Kannada cinema

Kannada cinema
No. of screens925 (as of 2022)[1]
including:
  • 630 single screens (as of 2021-22),[1][2]
  • 260 multiplex screens (as of 2021)[2]
 • Per capita1.3 per 100,000
Main distributorsMahatma Pictures
Sri Vajreshwari Combines
Sri Eswari Combines
KCN Movies
Rockline Entertainments
Jayanna Combines
Thoogudeepa Distributors
PRK Productions
Paramvah Studios
Hombale Films
Pushkar Films
KRG Studios
Mars Distributors
Produced feature films (2019)[3]
Total336
Indian cinema

Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood,[4] or Chandanavana,[5] is the segment of Indian cinema[6] dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka.[7][8][9] Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar, Bangalore.[10] The 1934 film Sati Sulochana directed by Y. V. Rao was the first talkie film released in the Kannada language.[11][12][13] It was also the first film starring Subbaiah Naidu and Tripuramba, and the first screened in the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom.[14] It was produced by Chamanlal Doongaji, who in 1932 founded South India Movietone in Bangalore.[15][16]

Major literary works have been adapted to the Kannada screen, such as B. V. Karanth's Chomana Dudi (1975), (based on Chomana Dudi by Shivaram Karanth), Girish Karnad's Kaadu (1973), (based on Kaadu by Srikrishna Alanahalli), Pattabhirama Reddy's Samskara (1970) (based on Samskara by U. R. Ananthamurthy), which won the Bronze Leopard at Locarno International Film Festival,[17] and T. S. Nagabharana's Mysuru Mallige (1992), based on the works of poet K. S. Narasimhaswamy.[18]

Kannada cinema is known for producing experimental works such as Girish Kasaravalli's Ghatashraddha (1977), which won the Ducats Award at the Manneham Film Festival Germany,[19] Dweepa (2002), which won Best Film at Moscow International Film Festival,[20][21] Singeetam Srinivasa Rao's silent film Pushpaka Vimana (1987), Ram Gopal Varma's docudrama Killing Veerappan (2016), Prashanth Neel's action franchise K. G. F. film series being the highest-grossing Kannada film, and Rishab Shetty's Kantara (2022).[22]

Kannada cinema is reported to have 8% market share in the gross domestic box office collections for the period January to August 2022, making it the fourth-biggest Indian film industry.[23] The share rose to 9% by October 2022.[24] The total gross collections of the top five Kannada movies of 2022 in first ten months was reported to be ₹1800 crores.[25] The year 2022 began new era for the industry in terms of popularity, quality content and collections.[26] However, the market share of Kannada movies in the gross domestic box office collections declined to 2% in 2023[27] with the footfalls dropping from 8.1 to 3.2 crores in 2022.[28]

  1. ^ a b "KGF Chapter 2 to hit 6,000 screens across India". The New Indian Express. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  2. ^ a b "With no new movie releases, single-screen theatres in Karnataka struggle to survive". Hindustan Times. 23 July 2021. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Indian Feature Films Certified In 2019" (PDF). Filmfed. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  4. ^ "The Biggest Regional Film Industries in India You Should Know About". 31 December 2017.
  5. ^ "From The Golden Era Of 70s To Now: A Brief History Of The Birth & Rise Of Kannada Cinema - ZEE5 News". zee5.com. 24 August 2019.
  6. ^ Manohar, R. (11 March 2011). "Sandalwood rechristened". DNA India.
  7. ^ Shampa Banerjee, Anil Srivastava (1988) [1988]. One Hundred Indian Feature Films: An Annotated Filmography. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-8240-9483-2.
  8. ^ Shenoy, Megha (27 December 2010). "When it rained films". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Statewise number of single screens". chitraloka.com. 3 May 1913. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Once a cinema hub, Gandhinagar no longer a draw for movie business". Deccan Herald. 17 April 2017.
  11. ^ Dhaan, M S (13 April 2006). "Dr.Raj's impact on Kannada cinema". Rediff.com. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  12. ^ "First film to talk in Kannada". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 31 December 2004. Archived from the original on 10 April 2005.
  13. ^ "A revolutionary filmmaker". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 22 August 2003. Archived from the original on 17 January 2004.
  14. ^ "First film to talk in Kannada". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 31 December 2004. Archived from the original on 4 January 2005. Retrieved 21 April 2007.
  15. ^ Khajane, Muralidhara (25 February 2012). "Philatelic show to mark 78th anniversary of 'Sati Sulochana'". The Hindu. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  16. ^ "Wealth of material found on first Kannada talkie". DailyHunt. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  17. ^ "Tikkavarapu Pattabhirama Reddy – Poet, Film maker of international fame from Nellore". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  18. ^ "TS Nagabharana movies list". bharatmovies.com. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  19. ^ "Asiatic Film Mediale". asiaticafilmmediale.it. Archived from the original on 16 November 2008.
  20. ^ "Girish Kasaravalli to be felicitated". The Hindu. 25 April 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  21. ^ "A genius of theatre". The Frontline. 25 October 2002. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  22. ^ Khajane, Muralidhara (27 January 2017). "Oscar nominees among 240 films to be screened during Biffes". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  23. ^ "The India Box Office Report: August 2022". 19 September 2022.
  24. ^ "Kantara single-handedly rescues a dull October at the box office: Ormax report".
  25. ^ "Expect the Unexpected! Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or Kannada, Which Film Industry Rules BO in 2022?". 22 October 2022.
  26. ^ "Kannada films rock the 100-cr club". The Times of India. 12 November 2022.
  27. ^ Kulkarni, Sanket; Babu, Rohan (14 October 2023). "Kannada film industry: Searching for its roots". Ormax Media Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  28. ^ Seta, Fenil (31 January 2024). "After a record 2022, Kannada cinema saw a STEEP decline in box office numbers in 2023; not a SINGLE film crossed even the Rs. 70 cr. mark; footfalls down from 8.1 cr. to 3.2 cr". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 31 March 2024.