Around 20 Kannada films are ready for release and almost everyone wants to open in the month of January itself. This is because the Cricket World Cup will kick off in February, followed by board exams and the IPL in April.
As of now, the films that have confirmed their dates of release are Kushi Kushiyagi on January 1 at Aparna, Shivam at Kapali; followed by Paipoti on January 9 at Tribuvan. Jackson will be releasing at Nartaki on January 15. Three films—
Siddhartha, Vaastu Prakara and Krishna Leela are looking to release on January 23, but they are yet to officially announce the date and are only left with Bhoomika and Menaka on KG Road as options.
Among the other films vying for release in these theatres are Abhinetri, Raate, Mythri, Male, RX Suri and Rudratandava. As per the latest news, Sudeep’s Ranna is likely to release in Feburary. Jayanna confirmed the Rana Vikrama date—March 20 at Santosh theatres.
Longtime distributor, Jayanna explains the difficulties producers are facing to release their films. “About eight to 10 films might take a stand on KG Road. Rest of them will either wait or will be released at their own risk.”
Among all this, there is constant competition from other language films and the next big ticket release is Shankar’s I slated for January 15. Seeing the tight competition among Kannada films for an early release, only time will decide the fate of these movies.