Bengaluru: Relations between the Karnataka film industry, also called Sandalwood, and the ruling Congress have started to fray, with several party leaders including Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar criticising the fraternity for its absence at the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) and protests linked to Kannada identity.
“We have the strength to survive without films, but for them to promote themselves, they need the government and the people,” Shivakumar told reporters Tuesday, outside the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.
This came two days after he, speaking at the inauguration of the film festival, warned the film industry that he knew how and where “to tighten nuts and bolts” to ensure cooperation from the fraternity.
Shivakumar urged the fraternity to take his words as either a “warning or a request” to mend their ways.
Mandya Congress MLA Ravikumar Gowda Ganiga also targeted actor Rashmika Mandanna, saying she declined to attend the film festival because she “did not have time for Kannadigas”.
Since then, several members of the film industry have hit back, including senior Kannada film director Rajendra Singh Babu.
“During the Gokak (language rights struggle (in 1980s)…not sure if he (Shivakumar) was there but a government fell. That’s the power of the film industry,” Babu said.
The film industry has since pulled up the state government over various issues, such as lack of support for archiving older films and the poor organisation of the BIFFes, threatening to put an irreparable wedge between the two.
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‘Teach them a lesson’
On Monday, in Bengaluru, Ganiga claimed that, despite being invited personally by an another MLA, Mandanna, known for her roles in the Pushpa film series, Animal (2023), and recently Chhaava, declined to attend the event. The 16th edition of BIFFes was held between 1 and 8 March in the state capital.
“Rashmika Mandanna started her career in Karnataka by debuting in the Kannada film Kirik Party. Last time when she was invited for the Film Festival, she had said that she was staying in Hyderabad,” Ganiga told reporters.
“Shouldn’t she be taught a lesson or not?” Ganiga asked.
However, several senior artists and directors have alleged that they were not invited for the event by the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy (KCA), which organised the event on behalf of the state government.
Babu said, “I am not aware who delivered the invitation. No one has personally invited me to the BIFFes. The academy is wasting Rs 9 crore to organise the event instead of archiving Kannada classics.’’
National award winning actress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Tara, said that she received the invitation on 2 March, a day after the inauguration.
Director Girish Kasaravalli said that organisers believed that bringing in a few foreign delegates would suffice but did not extend the same courtesy to members of the Kannada film fraternity.
In a post on X, senior actor and BJP Rajya Sabha MP, Jaggesh said that the poor attendance was because invites to the event came in on the day of the programme.
“The invitation for a programme at 7 pm arrived at 6 pm. And there was no interaction between anyone and the association was nowhere to be seen. Kannada cinema is dying in Karnataka and we artists have no idea about this. What is the use of tightening bolt to an industry which is on the verge of death,” Jaggesh said.
ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ 7ಘಂಟೆಗೆ ಆಹ್ವಾನ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆ ತಲುಪಿದ್ದು 6ಘಂಟೆಗೆ.. ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಒಗಟ್ಟಿಲ್ಲಾ ಸಂವಾದವಿಲ್ಲಾ ಒಟ್ಟಾರೆ ಕಲಾವಿದರ ಸಂಘವೆ ಕಣ್ಮರೆ
ಕನ್ನಡ ಚಿತ್ರರಂಗ ಅವಸಾನ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದಲ್ಲಿ..ಯಾವ ಕಲಾವಿದರು ಏನಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ ಕಲಾವಿದರಾದ ನಮಗೆ ಮಾಹಿತಿಯಿಲ್ಲಾ!ಸಾವಿನ ಅಂಚಿನ ಚಿತ್ರರಂಗಕ್ಕೆ ಬೋಲ್ಟೆ ಇಲ್ಲಾ ಇನ್ನು ಟೈಟ್ ಮಾಡಿ ಏನು ಪ್ರಯೋಜನ@DKShivakumar https://t.co/rtTH32RJRv— ನವರಸನಾಯಕ ಜಗ್ಗೇಶ್ (@Jaggesh2) March 2, 2025
In response, Shivakumar Tuesday said that it was a film fraternity event and it should have been the one organising it.
Issues of Kannada identity
In his speech at the BIFFes inauguration, Shivakumar also accused Kannada actors of keeping their distance from various protests linked to Kannada identity, such as the demand for building the Mekedatu Dam. In Karnataka, any issue related to land, language or water is inextricably linked to the Kannada identity which is projected as apolitical.
Led by Shivakumar, in the peak of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2022, Congress carried out a padayatra (foot march) to push for the Mekedatu project to be implemented. The chief aim of the project was to provide water from the Cauvery river to Bengaluru, which Tamil Nadu was opposed to.
Prominent members of the film industry have since tried to distinguish between events arranged by the government and a political party.
In response, Shivakumar said Tuesday in Bengaluru, “Duniya Vijay, Prem, Sadhu Kokila, and Sa Ra Govindu participated in the protests. Are they from the Congress party? We were not protesting to get water supply to my home, it was a protest to get water for millions of people in Bengaluru.”
“The protest will continue even if the film fraternity doesn’t participate. We know the affiliations of the actors. I am only suggesting they correct it at least now.”
T.S. Nagabharana, a film director and former chairman of the Kannada Development Authority told reporters in Bengaluru Tuesday that the language used by Shivakumar was “wrong”.
Few actors have walked the path of politics in Karnataka
Barring a few instances, where some actors have acted as crowd pullers at roadshows for big leaders or during elections, unlike in neighbouring states, such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, it is unusual to see actors associate themselves with any political party in Karnataka.
Kannada actors like Ambareesh, Ananth Nag, Ramya, Umashree, and Sumalatha, among others, have also seen limited success in politics. By comparison, J. Jayalalitha, M. Karunanidhi and M.G. Ramachandran rose from being doyens of the Tamil Nadu film industry to become chief ministers. At present, actors such as Vijay and Kamal Hassan have seen success on both fronts.
Similarly, the former CM of undivided Andhra Pradesh, N.T. Rama Rao, an actor, captured imagination like no other and paved the way for Chiranjeevi, Pawan Kalyan and several other mainstream actors to enter politics—almost as a natural succession to their film careers.
There have been such opportunities in Karnataka as well, but few have walked down the path. For example, in the early 1980s, analysts say actor Dr Rajkumar, who led the Gokak language rights agitation, one of the biggest such movements in independent India, had the opportunity to plunge into politics. But he never did.
However, Shivakumar found some support on this front from former Congress MP and Kannada actress Ramya.
“There is nothing wrong in what sir (Shivakumar) has said. He is right. As actors, we have some responsibility. Look at Dr Rajkumar, who fought so many struggles for our language,” Ramya said in Hampi Monday.
“That support between cinema and politics which was there earlier, I don’t see it now. Whether it is our language, land or culture…we (actors) must always support it.”
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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