From 'Sivarjuna' to 'Love Mocktail': Kananda films that have been affected by Coronavirus pandemic

The outbreak of Coronavirus in the world has truly slowed down life in every continent, country and state of the world. Likewise, Indian states too have been affected as governments are taking all precautionary measures to contain the virus. While shutting down, schools, colleges and public places, governments have shut theatres and asked the Indian film community to not shoot for a few days. This has affected many film industries, and the Kannada film industry is among them. Many movie releases have been postponed, and many released movies have been affected. Many producers are facing a huge loss in the Kannada film industry. Let's take a look at Kannada movies that have been affected by the ouotbreak of the Coronavirus.

‘Shivarjuna’ starring Chiranjeevi Sarja and directed by Shiva Tejass is the most affected film right now. ‘Shivarjuna’ was released on March 12, before the Government of Karnataka shut down malls, schools, and other public gathering places. The theatres were closed immediately after the release. The film had received good reviews but did not stand in theatres for a long time as theatres were shut. The producer is facing a huge loss and has written a letter to KFCC pleading to open theatres.

‘Naragunda Bandaya’ is based on the real story of farmers' struggles in the year 1980. This film was released on March 12 as well. This movie is directed by Nagendra Magadi Pandu and stars Raksha and Shubha Punja in the lead roles. Its business has been affected as well due to theatres being shut right after it hit theatres. The filmmakers believed this movie would relate to people from North Karnataka and that was their target audience. But, due to the shutdown of film screenings in the entire state they are facing losses.

'Shivaji Surathkal' starring Ramesh Aravind got good reviews too and was doing well in theatres. Radhika Narayan and Arohi Narayan also play lead roles in the film. A few weeks after its release, the movie picked up and earned many theatres. The film was well-received, not only on the single screen but also in multiplexes. However, ‘Shivaji Surathkal’s' box-office collection has taken a hit because of Coronavirus. Once the situation is normal, the movie might get re-released.

It is not just the small ones but even those movies with biggies in it have been affected. Actor Shivarajkumar recently released the film ‘Drona’ which is based on the education system. The star plays the role of a teacher in this film which was released two weeks ago. The film had attracted both class as well as mass audience. However now, it has been affected owing to the shutdown of theatres due to Coronavirus.

Earlier this year, Kannada's best movies were on the rise. Among them were ‘Love Mocktail’ and ‘Popcorn Monkey Tiger’. Even though the movies had few theatres to themselves, they were doing good. But after the shutdown in Karnataka, it has also affected these two films. In addition to these, many other movies have been postponed for release.