Shivarajkumar launches Kannada content of popular Tulu streaming platform Talkies

Last evening, Century Star Shivarajkumar declared the Kannada content bucket of popular Tulu streaming platform Talkies open. An initiative of Swayamprabha Productions, which produced the Vijay Raghavendra starrer Malgudi Days earlier, Talkies has been operational for two years, with an extensive Tulu film section (over 200 titles) to cater to the widespread demand for screenings of movies in the language outside of Karnataka.

For close to a year now, the production house has also been working towards extending its portfolio to Kannada content and provide a streaming platform for local movies and shows, given that Kannada is not high up on the list of major OTT platforms. “We have now set foot into streaming of Kannada content, which was made possible by the support of the Tulu audience to our app so far. To start off we have several Kannada web series, some of which are Swayamprabha Productions originals, while others will be sourced from banners like those run by Shivarajkumar’s daughter Nivedita, among others. The launch of Kannada content on the app begins at 8 pm on April 30. The plan is to launch one original Kannada web series every month and while we have several known makers and artistes on board now, going forward, we are looking at providing new talent a platform on Talkies. This platform is an initiative by Kannadigas for Kannadigas,” said Sooraj Bolar, content head of the streamer.

Speaking after launching Talkies Kannada content, Shivarajkumar added, “My daughter has been producing web series for a while, like Hate U Romeo, By Mistake and Honeymoon and have seven other stories in various stages of development. Having a platform like Talkies gives producers like us the confidence that there will be takers for the content we make. Content from other languages gets easily picked by major streamers, but that’s not the case with Kannada. We are happy that we now have a platform for Kannada content and I am proud to say that I will always support this initiative.”

Live now for Kannada content too, Talkies has launched the crime thriller Hakunamatata, starring Vijay Raghavendra, Ranjani Raghavan, Chandana Ananthakrishna, among others. Split into two chapters, the first, with five episodes is currently available to stream. Subscription charges to the platform is Rs 365 annually, with the streamer looking at launching original and sourced content in regular frequency.