Badami House – the hub of Kannada cinema for 4 decades, where Sandalwood star Dr Rajkumar watched movie previews, will soon be a thing of the past.
The century-old iconic stone structure located opposite the BBMP office, will be demolished within a month, reports The Hindu.
The process for demolishing the George Oakes Building, known to Bengalureans as Badami House, has already begun and it will be fully razed by within a month, the report further states.
The owners of the building – Bux Ranka Developers, are waiting for the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy and the Film Unit of Department of Information and Public Relations, which are housed in this building, to relocate to Amrutotsava Bhavan in Nandini Layout before the structure can be brought down.
SV Rajendra Singh Babu, Chairman of the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, said that the KCA has been forced to vacate the building as the Karnataka government has lost the case with the owners.
After a long legal battle of land ownership the Karnataka government lost the case to Bux Ranka Developers in the Karnataka High Court.
The state government claimed ownership of the property, stating that the structure was a heritage one. However, the private company, which had the ownership documents, won the case.
State Bank of India and the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation, which were also operating in this building have already vacated the premises. The Department of Public Realtions’ film unit and KCA are the only ones left to vacate.
According to the Hindu report, Priyadarshini preview theatre located in the building was the only screening facility in the 1980s. The Central Board of Film Certification’s panel members watched film previews at this building. Expert committees formed to extend subsidy facilities to Kannada films and selection committees of film awards were also screened here, HB Dinesh, Registrar of KCA, was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
Sarvottam Badami a filmmaker began his career as a sound recorder for the first talkie in India – Alam Ara in 1931.
Badami had bought the George Oakes Building, which was later sold to Bux Ranka Developers. Before Sarvottam Badami purchased and sold the property, the structure had housed British and American libraries.
The KCA had opened its office in Badami House in 2006. This structure would host the Centre of Bengaluru International Film Festival. It was then that Badami House became a place for activities related to films.
The KCA is planning to shift to its new building in Nandini Layout by November 1 and the owners of the building will demolish the heritage structure.
“It’s like the history of Kannada cinema will be erased when the building is demolished,” Rajendra Babu added.
The picture has been taken from Bangalore Loves Wikipedia on Flickr