2020: A cinematic experience for Sandalwood industry

Team Udayavani, Dec 25, 2020, 5:44 PM IST

Like every other industry across the globe, Kannada film industry too faced the atrocities of Covid-19. Perhaps for the first time in the history of Kannada cinema, the government had issued a directive to close cinema theatres across the state, as a precautionary move against transmission of the virus.

The year 2020 was nothing short of a cinematic experience for the Sandalwood film industry itself. Barely three months into the year, shooting of movies had been called off and people employed in the industry were badly hit.

The entertainment industry usually contributes a huge chunk to the state coffers. However with only 87 Kannada movies being released this year, as compared to an average of 200 new movies in the previous years, the state government too incurred a huge loss on entertainment tax and GST collection.

Out of the 87 movies, only 80 movies were screened in theatres where as the remaining seven premiered on OTT platforms.

Off to a Flying Start:

Movies like Dia, Love Mocktail, Malgudi Days, Gentlemen, Popcorn Monkey Tiger, India vs England, Drona, Shivaji Suratkal, Maya Bazaar that were screened in theatres prior to the lockdwon did well not only at the box office but also got good response from the audience and critics.

However what started off with a bang, fizzled away with onset of the lockdown as the industry barely got five months of screen time. Theatres were allowed to reopen as per the Unlock 5.0 guidelines on October 15.

Transgression to OTT platform

With no other avenue, several films chose the OTT route. Films such as LAW, French Biryani, Bhimasena Nalamaharaja, House 13, Illusion, Penter, Investigation and Bhoomika released n OTT platform and got critics’ appreciation.

Loss of superstars

2020 has been a tough year and the industry lost quite a few of its gems this very year. Celebrities such as Chiranjeevi Sarja, Bullet Prakash, Rockline Sudhakar, H.G Somshekhar, Mimicry Rajagopal, Sushil Gowda, Siddhiraju Kalyankar, Hulivan Gandharaiah, Michael Madhu, renowned singer SP Balasubramaniam succumbed to death. However they shall forever stay in the hearts of the fans.

Well with the cinema halls being re-opened, we all can be hopeful for a great 2021. Fans can anticipate new releases of ShivarajKumar, Darshan, Puneet Rajkumar, Upendra, Sudeep, Yash, Dhruva Sarja ,Rakshit Shetty, starrer movies in 2021.