Seven national awards: A sweep for Kannada

Kannada films have bagged seven awards in the 70th National Film Awards for the year 2022. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced the news on Friday. 

Blockbusters KGF Chapter 2 and Kantara, both produced by Hombale Films, received awards in two categories each in the feature films section. Madhyantara, a short by Basti Dinesh Shenoy, and Ranga Vibhoga by Suneel Narasimhachar Puranik won awards in the non-feature category. 

With nearly five decades of experience in cinema, film editor Suresh Urs got his second national award for editing Madhyantara.

For Urs, winning his second national award is “special” because “it was totally unexpected”. “This film is very close to my heart and I still can’t process the news,” he told Showtime. Urs got his first national award for best editing forMani Ratnam’s ‘Bombay’ (1995). 

Basti Dinesh Shenoy bagged the best debut film of a director award at the age of 54 for Madhyantara. He said the news was “too good to be true.” 

For both Urs and Shenoy, who are seasoned hands in cinema, the announcement brought mixed feelings of surprise and awe. While Urs started his career as an editor with the Konkani film Tisri Cheet in 1978, Shenoy worked across pre-production, post-production and cinematography and now he has forayed into direction. 

Madhyantara explores the tale of two young boys in the 70s Karnataka. They are drawn towards cinema and their poverty is not an impediment to their love for the silver screen. 

Rishab Shetty, who won the best actor award for his blockbuster ‘Kantara’, in a press meet expressed gratitude to his team and the production house, Hombale Films. Rishab dedicated the award to Kannadigas and the daiva (deity) he represented in the film. Rishab joins three eminent actors from Kannada cinema — M V Vasudeva Rao (Chomana Dudi, 1975), Charuhasan (Tabarana Kathe, 1986) and Sanchari Vijay (Naanu Avanalla...Avalu, 2014), to win the award.  

Kantara which became an immediate hit in Kannada for the unique portrayal of Bhuta Kola also won the award for the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment. 

The best Kannada film was awarded for Prashanth Neel’s high-octane, massive hit KGF Chapter 2. The film also won the best action direction award for Anbariv’s stunt choreography. Taking to social media, Vijay Kiragandur, founder of Hombale group that birthed the ‘KGF’ franchise and ‘Kantara’ said that “the audience have been our greatest strength and this award inspires us to continue our journey of storytelling, rooted in our rich heritage.”

Suneel Puranik, the producer and director of ‘Ranga Vibhoga’, which won the best arts and culture film award told Showtime that the award underscores Karnataka’s rich heritage in the temple dance tradition.