Renowned Kannada actor 'Kichcha' Sudeep has declined the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in the 2019 sports drama 'Pailwaan', citing "personal reasons".
The 51-year-old multilingual actor, who has been hugely popular as the anchor of Bigg Boss Kannada since its inception in 2013, earned global recognition as an actor for his role in S.S. Rajamouli's 'Eega' - a Tamil-Telugu bilingual film released in 2012. He has worked in more than 70 movies as an actor, director and producer.
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In a post on X, Sudeep stated that he had chosen to stop receiving awards for several years now and intends to uphold this decision.
He stated that it was a "privilege" to have received the state award and thanked the jury for this honour.
"There are many deserving actors who have poured their hearts into their craft and would appreciate this prestigious recognition far more than I would. It will only make me happier to see one of them receiving it. My dedication to entertaining people has always been without the expectation of awards, and this acknowledgement from the jury alone serves as a significant boost for me to continue striving for excellence," said Sudeep, also apologising to the jury for any "disappointment" caused by his decision.
"I trust you will respect my choice and support me on the path I have chosen," said the actor, who has previously accepted the best actor award given by the Karnataka government for his film Nandhi (2002).
Sudeep has won four Filmfare Awards South, including Best Actor – Kannada for his performances in 'Huccha' (2001), 'Nandhi' (2002), and 'Swaathi Mutthu' (2003) and Best Supporting Actor – Telugu for 'Eega' (2012).
The Karnataka government announced the State Annual Film Awards for 2019 on Wednesday, after a five-year delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Anupama Gowda has won the Best Actress award for her performance in 'Trayambakam'.
The other awards include V. Harikrishna for Best Music for his compositions in 'Yajamana', starring Darshan. Darling Krishna bagged the Best Screenplay award for his directorial debut 'Love Mocktail', a romantic drama.
Award-winning director P. Sheshadri's film 'Mohanadas' got the First Best Film award.
V. Srinivas's directorial 'Arghyam' won the Second Best Film award.
In the Playback Singing Category, Raghu Dixit won the Best Playback Singer (Male) for 'Love Mocktail', and Jayadevi Jangamashetty won the Best Playback Singer (Female) award for the film 'Raga Bhairavi'.
Master Preetam won the Best Child Actor award for his role in 'Minchu Hula' and Baby Vaishnavi Adiga the Best Child Actress award for her role in 'Sugandhi'.
Best Story award was given to Jayant Kaikini for 'Illiralaare Allige Hogalare', Best Screenplay award to Darling Krishna and S. Sunil Kumar for 'Love Mocktail', Best Dialogues award to noted writer Baraguru Ramachandrappa for 'Amrutmati'.
Best Cinematography award was given to G. S. Bhaskar for 'Mohanadas', Best Editing award to G. Basavaraj Urs (Shivu) for 'Jhansi IPS', Best Actor in supporting role (male) to Tabala Naani for film 'Chemistry of Kariyappa', Best Actor in supporting role (female) to Anusha Krishna for 'Brahmi', Best Lyrics award to Razak Puttur for 'Pencil Box' and Best Art Direction for Hosmane Murthy for 'Mohanadas'.
Nagatihalli Chandrashekhar's 'India Vs England' won the Most-Popular Film award, while 'Kanneri' directed by S. Manjunath was adjudged as Best Film on Social Cause.
The film 'Elli Aadodu Navu Elli Aadodu' directed by G. Arunkumar has received the Best Children Film award and N. Nagesh's film 'Gopal Gandhi' has bagged the award under the Best Film by a Debutant Director category.