The day-two (22 September) of the 100 years of Indian cinema celebrations was dedicated to the Kannada and Telugu film industries.
The Kannada cinema celebrations began with an inagural ceremony in the morning. Veteran actress Saroja Devi lit a traditional lamp, after which a presentation about the journey of Kannada film industry was shown. The event was attended by some of the prominent members of Kannada cinema including Ramesh Arvind, actor Vishnu Vardhan's wife Bharathi, Jayanthi, Leelavathi and Vijay Raghavendra among others.
However, superstars of Kananda cinema including Sudeep, Upendra, Darshan, Shivarajkumar and Puneet Rajkumar failed to turn up at the event. According to the organisers, these top stars will attend the final day event on 24 September, when biggies from all four southern film industries are expected to show up.
Actor Kamal Haasan attended the occasion and honoured industry veterans including Dr girish Kasaravalli, KSL Swamee, SK Bhagwan and HR Bhargava. Speaking about the Kannada industry's contribution to Indian cinema, Kamal was quoted as saying by Chitraloka, "There was a time, when the whole of India was keenly looking at Kannada cinema. My guru K Balachandar used to advise us to go to Bangalore and see Kannada films in the 70s and 80s. Let the type of films come yet again."
"Artistes does not have language barriers. They are a part of every language they act. I have also acted in Kannada and I also want to be a Kannadiga. We artistes are one wherever we are. I am a proof for that. Look at Bharathi Vishnuvardhan, Jayanthi and other artistes. They have acted in all languages and they fit for all the languages," he added.
The event witnessed performances from some industry members including Ramesh Aravind, Roopika, Anirudh, Shruthi, Pankaj, Amoolya and Sanjjana among others.
Karnataka Home Minister George was the chief guest and thanked everyone for attending the event.
The third day of the event (23 September) is dedicated to the Malayalam industry to mark 100 years of Indian cinema. Several popular celebrities including Mammooty and Mohanlal will make their presence felt at the occassion.
