Sandalwood fraternity meets Shivanna to discuss status of film industry 

Members of Kannada film fraternity, including producers, directors, distributors, exhibitors and technicians, met Shivarajkumar at his house on Friday to discuss the crisis that Sandalwood has been facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The industry is glad to have Shivanna taking the lead. According to Salaga producer KP Srikanth, this gives them a ray of hope, and they hope that his presence will bring back the golden years of Sandalwood. “The first day of the meeting was very fruitful. A lot of topics were discussed, including the shooting of films, and the reopening of theatres. However, the whole agenda of the meeting was to discuss about daily wage labourers and their future. They have been affected the most, and the industry’s priority is to provide them essential commodities for the next few months until the situation improves,” says producer Surappa Babu, adding that, another few rounds of the meeting will take place over the next two days, after which Shivanna will further discuss the matter with the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Also present at the meeting were producers Jayanna and NS Rajkumar, music director Gurukiran, Karthik Gowda, Umesh Banakar along with members from the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce  
Calling it a productive meeting, Gurukiran said, “An agenda is getting planned, and the motive is to help the daily wage workers. With Shivanna coming into the picture, it is going to be a little organised, with everyone coming together under one leadership.”

Shivanna also plans to talk to colleagues like Upendra, Darshan, Puneeth Rajkumar and Sudeep, among others, before meeting the CM.