Kannada cinema

Early history on a 2009 stamp in India In 1934, the first Kannada talkie, Sati Sulochana, appeared in theatres, followed by Bhakta Dhruva (aka Dhruva Kumar). Sati Sulochana, starring Subbaiah Naidu and Tripuramba, was shot in Kolhapur at the Chatrapathi studio; most filming, sound recording, and post-production was done in Chennai. In 1949, Honnappa Bhagavathar, who had earlier acted in Gubbi Veeranna's films, produced Bhakta Kumbara and starred in the lead role along with Pandaribai. In 1955, Bhagavathar again produced a Kannada film, Mahakavi Kalidasa, in which he introduced actress B. Saroja Devi. Mainstream Matinee idol, Rajkumar entered Kannada cinema after his long stint as a dramatist with Gubbi Veeranna's Gubbi Drama Company, which he joined at the age of eight, before he got his first break as a lead in the 1954 film Bedara Kannappa. He went on to essay a variety of roles and excelling in portraying mythological and historical characters in films such as Bhakta Kanakadasa (1960), Ranadheera Kanteerava (1960), Satya Harishchandra (1965), Immadi Pulikeshi (1967), Sri Krishnadevaraya (1970), Bhakta Kumbara (1974), Mayura (1975), Babruvahana (1977) and Bhakta Prahlada (1983). His wife Parvathamma Rajkumar founded Film production and distribution company, Sri Vajreshwari Combines. With his debut in Puttanna Kanagal's National Award-winning Kannada film Naagarahaavu (1972), Ambareesh's acting career commenced with a brief phase of portraying antagonistic and supporting characters. After establishing himself as a lead actor portraying rebellious characters on screen in a number of commercially successful films, he earned the moniker "rebel star". He also earned the nickname Mandyada Gandu ( Man of Mandya) Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh are collectively known as Kannada cinema's triumvirate. Method actor Shankar Nag received the inaugural IFFI Best Actor Award (Male): Silver Peacock Award" at the 7th International Film Festival of India for his work in the film Ondanondu Kaladalli. He is the younger brother of actor Anant Nag. M. V. Vasudeva Rao, the first Kannada actor to win National Film Award for Best Actor, was starred in over 200 films in his career; however, post Chomana Dudi, he only played minor roles. B. Saroja Devi is one of the most successful female leads in the history of Indian cinema and has acted in around 200 films in over seven decades. She is known by the epithets "Abinaya Saraswathi" (Saraswati of acting) in Kannada and "Kannadathu Paingili" (Kannada's Parrot) in Tamil. and Pandari Bai are considered as the earliest female superstars of Kannada cinema. Other popular female actresses of 1950s through 1990s include Prathima Devi, Harini, Sowcar Janaki, Leelavathi, Kanchana, Jayanthi, Kalpana, Bharathi, Lakshmi, Aarathi, Manjula, Sumithra, Jayamala, Hema Chaudhary, Arundathi, Sumalatha, Maadhavi, Suhasini, Geetha, Saritha, Urvashi, Umashree, Bhavya, Vinaya Prasad, Sudharani, Tara, Malashree, Shruthi, Soundarya, Prema among others. Neo-realistic cinema Kannada cinema contributed majorly to the parallel cinema movement of India. Directors like Girish Kasaravalli, and G. V. Iyer and B. V. Karanth were also popular names in the movement. Films of Puttanna Kanagal were however considered a bridge between mainstream and parallel cinema. Modern era Prakash Raj began his acting career with Doordarshan serials such as Bisilu Kudure (Kannada) and Guddada Bhootha (Tulu and Kannada). He later took up supporting roles in Kannada films such as Ramachari, Ranadheera, Nishkarsha, and Lockup Death. He was known for his dialogue delivery and histrionics. His breakthrough role came in Harakeya Kuri, directed by K. S. L. Swamy starring Vishnuvardhan, with whom he had acted in other films such as Mithileya Seetheyaru, Muthina Haara and Nishkarsha. Prakash re-entered Kannada films through Nagamandala in 1997, directed by T. S. Nagabharana. Veteran Kannada actor Shakti Prasad's son Arjun Sarja is known for his work in South Indian cinema. He starred in movies such as Prasad (2012), which was screened at the Berlin Film Festival and Arjun received the Karnataka State Award for his performance in it. Sanchari Vijay's portrayal of a transgender won him the National Best Actor Award. With the award, Vijay became the third actor after M. V. Vasudeva Rao, and Charuhasan to win the National Award for Best Actor for a performance in a Kannada film. Shiva Rajkumar is known for his work in Janumada Jodi, Anand, Ratha Sapthami, Nammoora Mandara Hoove, Om, Simhada Mari and Chigurida Kanasu. He acted in Sugreeva, which was shot in 18 hours. His Om, directed by Upendra, set a trend of gangster movies in Kannada and other film industries in India. It continues to be shown even to this day. The new-age actors of Kannada cinema, Sudeepa, Darshan, Puneeth Rajkumar, Ganesh, Yash, Rakshit Shetty, and Rishab Shetty are some of the highest-paid actors. The cult Ganesh-starrer, Mungaru Male (2006), was the first Kannada film to cross the ₹50 crore box-office collection mark. It was the first film to run for over 865 days in the history of Kannada cinema. The 2015 release, RangiTaranga, starring Nirup Bhandari and directed by Anup Bhandari, created a huge overseas market for Kannada cinema with a mega release, amassing $318,000 in the United States alone. It went on to become the first Kannada film to enter the New York box-office listing, the first Kannada film to complete a theatrical run of 50 days in the United States, and the first Kannada film ever to release in several countries across the world; it ran for 365 days in Bangalore. The Rakshit Shetty starrer, Kirik Party (2016), went on to become one of the highest-grossing Kannada films by collecting ₹50 crores, against a production budget ₹4 crores, and completed a theatrical run of 150 days in the main cities of Karnataka. In 2018, the cult Yash starrer K.G.F: Chapter 1 became the first Kannada film to gross ₹250 crores at the box office. Its sequel, K.G.F: Chapter 2 (2022), made ₹ 1000 crores at the box office. The teaser for K.G.F: Chapter 2 trended at No. 1 on YouTube and gained more than 250 million views on the platform as of April 2022, surpassing the views of Avengers: Endgame. It became the highest-grossing Kannada film of all-time with a record collection of over ₹1000 crores within India itself. Kananda cinema was reported to have 8% market share in the gross domestic box-office collections from the period of January to July 2022, making it the fourth-biggest Indian film industry. RangiTaranga, Kirik Party, K.G.F: Chapter 1, K.G.F: Chapter 2, and Kantara were the first Kannada films to get international audiences, and bring the industry to a global reach. The 2020s have seen a rise in experimental and science-fiction storytelling in Kannada cinema, with films such as Blink (2024). Film scores Composer Hamsalekha is usually referred to by the title Naadha Brahma ( The Brahma of Music) who is considered to be the major cause for the change in the music composing and lyric writing style which would appeal much to the younger generation. He integrated folk and introduced western musical sensibilities into the Kannada cinema. Mano Murthy scored the blockbuster film Mungaru Male starring Ganesh and Pooja Gandhi. Upon the album's release, it topped the charts with the song "Anisuthide" receiving significant radio and TV air time. The album emerged as a massive success topping every Kannada music chart. It was reported that by mid-May 2007, over 200,000 copies were sold in compact discs. == International recognition ==