’We had to change in an open dressing room’

Stars suffer embarrassment, fear and shock at Kannada film industry's 75th year gala

'We had to change in an open dressing room'

Stars suffer embarrassment, fear and shock at Kannada film industry's 75th year gala

Ramesh Aravind

"There was confusion on stage because of mismanagement. I was busy taking care of Kamal Hassan as we needed to ensure proper security for a star like him. I think the turnout at the event shows the tremendous affection that people here have for Kannada film actors."

Jayanth Kaikini
"I reached the venue and was stunned by the crowd. I couldn't enter for hours. I knew that even if I managed to get in, I wouldn't be able to come out after the event. I don't think one can blame the police because at an event of such magnitude, crowd management is always a challenge."

Avinash
"It was a grand function with a huge crowd but the confusion could have been avoided. There was a huge security lapse. However, I wish the people who turned up for the gala were more disciplined. I consider it a huge achievement that I returned home without any bones broken!"

Jennifer Kotwal
"I enjoyed myself as a couple of us found a corner of the stage to park ourselves. But it's sad that such a great occasion was marred by lathi charge and violence. Clearly, good organisation was lacking."u00a0

Sanjana
"I was frightened out of my wits. The sight of so many people scared me. I was looking forward to the event but I ended up feeling very depressed."

Sharmila Mandre
"I heard that the VIP seats were filled up by 1 pm by people who did not hold any passes. The gala being a public event, one did expect a crowd but what actually happened was beyond anyone's imagination."

Rashmi
"It was a shocking failure of security. I was further shocked to discover that those of us who performed on stage had an open dressing room. It was very embarrassing to change costumes because so many fans had forced their way into the room.

I was very excited about dancing to Premalokadinda banda premada sandesha, a song from Ravichandran's hit film Premaloka. I was supposed to perform with Ganesh, Amulya, Srujan Lokesh and others but that never happened because we ran out of time."u00a0

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