Mangalore : Karnataka is just not Kannada but it is something more than it with its large rich cultural history which truly represents the essence of India, said Jagadish Kumar, president (South) Star India.
Speaking at the press meet held at Hotel Ocean Pearl on September 13, Monday on the occasion of launch of tulu programme ‘Gothanaga Porthand’ to be telecasted in Suvarna Channel, he said that the tulu people form a large linguistic ethnic group within Karnataka. Tulu language and culture has tremendous depth, variety and originality.
The Tulu community which is estimated to be about 5 million, is spread across the world. The people of tulunad have made their presence felt in numerous sectors, most notably in education, hospitality, restaurants, manufacturing, financial services and entertainment, he informed.
He also opined that the programme on suvarna is a small step to cater to the entertainment needs of this significant segment of Karnataka’s TV audience. Further the channel hopes to have the Tulu Network in Suvarna Channel, he added.
The establishment of tulu tele serial is not for the TRP of the Channel, but it’s just to get closer to the audience. TRP is not only the judge to rate the channel but it is the audience also, he smiled.
Anup Chandrashekaran, Business Head of Suvarna, said that the programme has been launched in order influence the general entertainment channel to reach the wider segment of the people. Tulu is very influential language and popular for art and theatre forms of entertainment. It is happy to be first satellite channel to recognise the importance of the language and launch Tulu content. This is the launch of Tulu brand and not just a serial.
The tulu language must not diminish, further more contents will be coming in tulu and hope it to be a runaway success, he said.
Actor Navin D Padil, said that Tulu is the sister language of Kannada and this kind of programme will give a chance for the artiste of coastal region to display their talent, he said.
Actor And Director of the serial Shivadhwaj, said that historically comedy is prominent genre in Tulu theatre, and we have outstanding actors. This will be useful for the Tulu artiste to display their talent and further look forward to bring out tulu cultural programmes.
So far around 20 episodes have been completed and around 30 artistes have acted in it. The team have decided to give around 160 episodes and it may continue further too. Every episode of the serial will have one small message at the end, he said.
The serial will be telecasted from September 18 on Saturday and Sunday at 1.30 pm to 2 pm. It will even contain the subtitling, he added.
Raja Ravi, Fiction Head of Suvarna Channel was present on the occasion.