Karnataka State Film Awards ceremony was held on Sunday after a gap of five years. Awards for the year 2017 were presented by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai at a glittering function organised at Ravindra Kalakshetra.
The Karnataka Government has made it mandatory to present Karnataka State Film Awards on April 24 which happened to be the birthday of Kannada matinee idol Dr Rajkumar. However, the awards for the year 2017 were not presented due to some reasons.
The awards committee headed by director N S Shankar submitted the list of award winners to the then Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy. The awards committee selected Shuddhi as the first best movie for the year 2017. The movie Shudhi, helmed by Adarsh Eshwarappa, is about the crimes against women. The movie March 22, directed by Kodlu Ramakrishna was adjudged as the second best movie which emphasizes the importance of unity and communal harmony.
Tulu movie Paddyi, directed by Abhaya Simha was chosen as the third best movie. It is a modern day adaptation of Shakespeare’s modern drama Macbeth. It is about a newly-married couple who crave for a better life. Kannada movie Hebbet Ramakka was adjudged as the best social impact movie. Kannada movie Hebbet Ramakka was adjudged as the best social impact movie.
Veteran actress Lakshmi won Dr Rajkumar Award while director-cum-actor S Narayan won Puttanna Kanagal Award and G N Lakshmipathi won Dr Vishnuvardhan Award.
Late Puneeth Rajkumar’s movie Rajakumara won the best popular movie award while Eleyaru Naavu Geleyaru won the best children’s movie award. The Konkani language movie Sophia is the best regional movie. Manjunath Hegde and Rekha will be presented with best supporting awards. The other award winners are: Hanunth B Haligeri and Amaresha Sugadone (best story), Venkat Bharadwaj (best screenplay), Prof. S G Siddaramaiah (best dialogues), Santosh Rai Pathaji (best cinematographer), V Harikrishna (best music director), Harish Komme (best editing), Master Karthik and Shlaga Saligrama (best child artistes), Ravi SA (best art director), J M Prahlad (best lyricist), Tejasvi Haridas and Apoorva Sridhar (best playback singers).
Raghavendra Rajkumar recollected some of his most cherished interactions with his late father. "Appaji's simplicity and patience were the most prominent qualities. He lived the complete life of an actor," he said.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has appreciated Dr Rajkumar's versatility and involvement in the characters he played in movies. "We must study and know how it was consistently possible for Dr Rajkumar. We cannot do justice to his personality with mere words," he said, adding that Dr Rajkumar is a legend and he would never feel like he is not with us," he said, adding that work on the proposed Film City in Mysuru would begin this year.
Meanwhile, receiving the Dr Rajkumar Award, veteran actress Lakshmi has said that she was lucky to get an opportunity to act with Dr Rajkumar in movies.
Actor and director S Narayan won the Puttanna Kanagal Award. "Though I could not work with Puttanna, I am happy to be receiving an award in his name," said S Narayan
Late Film Producer G N Lakshmipathy was posthumously awarded the Dr Vishnuvardhan Award which was received by his son Ram Prasad.