*** It is not widely known that the Kannada movie legend Dr Raj Kumar won only one national award in his long and illustrious career, but it was not for …
In today’s Andolana, the Kannada broadsheet newspaper from Mysore, appears this small, single-column advertisement on its last page. A dignified portrait, not looking into the camera, writ with decency and …
VASANT SHETTY writes from Bangalore: Bangalore is home to “Sandalwood”, the Kannada film industry. The industry produces 120-130 movies an year and, like other major film industries in India, has …
Celebrities live in a strange and nearly unbelievable age of make-believe, where often times bad news is good news. For all their cinematic talent and box-office success (and, on top …
On Raj Kumar‘s sixth death anniversary, we republish an outstanding picture of the thespian at a thulabharaa in Dharmasthala. Veerendra Heggade, the dharmadhikari of the temple-town, is at left. This …
Although former Karnataka chief minister S.M. Krishna is in charge of what his handlers like to think is the weighty external affairs ministry, the consensus is that the “Son of Somanahalli” got the …
SAGGERE RAMASWAMY writes from Bangalore: In my 25 years as a photojournalist, I met Dr Raj Kumar in person five times and learnt five things from him: simplicity, punctuality, dedication, …
ARVIND SWAMINATHAN writes from Madras: I love Karnataka. I love Kannada, I love Kannadigas. I love Bangalore, I love Mysore. I loved Raj Kumar, I loved Vishnuvardhan. But I have …
BELLUR RAMAKRISHNA writes: Kannada cinema has lost both its eyes in the space of 44 months: Dr Raj Kumar in April 2006 and Dr Vishnuvardhan in December 2009. I have …
12 April 2005: Kannada thespians Dr Raj Kumar and Dr Vishnuvardhan come together at Sarthaka Suvarna, a felicitation for Raj Kumar organised by the State government at the Palace Grounds …
SUNAAD RAGHURAM writes: I woke up, like the rest of Karnataka and the rest of the world, to the news of the sudden demise of a man Kannada filmdom and …
The rivalry between the two titans of Kannada cinema Dr Raj Kumar and Dr Vishnuvardhan, more real than imagined, was one of the ever-green stories emanating from Gandhinagar. Oddly, the …
churumuri records with deep regret the passing away of the Mysore-born Kannada superstar H.N. Sampath Kumar, known to the world as Vishnuvardhan, following a heart attack in his home-town on …
PALINI R. SWAMY writes from Bangalore: A very powerful chief minister of a very large State goes missing over a very dense forest reputedly infested with very vengeful Maoist elements. …
The Bangalore brand that evokes the most immediate recall and recognition around the world may be Infosys, but the Bangalore brand that touches more lives inside the country has to …
The musical genius of Dr Raj Kumar is one of the least appreciated bits of an actor whose only national award was for singing. The uncharitable view is that “The …
On the birthday of Ustad Bismillah Khan, a gentle rewind of the only Kannada number to showcase the maestro: Karedaru kelade bande from the Raj Kumar-starrer Sanadi Appanna. And a …
From an era of co-operation and camaraderie, the Tamil and Kannada film industries have quickly sunk into a vortex of distrust and dislike for each other; both sides being held …
S.R. RAMAKRISHNA writes from Bangalore: Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, who died earlier this week, was a rare combination of violin maestro and clown. One evening, as we sat listening to him at …
A variety of factors—inexperience, incompetence, disinterest, conflict of interest, the fear of ostracism, sometimes plain fear itself—have made it nearly impossible for movie critics to say what they would really …
S.R. RAMAKRISHNA writes from Bangalore: What’s in a name? Oh, everything. On Monday, the crew of an FM radio station in Bangalore got beaten up because someone didn’t like the …
The Bangalore International Airport is due to open on Friday, 23 May 2008, and already the battlelines are being drawn—and redrawn. On the one hand, the captains of Bangalore industry …
Of all the many bushfires the S.M. Krishna regime had to douse, none is more gripping than the kidnapping of Dr Raj Kumar. Although, to its credit, the Congress government …
What is the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike? How has a motley group of self-appointed soldiers come to dominate the political discourse so quickly and so often? Who in the organisation decides …
SUNAAD RAGHURAM writes: The year was 1973. M.P.Shankar, a fine actor and a Mysorean, had decided to make a film with a storyline that revolved around a range forest officer …
churumuri 