the floor before Ashada. But this is something unusual as Ashada will stretch till August 15 this time,” he said.
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Many producers prefer not to launch their films in Ashada. As many of them are also particular about numerology, they decided to launch their projects on June 7 or 12, before the commencement of Ashada on June 15.
Films such as Khadar , directed by Kumar; Hebbuli and Leader starring Sudeep; Bharjari starring Dhruva Sarja; Mungaru Male-2 starring Ganesh, directed by Shashank; and Jessy starring Dhananjaya were launched in the last three days.
A few more producers conducted ‘muhurta’ of their films without making much noise.
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Mahesh Sukhadare and R. Chandru, who are launching Anup Revanna and Sachin Cheluvarayaswamy in Lakshmana and Happy Birthday respectively, have scheduled the ‘muhurta’ for Friday. The former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is making an official announcement on his son, Nikhil Gowda’s, debut venture Jaguar on Wednesday.
However, a producer, on condition of anonymity, expressed his apprehension over all the films being launched now hitting the screens. Some producers refused to comment about their launches, in view of their ongoing tussle with the stars.