Puneeth Rajkumar gets best actor award

Chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Thursday announced the list of Karnataka State Film Awards for 2010-11. Puneeth Rajkumar was selected for the best actor award for his performance in film Prithvi while Kalyani was adjudged as the best actress for her performance in Suicide.

Super, from Upendra’s stables, was declared as the best film; Bhagavathi Kaadu, directed by KK Shivarudraiah and produced by music director Hamsalekha, was adjudged as the first runner-up; while Shabdamani, directed by Renukumar, was the second runner-up.

Congratulating the jury members, who are led by Bharathi Vishnuvardhan, for completing the task of selecting films for awards among the 52 films, Gowda said the process was transparent and did not leave room for controversy. “I want to thank the committee members for completing the task,’’ he said.

Vishnuvardhan said the jury members had taken all elements into consideration before selecting a film for an award. “There are many qualified people for Dr Rajkumar Award. I want to write a letter to the chief minister in this regard. There are veterans such as PB Srinivas, S Janaki and Sawkar Janaki (who have been selected) for this award,’’ said Bharathi.

Expressing happiness for selecting his film Prarthane for the special award, debutante director Sadashiva Shenoy described it as an honour for Kannada language. “My film is about the closure of Kannada medium schools in some parts of Karnataka. It emphasises on the need to promote Kannada,’’ said Shenoy.

Rockline Venkatesh, producer of Super, said the award is recognition of Upendra’s hard work. “I am very happy that the award committee members have recognised Upendra’s hard work. All the credit must go to Upendra. I think the award will be an encouragement for Upendra to make more films in future. I have to thank cinematographer Ashok Kashyap for aptly working behind the camera during the shooting of Super,’’ said Venkatesh.
Prize to fund students

Thanking the government and award selection committee members for selecting Bhagavathi Kaadu as the first runner-up, Hamsalekha has said that the award was an encouragement for 94 students of Desi Vidya Samsthe. “Our students are very happy. We are grateful to the award selection committee members,’’ he said.

Super, the best film award winner, will get `1 lakh cash and a gold medal. The second best film award carries `75,000 prize, a silver medal and the third best film `50,000 cash and a silver medal.
Veteran supporting actor S Shivaram has been selected for Dr Rajkumar award and Ambareesh gets Vishnuvardhan award for their contribution to Kannada film industry. Both the awards carry Rs2 lakh cash and a gold medal.