Sirigandha awards from the Kasthuri Channel

The Kasthuri Channel which is just five months old has already strengthened its base by offering a variety of programme content. It has now decided to strengthen its brand value by recognising the best of talents in the Kannada film industry.

Ms. Anitha Kumaraswamy, Managing Director of the Kasthuri Channel announced this decision in a press conference on Thursday and said this new development will define the future course of action by the chanel in strengthening its relations with the Kannada film industry.

"We have decided to take 2007 as a base year and want people to identify the best of talents that emerged in the year. We have named the awards as Sirigandha awards. To strengthen the brand value of the award we are associating with Pyramid Saimira company. Airtel will be our main sponsors," said Anitha.

Mr. Ajay Ramanujam, CEO of Kasthuri Channel said that they have fixed three parameters to determine the winner of the awards which include the number of direct entries to the channel, SMS entries and the decision of the Jury.

Ramanujam said that the Karnataka television viewership has been rising over the last two years and now more than 58 percent of the television households in the state are watching the Kannada programmes, which is a substantial improvement considering that the figure was hovering around 30 to 40 percent in the past decade.

He also added that 2007 has been a turning point in the history of Kannada film industry and it would be appropriate to recognise the popular artists and technicians who have contributed to the positive changes that have happened in the Kannada film industry.

The Senior officials of Pyramid Saimira expressed their happiness over being able to associate with Kasthoori Channel and said that the convergence is the Key word which paves the way for progress.