It is five awards for Kannada filmdom and literary field at the 58th National awards that were announced on Thursday evening in New Delhi.

It is a good recognition for Jnanapeeth Award winner Karanthajja. A certificate for the ‘Bettada Jeeva’ novel after 50 plus years of his writing is a welcome.

The sitting President of Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce Basanthkumar Patil is extremely happy person as two of his films – Bettada Jeeva and Hejjegalu – launched on one day in the presence of Infosys Chairman NR Narayana Murthy, renowned writer Patil Puttappa and others got the national awards in the category of best environment film and best children film.

58th National Film Awards were announced on Thursday at 3.30 pm at Shastri Bhavan in New Delhi. Information & Broadcasting Minister Smt. Ambika Soni received the list of awardees from jury headed by Shri J.P. Dutta, Non-Feature Films jury was headed by Shri A.K. Bir and Best Writing on Cinema jury was headed by Shri Ashok Vajpeyi.

The first major honor for Kannada filmdom in the 58th national award is the Swarna Kamal and Rs.1.50000 award each for Basanthkumar Patil and director P Seshadri as ‘Bettada Jeeva’ bagged the best environment conservation presentation. Based on the novel of Jnanapeeth award winner Dr Shivarama Karanth ‘Bettada Jeeva’ is about an old couple steeped in the soil of their environment yearn for the return of their son while nurturing the growth of their young plantation against all odds.

The best children cinema at the national level came to ‘Hejjegalu’ directed by PR Ramdas Naidu and produced by Basanthkumar Patil. It carries Rs.1.50000 and Swarana Kamal. It is about a little girl cheerfully takes on the challenge to preserve the fabric of her family.

The best regional cinema ‘Puttakkana High Way’ is releasing tomorrow in Karnataka is produced by Duet Movies and Media House Studios headed by Prakash Raj and Shylaja Nag. The film ‘Puttakkana High Way’ is directed by B Suresha. Rs. 1 lakh award for producer and director plus Rajat Kamal is the award. ‘Puttakkana High Way’ is a film on persuasive articulation of a topical social issue where in the name of development, land is appropriated and people are displaced as a consequence.

Professor Manu Chakravarthy shares the Swarna Kamal with Joy Joseph in the best film critic category. It carries Rs.37, 500 and Swarna Kamal. Professor Chakravarthy’s writings on film and related arts are replete with profound insights into the human condition as well as the need for serious discourse on socio-cultural matters. His writings reveal the authority with which he can discuss the cinemas of the world, particularly his own Kannada cinema.