Kantara's production house Hombale Films closely linked to BJP: Report
The production house that delivered the major hit Kannada film Kantara is closely linked to the BJP, said a news report.
A report in the Indian Express said that the Karnataka minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, was a bank guarantor for loans obtained by Kantara’s production house, Hombale Films, for their two real estate ventures and has invested in ventures run by Vijay Kiragandur, the producer. The minister has maintained that the producer, Vijay Kiragandur is his cousin.
But the report said the link between Narayan, production house Hombale Films and the producer go more deeper than family ties.
Further, the report said that Vijay Kiragandur and Chaluve Gowda are the directors of Hombale Films (started in 2017) and its two sister firms, Hombale Infrastructure Projects and Hombale Constructions and Estates.
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The records showed that the earnings of Hombale Infrastructure, whose inception coincided with BJP’s first full tenure in Karnataka between 2008-2013, jumped from ₹64 lakh in 2011-2012 to ₹42 crore in 2012-13, which shot up to ₹92 cr from 2014-15. There has not been any earnings after that period.
Ashwath Narayan has been the bank guarantor for a ₹15 crore loan by Hombale Infrastructure in 2012 from Vijaya Bank. A loan sanction memo showed the relationship to the borrower as “cousin brother”. The minister is also listed in records as guarantor for enhancement of a bank guarantee from ₹95 crore to ₹175 crore with Vijaya Bank for a loan taken for Hombale constructions in 2018.
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While the earnings of Hombale films and Hombale Constructions seem to be on a high in the recent years, Hombale Infrastructure’s earnings in the last five years are stagnant, said the report.
Meanwhile, filings from Hombale Films showed the company’s income had surged from ₹36.43 lakh in 2017-18 to ₹2.59 crore in 2020-21. While the production house’s liabilities soared from ₹37.94 lakh in 2017-2018 to ₹225 crore in 2020-2021. Nearly ₹188 crore has been shown as loans, said the report.
