MYSURU: Chief minister H D Kumarswamy inaugurated the Dasara Film Festival 2018 at a star-studded function at Kalamandira. Although now officially open, films will be screened at The Mall of Mysuru only from Friday.A total of 72 films spread across three categories — world cinema, Indian panorama and regional cinema — have been lined up for the carnival of films. A two-day workshop on filmmaking will be conducted at Vignana Bhavan from Saturday and a short film-making competition has also been organised.Reminiscing his journey in the field of cinema prior to his foray into politics, Kumaraswamy said, “After I passed out of college, I came to Mysuru and began a career in film-making,” Kumaraswamy said. “It eventually led to a career in politics. I set up a film distribution centre at the Madesha Complex in Nazarbad. I was involved in distributing three films starring Ambareesh and also produced the Vishnuvardhan-starrer ‘Suryavamsha’. It is from the film industry that I imbibed humanitarian principles.”Pleased with the crop of directors working in the Kannada film industry, Kumaraswamy said, “It is now time for directors to step away from action cinema and make movies with a social message.”Nagathihalli Chandrashekar, Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy chairman and film director, said the Dasara Film Festival offered cinema buffs a chance to enjoy movies from the world over. Actors ‘Century’ Gowda of Thithi fame, Vijay Raghavendra, S A Chennegowda, director Rishab Shetty , Satyaprakash, actress Harshika Poonacha, proprietor of Sridevi Film Theatre Lakshmi Devamma and distributor Rajendra were feted. Actress Parul Yadav also attended the inauguration.

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