Star galaxy to descend on Bangalore for Cine Expo

BANGALORE: Into its 69th year, the Kannada film industry has decided to make its presence felt through a 30-day extravaganza of ‘filmdom’ at a Cine Expo, beginning at the Palace Grounds from April 18.
The goal? Raise about Rs 1.5 crore towards the new Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) building on Kumara Krupa Road, estimated to cost Rs 3.35 crore.
Industry members proudly say this is the first time in Indian film history that the film world has got together to put up such an extravaganza.
On display will be the reality of reel-life — the sweat, grime and sheer effort that goes into creating vistas of imagination to capture audiences and keep the woes away — for the entrance ticket of a mere Rs 50.
“Under production films with crowd scenes will be shot at the expo, so that the public can participate and later see themselves on screen. Demonstrations of shooting will also be given,’’ Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) president S. Ramesh told The Times of India.
Film recording companies are setting up shop to give the public the experience of studio recording and play-back singing. Premier recording company Akash Audio has offered to cut a disc for anyone who wants to sing at the expo and give them the professionally recorded cassette.
The real glitter will be the evening shows or, in film parlance, ‘nites’. The list is awesome:Kumar Sanu, Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Anuradha Paudwal, Hamsalekha, Guru Kiran, Deva, Telugu filmdom’s Koti.
Every top artiste of the Kannada film industry will actively participate, including the presentlyhospitalised Kannada icon Rajkumar.
“We will discuss with him what he will do when he gets back to Bangalore in a couple of days. But he will definitely be there,’’ Ramesh said.
Separate film star nites for all South Indian languages will be held. Stills of Kannada filmdom’s historic moments and small bits major films will be screened at the specially-erected projection centre, with senior members like Shivaram, K.C.N. Chandrashekar, K.S.L. Swamy (Ravee) and Ajanta Raju giving live commentary.
An amusement park for children and a consumer expo will be additional draws. Tickets for the ‘star’ shows will be Rs 100 for the whole day,while 10,000 season tickets of Rs 1,000 will shortly be made available at select theatres in the city, Ramesh said.