Kannada film industry keeps fingers crossed amid fears of fourth Covid wave

The Kannada film industry, which is celebrating the runaway success of ‘KGF Chapter 2’ at the national level, is also keeping its fingers crossed over the possible outbreak of a fourth COVID-19 wave.

If there is a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, the state government is likely to first impose restrictions on theatres, pubs and restaurants according to reports.

After the assurance from Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday that unnecessary restrictions will not be implemented and measures will be taken in such a way that the economy is not affected, the producers are relieved slightly.

However, producers of more than 30 films readying for release remain on tenterhooks.

The big movies which were shelved due to the pandemic in the state over the last two years are being released in the months of May and June.

Sharan starrer ‘Avatara Purusha’, Jaggesh starrer ‘Totapuri’, Manu Ravichandran’s ‘Prarambha’, Rakshith Shetty’s ‘Charlie’, and Yograj Bhat’s ‘Galipata 2’ are some of the big ticket movies ready to be released in Karnataka.

The teams of ‘Totapuri’ and ‘Avatara Purusha’ have finalised the release dates in May and June, respectively, while the release of ‘Galipata 2’ will also be announced soon, sources in the film industry said.

The film producers and exhibitors have already requested the government not to impose harsh measures on exhibition of movies like it did during the third wave around this time last year.