Veteran actor Rajesh on Friday lamented the decline of standards in the Kannada film industry and termed it shameful.
The actor, who has more than 150 films to his credit, was honoured with the first Dr. Rajkumar Cultural Endowment Award by the Karnataka Sahitya Parishat.
The Rs. 50,000-cash prize is sponsored by the late thespian’s family.
Background
Coming from a theatre background, Rajesh started his film career with Veera Sankalpa and later became a hero in the 1968 movie Namma Ooru, directed by C.V. Shivashankar.
“Dr. Rajkumar would have cried looking at the current scenario in the Kannada film industry.
Set it right
“Though we all know Kannada film industry’s standards have declined, we have to wait to set it right,” Mr. Rajesh said.
“The current crop of films cannot match the wonderful period that the industry saw till the 80s. Decline is seen in all aspects of film making.” Earlier, Parishath president Pundalika Halambi requested Parvathamma Rajkumar, who was present at the event, to contribute another Rs. 5 lakh to help increase the cash prize to Rs. 1 lakh.
