KALABURAGI: ‘Kantara’ actor and director Rishab Shetty was conferred with the ‘Rashtriya Siddha Sri’ award at 38th Guru Vandana programme of Mugulagoda Sri Muruga Rajendra Mahaswamy, held at Jidaga village in Aland taluk in the district on Friday.
Well-known singer Vijay Prakash and singer Anuradha Bhat performed at a music concert on the occasion.
After receiving the award, Rishab Shetty said, “Last time the Siddhasri award was given to actor Puneeth Rajkumar posthumously. The movie ‘Kantara’ has got the first national award and received more encouragement. Appu sir inspired me to produce ‘Kantara’. I will focus more on social-oriented films. ‘Kantara’ became such a huge success because of the people of Karnataka. I will come back with another amazing movie”.
“I would like to dedicate this award to Daiva Panjurli, Annappa Guliga, Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swamy and all other Gods. I entered stage through Yakshagana”, Rishab Shetty. He expressed happiness that people like the story which is rooted to the land. “It is the faith of the people of Karnataka and I am proud of it”, he added.
He enthralled the audience by reciting a famous line from the movie. Thousands of people had gathered to see favourite star. The Rashtriya Siddha Sri award includes a cash purse of Rs 1 lakh, gold coin, a memento and a plaque.