The Kannada film industry's 75th year celebrations were marred by mismanagement

The scene at the 75th Kannada Film Festival, organised by the Bangalore Chamber of Commerce at Palace Grounds today, was one of utter chaos.

The organisers had lost control of the crowds in the afternoon much before the start of the event at 5.30 pm.
By the time the event started, the crowds were restless. The unruly crowd of around 4,000 kept pushing towards the stage during the event.

Hold on to chairs

Some people were even carrying their chairs over their heads amidst the confusion, while senior stars such as Devraj andu00a0 Kashinath were stood by the sidelines.

At one point, the crowd managed to push itself into the section reserved for the media, forcing some media people to the edge of the stage.

Organisers and then policemen struck a few, both men and women from the media, even as some spectators shot the onstage goings-on with their camera phones.u00a0

Stop the show

The show had to be stopped.

Some of the chief guestsu00a0 including chief ministeru00a0 Yeddyurappa and actor Ravichandra tried to pacify the crowd, but were booed.

Only after a few media persons went on stage did actor Upendra request the police to find some space for them, following which the situation near the stage came under some control.

However, farther from the stage, the crowds continued to be boisterous.u00a0

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