Bangalore : Sandalwood stars and their counterparts from the Kannada TV serial industry descended on the roads of Majestic on Monday, in what was described a show of strength against the move to allow dubbing of films of other languages into Kannada.

Several theatres cancelled their morning shows in support of the Kannada film bandh, called by various Kannada organizations headed by Vatal Nagaraj. However, the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce and Karnataka Film Producers’ Association did not support the bandh, saying the issue is before court.

The protesters, who included almost all the major stars and actors from the two industries, began with a rally. Slated to start at 10.30am, it began an hour late from Jnanajyothi Auditorium, Central College.

Fans began assembling at the auditorium even before the stars arrived. With biggies like brothers Shivrajkumar and Puneeth Rajkumar, and ‘Duniya’ Vijay turning up at the venue, there was no holding back the milling crowds. They were joined by Jaggesh, ‘Nenapirali’ Prem, Yash, Srinagara Kitty, Prajwal Devaraj, Amulya, Malashri, Pooja Gandhi, Tara, Leelavathi, Jaimala and Shruthi.

The stars got on to open mini trucks that wound their way through Kempe Gowda Road before entering Tribhuvan theatre road. Fans lining the roads on either side rushed to shake hands with their favourite stars. A truck carrying actresses broke down, creating some anxious moments for policemen trying to restrain the crowds.

The rally took a right turn at Syndicate Bank junction and culminated with a public meeting at Central College Grounds, where the stars addressed their supporters. Darshan and Sudeep joined the protesters here.

In his address, Shivrajkumar announced that if an answer wasn’t soon found for the dubbing problem, the protest would spread throughout Karnataka. A section of producers and directors who backed the dubbing proposal kept off the protest.

WE DON’T NEED IT

Dubbing of other language movies into Kannada was not happening for 56 years. Why do we need it now? It’s sure to affect thousands of artistes and technicians in the TV industry too.

Puneeth Rajkumar

I don’t know how many Kannadigas are there in Bangalore. I want more and more of them to join us in our protest against dubbing.

Sudeep

The culture policy being framed by the state government should include the ban on remake and dubbing of other language films in Kannada.