India, July 30 -- A year ago, it was in August that the Kannada film industry saw a ray of hope with the release and success of films like Bheema and Krishnam Pranaya Sakhi. This time, it's come a few days early, albeit after yet another worrisome first half in which audiences all but deserted movie halls. On July 18, Yuva Rajkumar's much-awaited sophomore film, Ekka, released in theatres, along with the debut vehicle of Kireeti Reddy, the Kannada-Telugu bilingual Junior. Both films found audiences - Ekka among the Kannada crowd and Junior with the Telugu folks, even though Kireeti claimed that his film was a Kannada original that's also got a Telugu version.

Watch hit Kannada films like Max, Kaatera, Krishnam Pranaya Sakhi, Salaga and m...