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, Bengaluru. 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 Bengaluru.
Rakshit Shetty is an Indian actor and filmmaker working predominantly in Kannada cinema. He is the recipient of one National Film Award, two Filmfare Awards South, two Karnataka State Film Awards and five SIIMA Awards. He debuted with the film Namm Areal Ond Dina (2010) and got his breakthrough with Simple Agi Ondh Love Story and further shot to fame with the cult Blockbuster Ulidavaru Kandanthe (2014) and further established himself as a lead actor in Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu (2015), Kirik Party (2016), Avane Srimannarayana (2019), 777 Charlie (2022), and Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side A (2023), with 777 Charlie becoming the highest-grossing film of his career.
B. Ajaneesh Loknath is an Indian music composer who works predominantly in Kannada and Tamil films besides few Telugu films. His film music career began with the 2009 Kannada film Shishira. He rose to fame with the film Ulidavaru Kandanthe (2015) for which he received the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director. He is known for his works in films such as Kirik Party (2017), Kurangu Bommai (2017), Avane Srimannarayana (2019), Dia (2020), Vikrant Rona (2022) and Kantara (2022). He is noted for his frequent collaborations with filmmakers Rakshit Shetty, Rishab Shetty and Anup Bhandari.
Prashanth Shetty, known professionally as Rishab Shetty, is an Indian actor, film director, film producer and screenwriter who works in Telugu cinema. He is known for his critical and commercial blockbuster, Kantara, which he directed and also starred in as the main lead. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three National Film Awards, two Karnataka State Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards.
Avane Srimannarayana is a 2019 Indian Kannada-language western fantasy adventure comedy film directed and edited by Sachin B. Ravi in his directorial debut. Jointly produced by Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah and H.K.Prakash, the film features Rakshit Shetty and Shanvi Srivastava in lead roles. B. Ajaneesh Loknath and Charan Raj composed the soundtrack, with the former composing the score, whereas Karm Chawla handled the cinematography. Described by Shetty as "Southern Odd Fiction", the film follows a corrupt police officer who takes on a bandit chief in order to recover a missing treasure in the 1980s.
Johnny Johnny Yes Papa is a 2018 Indian Kannada-language action film directed and written by Preetham Gubbi. The film is made under the Duniya Talkies banner owned by actor Duniya Vijay who also plays the lead role. The film is a sequel to their previous venture Johny Mera Naam Preethi Mera Kaam (2011). The rest of the principal cast include Rachita Ram, Rangayana Raghu and Sadhu Kokila. The film's soundtrack is composed by B. Ajaneesh Loknath.
KGF: Chapter 2 is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language period action film written and directed by Prashanth Neel, and produced by Vijay Kiragandur under his Hombale Films banner. It serves as the direct sequel to KGF: Chapter 1 (2018), as well as the second installment in the KGF franchise. The film stars an ensemble cast of Yash, Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon, Srinidhi Shetty, Prakash Raj, Achyuth Kumar, Rao Ramesh, Vasishta N. Simha, Ayyappa P. Sharma, Archana Jois, Saran Shakti, Easwari Rao, John Kokken, T. S. Nagabharana and Malavika Avinash.
Hombale Films is an Indian film production and distribution company mainly known for the K.G.F franchise, Kantara and Salaar. It was founded by Vijay Kiragandur and named by Puneeth Rajkumar, who collaborated with the company on 3 films.
Hero is a 2021 Indian Kannada action comedy film written and directed by debutant M. Bharath Raj. The film is produced by Rishab Shetty under the banner Rishab Shetty Films. It features Rishab Shetty and debutante Ganavi Laxman in the lead roles. The supporting cast includes Pramod Shetty and Ugram Manju. B. Ajaneesh Loknath composed the music and the cinematography is by Arvind S. Kashyap.
Banaras is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language romance film written and directed by Jayatheertha and produced by Tilakraj Ballal. It stars Zaid Khan and Sonal Monteiro in the lead roles. The film's music composer is B. Ajaneesh Loknath and cinematographer is Advaitha Gurumurthy. The film was set to be released early 2021 but was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic, It was released on November 4, 2022.
Kantara is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language action thriller film written and directed by Rishab Shetty, and produced by Vijay Kiragandur, under Hombale Films. The film stars Rishab Shetty in a dual role as a Kambala champion who is at loggerheads with an upright forest officer named Murali.
Kantara is the soundtrack album to the 2022 film of the same name, written and directed by Rishab Shetty, and stars himself in the lead role. Produced by Hombale Films, the film features music composed by B. Ajaneesh Loknath, who described it as a "culture-based folklore film in musical context" and wanted the music to be "rooted in the traditions of the 1990s". To attempt, what the crew had envisioned, both the film score and original songs were composed using folk instruments and folk musicians were roped in for the songs.
Edagaiye Apaghatakke Karana is an upcoming Indian Kannada black comedy suspense thriller film written and directed by Samarth Kadkol, who co-produced the film with Gurudath Ganiga under Hyphen Pictures and Gurudatha Ganiga Films Banner. The film stars Diganth, Dhanu Harsha, Nidhi Subbaiah in lead roles. The music for the film is composed by Praddyotan and cinematography by Abhimanyu Sadanandan.
Max is an upcoming Indian Kannada-language action thriller film directed by Vijay Karthikeyaa and produced by Kalaippuli S. Thanu under V Creations. The film features an ensemble cast including Kichcha Sudeep, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Samyukta Hornad, Sukrutha Wagle and Anirudh Bhat. The music is composed by B. Ajaneesh Loknath, with cinematography by Shekar Chandra and editing is handled by S. R. Ganesh Baabu respectively.
