‘Struggle for self identity’ becomes the ultimate thrust of Tulu wood

      Tulu language acquired its form or structure after the effort of Christian missionaries who wrote Tulu in Kannada script and Rvt. Myanar who published 'Tulu-English dictionary' consisting of 18000 words and Rev. Brigel who wrote the grammar of Tulu language in 1872. The contribution of many Indian scholars and educated men like S.U. Paniyadi, Shinappa Hegede, Narayan  Khille, M.P.V. Sharma, Narkala Marappa Shetty laid a strong foundation to the language.  The revolutionary steps of our great men resulted in giving birth to various expressions of Tulu language. Besides composing poems, literature, music and so on it took 49 years for Tulu wood or the regional film industry to realize a film in the world of Indian cinema.  The father of Indian cinema Dhundirai Govind Phalke who is also affectionately called as Dadasaheb Phalke sowed the seeds of vision in the minds of creative men who have found an identity for Tulu nadu in the world of visuals.

       With the germination of such spirit the Tulu film industry produced the first ever film  “Enna Thangadi” in 1971. Tulu films have made a mark among the people of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kasaragods and some part of Uttara Kannada and Mumbai. Though the two and half scores years’ old Tulu film industry has a limited market yet it constantly seeks to reach out maximum number of audience. In an average 30 Tulu films in a year are being produced with the efforts of adventurous men like S. R. Rajan, Vishu Kumar, Aroor Bhimarao, K.N.Taylor.

         Some of the early films such as Enna Tangady (1971), Koti Chennaya (1973), and the first Tulu color film Kariyani Kattandi Kandani (1978), Bisatti Babu (1972) are still living in the hearts of Tulu movie lovers.  One of the significance factors about the Tulu films is that it has influence of Kannada film which helps the industry to flourish and reach out a larger number of people. This can be understood by the film ‘Udalda Thudar’ which is inspired by a drama-‘Hridaya Jyothi’ in Kannada literature. This film becomes a prominent one because it had won the “Navabharatha Tulu Koota” award for its outstanding screenplay and dialog.