Kantara, KGF 2 win most at Film Critics’ Awards

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Rishab Shetty’s Kantara and Yash’s KGF Chapter 2 won four and three awards respectively at the 4th Chandanavana Film Critics Academy Awards on Sunday. Rishab Shetty, who starred and directed Kantara, won the Best Actor award for the film, while the film itself was adjudged the Best Film of 2022 by movie critics. Kanatara also won the Best Music award for Ajaneesh Loknath and Best Stunt/ Action award for Vikram Mor.

The gala event at Hotel Lalit Ashok was inaugurated by senior directors Rajendra Singh Babu, Nagatihalli Chandrashekar, actress Ramya and Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar. The star-studded event witnessed the presence of Sandalwood’s who-is-who. Top producers, directors, technicians of the Kannada film industry were witness to the year’s first awards event.

Alliance University, Turbo Steel, Anand Audio, A2 Music, Mysore Sandal Soap, Suraj Productions, Horse Fashions, G Academy and Veeraloka Books were among the supporters of the Awards Night. KGF Chapter 2, starring Yash and directed by Prashant Neel won three awards – Best Cinematography for Bhuvan Gowda, Best Editing for Ujwal Kulkarni and Best VFX for Udaya Ravi Hegde.

While these two films bagged the maximum number of awards, the other top awards had winners from other films. The Best Director award went to Kiranraj K for 777 Charlie, while actor-director Darling Krishna won the Best Screenplay Award for Love Mocktail 2. The Best Lead Actress award was won by Sharmiela Mandre for Gaalipata 2 while Sharvari won the Best Child Artist award making it two for 777 Charlie.

Veteran actress Sudharani bagged the Best Supporting Actress award for Thurthu Nirgamana, while Suchendra Prasad won the Best Supporting Actor award for Wheelchair Romeo. In the music category, it was a mixed bag with five different films winning the five awards. The technical awards were swept up by KGF Chapter 2. Seven new awards were introduced this year. Five of these were for debutants.

Among these, Sridhar Shikaripura won the Best Writer (Debut) and Best Director (Debut) Award for Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage. The Best Producer (Debut) award named after Puneeth Rajkumar went to Pawan Wadeyar for Dollu. The Best Debut Actor award named after Sanchari Vijay went to Pruthvi Shamanoor for Padavipoorva, while the Best Debut Actress award named after the first Kannada film heroine Tripuramba went to Yasha Shivakumar for Mansoon Raaga.

Going beyond films, the Chandanavana Academy constituted two new awards for online content creators. KS Parameshwara, who runs the Kala Madhyama Youtube channel, won the Best Youtube Creator of the Year award, while Vikas (of Vicky Pedia fame) was adjudged the Best Social Media Entertainer of the Year.