Kantara, KGF 2 win National Film Awards 2024; Chaluve Gowda of Hombale Films reveals how it happened: ‘Wanted to take Kannada cinema to…’

Talking about the palpable excitement among both teams, Chaluve says, “Both films, which are from completely different genres, were deserving of the wins. They were meritorious films. We have been congratulating each other since the time of the announcement. Rishab, Prashanth Neel, Yash, all of us are really happy and excited about the wins.” 

KGF 2 actor Yash also shared his excitement on the win on X, “Heartiest congratulations to all the winners of the National Awards. A special shoutout to our very own Rishab Shetty, Vijay Kiragandur, Prashanth Neel, and the entire Hombale Films team for the well-deserved recognition for Kantara and KGF 2. Here’s to many more heights. This is indeed Kannada cinema’s shining moment on the national stage!”

Here’s the post

Heartiest congratulations to all the winners of the National Awards.

A special shoutout to our very own @shetty_rishab , @VKiragandur , Prashanth Neel and the entire @hombalefilms team for the well-deserved recognition for Kantara and KGF 2. Here’s to many more heights.

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— Yash (@TheNameIsYash) August 16, 2024

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Crediting the entire team of Hombale Films, KGF 2 and Kantara for their extensive support to the making of the films, Chaluve says, “The kind of movies that we have created so far, especially KGF and Kantara, is the result of our plan to create quality films. You can see that in every film that we have backed, and special thanks to all the actors, the directors, and the team for giving it their all.” While they have indeed taken Kannada cinema to the next level, and given it a huge platform on the national stage, the filmmaker asserts that Hombale Films will always stay true to its origins. “We did want to expand, and make quality films in other languages. It is in that process that we recently made Raghu Thatha in Tamil. But there is no doubt in our minds that we will still concentrate on making Kannada films.” 

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It was a clean sweep for Hombale Films in the 70th National Film Awards as every award that came to Kannada feature films was for a project backed by them. Apart from these two films, the other big winners from the South at this edition of the National Awards were Ponniyin Selvan 1, Thiruchitrambalam, Aattam, and Saudi Vellakka.