Karnataka is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, and renamed Karnataka in 1973. The state is bordered by the Lakshadweep Sea to the west, Goa to the northwest, Maharashtra to the north, Telangana to the northeast, Andhra Pradesh to the east, Tamil Nadu to the southeast, and Kerala to the southwest. With 61,130,704 inhabitants at the 2011 census, Karnataka is the eighth-largest state by population, comprising 31 districts. With 15,257,000 residents, the state capital Bengaluru is the largest city of Karnataka.
Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj, better known by his stage name Dr. Rajkumar, was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Kannada cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest and versatile actors in the history of Indian cinema, he is considered a cultural icon and holds a matinée idol status in the Kannada diaspora, among whom he is popularly called as Nata Saarvabhouma, Bangarada Manushya, Vara Nata, Gaana Gandharva, Rasikara Raja, Kannada Kanteerava and Rajanna/Annavru. He was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1983 and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1995. He is the only lead actor to win National Award for Playback singing. His 39 movies have been remade 63 times in 9 languages by 34 actors making him the first actor whose movies were remade more than fifty times and the first actor whose movies were remade in nine languages. He was the first actor in India to enact a role which was based on James Bond in a full-fledged manner. The success of his movie Jedara Bale is credited to have widely inspired a Desi bond genre in other Indian film industries. On the occasion of the "Centenary of Indian Cinema" in April 2013, Forbes included his performance in Bangaarada Manushya on its list of "25 Greatest Acting Performances of Indian Cinema". Upon his death, The New York Times had described him as one of India's most popular movie stars.
Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar, Bangalore. The 1934 film Sati Sulochana directed by Y. V. Rao was the first talkie film released in the Kannada language. It was also the first film starring Subbaiah Naidu and Tripuramba, and the first screened in the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom. It was produced by Chamanlal Doongaji, who in 1932 founded South India Movietone in Bangalore.
Namma Metro, also known as Bengaluru Metro, is a rapid transit system serving the city of Bengaluru, the capital city of the state of Karnataka, India. It is the second-longest operational metro network in India with an operational length of 76.95 kilometers, just behind Delhi Metro. Upon its inauguration in 2011, it became the first underground metro system in South India. Namma Metro has a mix of underground, at grade, and elevated stations. Out of the 68 operational metro stations of Namma Metro as of November 2024, there are 59 elevated stations, eight underground stations and one at-grade station. The system runs on standard-gauge tracks.
Puneeth Rajkumar, affectionately known as Appu, was an former Indian actor, playback singer, film producer, television presenter and philanthropist who worked in Kannada cinema. He was the youngest son of legendary actor and matinee idol Dr. Rajkumar. He was one of the most popular actors in Kannada cinema. He appeared as a lead in 32 films. As a child, he appeared in many films. His performances as a child actor in Vasantha Geetha (1980), Bhagyavantha (1981), Chalisuva Modagalu (1982), Eradu Nakshatragalu (1983), Bhakta Prahaladha (1983), Yarivanu (1984) and Bettada Hoovu (1985) were praised. He won the National Film Award for Best Child Artist for his role of Ramu in Bettada Hoovu. He also won Karnataka State Award Best Child artist for Chalisuva Modagalu and Eradu Nakshatragalu. Puneeth's first lead role was in 2002's Appu. In a career spanning three decades, he has won one National Film Award, four Karnataka State Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards South and five SIIMA awards. He was conferred with the Doctorate by Mysuru University. The Karnataka Government conferred the state's highest civilian award, Karnataka Ratna, to Puneeth Rajkumar on 1 November 2022, posthumously.
Prakash Raj is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English, and Hindi-language films, he is the recipient of several accolades, including five National Film Awards, eight Nandi Awards, eight Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards South, four SIIMA Awards, three CineMAA Awards, and three Vijay Awards. Apart from his native languages Tulu and Kannada, Raj's fluency in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, English, and Marathi has placed him among the most sought after actors in Indian cinema.
