In a neat and tidy honor evening organized by KFCC in association with other leading associations of Kannada cinema on Tuesday at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has come out with staggering information from the senior most cinema businessman KV Gupta who got the Phalke Academy honor.

In the presence of bigwigs on the stage and information minister and transport minister on stage KV Gupta in his term after receiving the honor said 15 years ago the recovery of Kannada cinema was 60 percent and today it is a meager 8 percent. This is the high time for introspection said KV Gupta.

The Dadasaheb Phalke award winner VK Murthy, Padmasri Arundhati Nag, MV Krishnaswamy (Sujaya Bhagwan on her behalf), Mukyamantri Chandru (His son on behalf of father) Dr Bharathi Vishnuvardhana, MLC’s Sandesh Nagaraj, Jaggesh, E Krishnappa, national award winners Navya Chitra Gopal, P Seshadri of Vimukthi, Shylaja Suresh and director Abhay Simha of ‘Gubbachchigalu’, D Ma Productions Durganand and director Shivadwaj of ‘Gaggara’, and veteran KV Gupta were honored on this occasion.

A silver plate, shawl, jasmine garland and a letter tucked in a nice frame were presented to all the achievers.

The tasteful cinema has become a challenge today felt the information minister Khatta Subramania Naidu in his speech. We should not make hallow films and make strong and films with substance felt Naidu.

Dr B Saroja Devi, KCN Chandrasekhar, Sa Ra Govindu, Thomas D Souza, Hema Chaudhary, KSL Swamee, Thallam Nanjunda Shetty, Girija Lokesh, Vinayaprasad, Nanjunde Gowda, Priya Hassan and others were present at the evening of felicitation by KFCC in association with directors, producers, artists, cinematographers and Cinema workers Federation

WHAT THE FELICITATED PERSONS SAID:

Jaggesh – The entire felicitation evening is like an Art film. it should have been like a commercial cinema.

Arundhati Nag – I dedicate the Padmasri to Shanker Nag and Ranga Shankara. Shanker would have been alive today he would have made 25 Rangashankaras.

P Seshadri – According to me this felicitation is fast happening like a commercial film. Seshadri urged the information minister on stage to get a theatre for art films. Puttanna Theatre closed for four years is given new life it could be made in to two theatres. For screening Vimukhthi I lost Rs.40000 he said.

Shivadwaj – The award for me is like the ‘3 idiots’ funny wrongly worded speech. I came here to get honors as an actor but I got it for director.

E Krishnappa – to struggle and get something for Kannada cinema industry Dr Jayamala has not left anything and government has also done everything. There are only minute things. We three – Sandesh Nagaraj, Jaggesh and I would look in to it.