Five instances of non-Kannada actors featuring in prominent Kannada films

The announcement of 'Salaar' has caused a disaccord of sorts among Kannada cinema fans. The mega project that features Telugu superstar Prabhas will be directed by Sandalwood's own Prashanth Neel, who is currently invested in wrapping up the production part of 'K.G.F: Chapter 2', and produced by Vijay Kiragadur of Hombale films, a homegrown production house. While many have expressed great jubilation for the news, the rest are of the opinion that the makers of the film have overlooked the local talent-pool and instead opted for a Telugu actor. Although the discussion is important and concerns a sensitive matter, one should know that Kannada cinema isn't new to the 'cross-over' concept. Many non-Kannada actors, or "outsiders", have appeared in Kannada films in the past as prominent characters. These are the films that are made by Kannada speaking filmmakers, for Kannada speaking audiences but also feature actors from different film industries altogether. Let's take a look at five such landmark Kannada films.

Pic Courtesy: Instagram

Quite early-on in his career, Bollywood superstar Anil Kapoor featured in Mani Ratnam's debut Kannada film 'Pallavi Anupallavi'. The film is about a married woman, Anu, (played by Lakshmi) who falls in love with a much younger man called Vijay (played by Anil Kapoor) and was a moderate success in some of the big cities of Karnataka. Although Mani Ratnam never returned to Sandalwood and Anil Kapoor went on to establish himself as one of Hindi cinema's premiere actors, 'Pallavi Anupallavi' is still remembered for its atypical casting, performances, and music.

Pic Courtesy: Anil Kapoor's Instagram and nfai official Facebook account

Thespian actor Naseeruddin Shah made his Kannada debut in the 1977 film ''Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane'. Directed by Girish Karnad and B.V Karanth, the is film based on the book of same name by S.L. Bhyrappa. Naseeruddin Shah plays the role of Venkataramana Shastri, a temple priest, and his second film in Kannada was Girish Kasaravalli's 'Mane' in 1980. An equally able performer on stage, Shah often performs theatre in many of Bengaluru's venues.

Pic Courtesy: Facebook

Another cult film that features in this list is Ravichandran's 'Sipayi'. Starring the late Soundarya and Ravichandran himself, the film's highlight is Megastar Chiranjeevi's role as Major Chandrakanth. Chiranjeevi never acted in another Kannada post 'Sipayi' but is still fondly remembered for his brief but special appearance. The film's music too, especially the song Snehakke Sneha, was a huge success among the audience.

Pic Courtesy: Chiranjeevi's Instagram and Facebook

Legendary actor Kamal Haasan is no stranger to Kannada cinema but his appearances still qualify as 'special'. Early on his career, Kamal Haasan acted in Balu Mahendra's directorial debut 'Kokila' and established himself as an able performer across industries. Having already become a huge star in Tamil Nadu, he would go on to act in some of the best Telugu films and also explore a career in Hindi cinema. Kamal Haasan was last in Ramesh Aravind's 'Rama Shama Bhama' back in 2000. The film was a major box office success.

Pic Courtesy: Facebook

Bollywood actress and former Miss India Juhi Chawla began her successful career in the Kannada Film Industry. 'Premaloka (1987)', written and directed by Ravichandran, was a huge commercial success and was simultaneously released in Tamil. After 'Premaloka', Juhi Chawla went on to act in multiple Kannada films such as 'Shanti Kranti' & 'Kindara Jogi' and is still remembered as one of the best leading ladies of Kannada cinema of the 90s.

Pic Courtesy: Facebook