Kempegowda International Airport is an international airport serving Bengaluru, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Spread over 4,000 acres (1,600 ha), it is located about 35 km (22 mi) north of the city near the suburb of Devanahalli. It is owned and operated by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), a public–private consortium. The airport opened in May 2008 as an alternative to increased congestion at HAL Airport, the original primary commercial airport serving the city. It is named after Kempe Gowda I, the founder of Bangalore. Kempegowda International Airport became Karnataka's first fully solar powered airport, developed by CleanMax Solar.
Narayana Swamy, known by his stage name Srinath, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Kannada cinema. He holds the position of vice-president of the Kannada television channel Udaya TV. He is popular for presenting the Game Show, Adarsha Dampatigalu. Srinath has earned the nickname Pranaya Raja meaning 'King of Romance' because of his stupendous success in romantic movies during the 70s. In 2003, he was conferred the ‛Kalaratna’ Award by the Government of Karnataka.
Cricket is by far the most popular sport in Karnataka with International cricket matches attracting a sizeable number of spectators who are willing to pay more than the standard ticket price to get a chance to watch the match. The sports related infrastructure is mainly concentrated in Bangalore which also played host to the 4th National Games of India in the year 1997. Bangalore is also the location of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) which is the premier sports institute in the country. Karnataka is sometimes referred to as the cradle of Indian swimming because of high standards in swimming compared to other states.
Amoghavarsha JS is an Indian filmmaker, wildlife photographer, and conservationist. He is known for his documentary filmmaking and contributions to wildlife photography. Prior to his career in media, he worked as a software engineer at Amazon India before founding Mudskipper Labs, a media production company, in 2018.
Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy was formed by the Government of Karnataka in 2009 to promote film culture in Karnataka. The academy has taken up several projects to develop a healthy film culture in the state and adopted the motto of promoting 'Education in Cinema and Cinema in Education'.
Bengaluru, formerly called Bangalore in English, is the capital and largest city of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than 8 million and a metropolitan population of around 15 million, making it India's third most populous city and fourth most populous urban agglomeration. It is the most populous city and largest urban agglomeration in South India, and is the 27th largest city in the world. Located on the Deccan Plateau, at a height of over 900 m (3,000 ft) above sea level, Bengaluru has a pleasant climate throughout the year, with its parks and green spaces earning it the reputation of India's "Garden City". Its elevation is the highest of India's major cities.
7th Bengaluru International Film Festival 2014 was inaugurated by the honorable Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah on 4 December 2014 in Bengaluru. The film festival is showcasing 175 films from 45 countries in 11 screens across the City from 4 to 11 December.
Prakash Belawadi is an Indian theatre artist, film director, television and media personality, who's also a teacher, activist and a journalist. He hails from Bangaluru. He has participated in many seminars, conferences and festivals in India and abroad. He is a motivational speaker at events and TEDx conferences. He is also a mentor with the founding team of BISFF since 2010.
9th Bengaluru International Film Festival 2017 was inaugurated by former Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah on 2 February 2017 in Bengaluru. A total of 240 films from 60 countries including Oscar nominees of the year such as The Salesman by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and A Man Called Ove by Swedish director Hannes Holm were screened from 2 February to 9 February 2017.
Naresh Kumar HN is an Indian film director who works in Kannada-language films. He is known for 1st Rank Raju (2015) and Raju Kannada Medium (2018).
Champa Shetty is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter and voice-over artist who works primarily in Kannada film industry and Kannada theatre. Shetty is known for her women centric films.
Koli Esru is a 2024 Indian Kannada-language drama film based on the story Huchheeri Esarina Prasanga by K T Chikkanna. Akshatha Pandavpura, Apeksha Nagaraj Chornahalli, Natana Manju, Prakash Shetty and Dakshayani N feature in lead roles. The full is jointly produced by Vanaja Vaman Rao, Sujatha Gopinath, M.G.Satya Prasad, Gouramma, Harish Komme, Mahesh Togata, Prathap R Mendon, Dileep Shetty, Vandana Inamdaar, Venu Hennur, Geetha Surathkal, Dr. Radhakrishna Ural and Prakash P Shetty under the banner Apron Productions.
